Chemicals At Home: Exploring Ingredients In Everyday Products

  Household chemicals  are nonfood chemicals that are commonly found and used in and around the typical household and are designed particularly to assist cleaning, pest control, and for general hygiene purposes. Food additives generally do not fall under this category, unless they have a use other than for human consumption. Additives in general (e.g., stabilizers and coloring found in washing powder and dishwasher detergents) make the classification of household chemicals more complex, especially in terms of health and ecological effects —some of these chemicals are irritants or potent allergens. Together with noncompostable household waste, the chemicals found in private household commodities pose a serious ecological problem. When spring comes, nature gets to work making millions of different chemicals. Some are beneficial some are dangerous, some smell nice and some awful, some heal and some harm, some are essential and some are superfluous. If you appreciate...