A 20-year international study conducted by scientists at the University of Bergen in Norway has found that using cleaning products can be as harmful to lung function as smoking 20 cigarettes a day.
The authors of the study suggested that exposure to cleaning materials can be detrimental to women’s health in the long term. The effects of 10-20 years of cleaning can be as damaging as smoking a pack of cigarettes a day for the same amount of time.
There have been a lot of sensational headlines about this, this week, but they are a bit misleading. The study didn’t say that the amount of cleaning done at home is equal to 20 cigarettes. This comparison applies only to women who are cleaning professionally and exposed to cleaning products almost daily on an almost continuous basis during normal waking hours.
FORTUNE: Using Household Cleaning Products Can Be as Bad as Smoking a Pack a Day
A few months ago I had my housecleaner switch and start cleaning with baking soda, vinegar and water. My husband thought they would be annoyed by it. Instead my housecleaner hugged me and told me how grateful she was that she didn’t have to work with chemicals while in my home.
Yay for you for doing that!