Facts & Questions for a Greener and Healthier Life & Work style.

Facts About Regular Detergents/Cleaners:

Many still contain chemicals which are either harmful to the environment or humans, either acutely or chronically.Many surfactants are made from petrochemicals derived from crude oil or natural gas and so are not renewable resources.May leave a harmful residue and emit toxic fumes after the cleaning process (like oven, window, and floor cleaners).

Household cleaning substances accounted for 213,595 cases of poison exposures in the USA in 2008. Of which 124,934 involve children under 6 years old. Source: Annual report of the American Association of Poison Control Centres National Poisoning and Exposure Database (2008).

List of Some Chemicals Found in Cleaning Products. Click on the chemical names to find out more on Wikipedia.

• Chlorine bleach can irritate the lungs and eyes and in waterways can become toxic organochlorines.
• Naphtha’s and mineral spirits (carcinogenic)
• Phthalates Uses: furniture polish.
• Ether-type solvents
• Methylene chloride Uses: degreaser. (acute inhalation hazard) Butyl cellosolve and petroleum.
• Distillates Uses: oven cleaners.
• Sulfuric acid and sodium hydroxide. Uses: drain cleaning products. (corrosive)
• Alkylphenol ethoxylates (APEs). Uses: detergents and disinfectants. (suspected hormone disruptors)
• Ammonia Uses: glass cleaners, oven cleaners. (Poisonous when swallowed, extremely irritating to respiratory passages when inhaled and can burn the skin on contact)
• Triclosan Uses antibacterial cleansers. (Contributing to the rise of antibiotic-resistant germs)
• Butyl cellosolve ethylene glycol monobutyl ether. Uses: glass cleaner. (Is poisonous when swallowed and a lung-tissue irritant)
• Diethanolamine (DEA). Uses: surfactant in detergents. (can combine with nitrosomes to produce carcinogenic nitrosamines that penetrate skin)
• Fragrances may contain phthalates, chemicals linked to reproductive abnormalities and liver cancer in lab animals and to asthma in children
• Sodium hydroxide Uses: drain, metal and oven cleaners. (extremely irritating to eyes, nose and throat and can burn tissues on contact)
• Sodium lauryl sulfate Uses: a common sudsing agent. (Can penetrate the skin and cause contact dermatitis)

 Facts – EcoAdvance Enzyme Cleaning Solutions

• Enzymes are 100% biodegradable and organic.
• Emits no fumes that endangers health and leaves no harmful residue.
• Non-toxic and safe
• Gentle on the hands. Even the Super Strength line that can clean ovens do not require use of gloves or masks yet works effectively.
• Safe for septic tanks and fields.
• Enzymatic Cleaners are excellent organic stain removers.
• Enzymes help to emulsify dirt and grime, and continue to biodegrade them even after removing them from the surface.
• Made from natural renewable resources.
• Enzymes are broken down into harmless natural biomass (Single Amino Acids, the building blocks of life).
• As it leaves no harmful residues and is easily rinsed off, Eco Advance saves water and effort by reducing the need for multiple rinses.

What are Enzymes in Cleaning Products?

Enzymes are simply protein molecules that catalyzes (speeds up) natural reactions. Removing stains, cleaning surfaces and objects are all reactions, whether natural or chemical. The enzymes break down the dirt so that it can be removed from the surface with water but it also speeds up the bio-degradability of the dirt.

Normal chemical detergents only remove dirt (and many are toxic to people and the environment) while enzymatic cleaners go to the source of the problem and actually biodegrades the dirt to lift it from the surface. Our product leaves no harmful residue and is biodegradable once it completes its task.

Why go Green with Cleaning?

Have you every looked at the ingredients or a Material Safety Data Sheet(MSDS) of a detergent, All Purpose Cleaner, Oven Cleaner? If you had you would have saw one or more hazardous ingredients listed either by OSHA (USA), WHMIS (Canada), or a European standard. On the website or most popular international household cleaning brands, you would be able to find a database of all their product’s MSDS. Take a visit.

There are many hazardous ingredients being used in the cleaning products today but because many toxic chemicals do not have acute (immediate) side effects and have little research done on the chronic effects of using/inhaling them, they often pass regulatory approvals. Most chemicals may not be a health hazard or fatal to people but there are some that are found to be only after a decade or several! Why take that chance? Get healthier and save the environment at the same time, go the Eco Advance way!

In what way does cleaning affect the environment?

The answer is simple.

1) There are risks when the water used in cleaning is not flowed into the sewage and instead flowed onto the grass, road, and pavements. These water then find their way into storm water drains and into catchment areas or natural water bodies. An example is the used water from washing a vehicle that is flowed into stormwater drainage and channeled into reservoirs. This results in chemicals, phosphates, acids etc running into our reservoirs.

2) Used water that is poured into proper sewage systems via sinks, building pipes will be less harmful as they will be treated at used water treatment plants. However, treated used water or effluent will still contain up to 10% of Biochemical Oxygen Demand and Suspended solids when it is discharged into the sea thus having traces of chemicals still finding its way into the environment. The reason is that it is not financially viable to treat used water to its pure form.

By using Northern EcoTech’s cleaning solutions, you can help contribute to a cleaner world by releasing less toxic chemicals from your cleaning process. As an added benefit, you will get healthier from less toxic fumes (the worst is oven cleaners) and even save money in the long run.

Get Greener, Healthier, and Safer

It is surprising how little many people know about the cleaning chemicals that can be found in their own homes or workplace. Most if not all chemical based cleaners have one or more toxic ingredient. It is shocking that many deadly mixtures using common cleaning products are still unknown to many people. One such deadly mixture is mixing ammonia (found in glass cleaners) and bleach. This mixture gives out chloramines and is toxic to humans. Another mixture is bleach and acids (found in drain cleaners) which gives out chlorine gas and is extremely toxic. How many times have you tried to clean your drain and then pour bleach as an anti-bacterial? According to a survey, up to 63 synthetic chemicals can be found in an average American home equating to an average of 10 gallons (37.8L) of such hazardous chemicals.