Chemicals Part One:

Household Chemicals set 2

prepared by Jeffrey Sabado, RPh
Chemical Agents: For Living Room Use
Rug, carpet and upholstery cleaners are particularly
used cleaning heavy fabrics and textiles that covers our
sofa sets, floors and other surfaces. Usual active
ingredients are perchloroethylene and naphthalene.
Warning: Perchloroethylene fumes can cause dizziness,
sleepiness, nausea, loss of appetite and disorientation.
Long-term exposure is potentially cancerous.
Naphthalene can damage the liver. Long-term vapor
exposure can cause formation of cataracts
Chemical Agents: For Living Room Use
Furniture polish is used to give shine to wooden
furnitures and also protects them from moisture. Usual
active ingredients are a mix of ammonia, naphtha,
nitrobenzene, petroleum distillates, and phenol.
Warning: These ingredients can irritate the skin, eyes,
throat, lungs, and windpipe. If ingested, it can cause
nausea and vomiting.
Chemical Agents: For Living Room Use
Air fresheners as the name suggests, imparts good
fragrance in spaces. Usual ingredients include
formaldehyde, petroleum distillates,
p-dichlorobenzene, and aerosol propellants.
Warning: Formaldehyde is known to cause cancer. It is
also a strong irritant to the eyes, throat, skin, and lungs.
Petroleum distillates can cause eye, skin, and
respiratory irritation. It is also flammable.
Chemical Agents: For Living Room Use
P-dichlorobenzene can
cause irritation to skin, eyes,
and throat. Lastly, fumes
from aerosol propellants
are associated to brain
damage and they are highly
flammable.
Chemical Agents: For Living Room Use
Household foggers (together with insect bombs) or
hand-carry fumigators are pesticides and are also
uncommon in the country. They turn their active
ingredients into vapors which does not adhere much to
surfaces, making them safer to use than oil-solvent
pesticides. Usual ingredients contain pyrethrin,
permethrin, and methoprene.
Chemical Agents: For Living Room Use
Warning: Being a pesticide, they pose danger to humans
and pets especially to prolonged exposure.
● Pyrethrin - can cause severe allergic reactions either
systemic or dermal. Large amounts can affect the CNS,
exhibiting as nausea and vomiting, tinnitus,
headaches, among others.
● Permethrin - can cause itching and burning of the skin
and eyes. It can also irritate the upper respiratory
tract.
Chemical Agents: For Living Room Use
● Methoprene - can irritate the eyes and the skin.
Chemical Agents: For Bedroom Use
Mothballs are commonly used as deodorizer for
wardrobes and cabinets and even ward off insects that
live in enclosed spaces, such as spiders and moths. They
can be either made out of naphthalene or
p-dichlorobenzene.
Warning: Both of these active ingredients can cause
dizziness and headaches. It can irritate the eyes, skin, and
also the throat.Prolonged exposure can cause cataract
formation.
Chemical Agents: For Backyard, Pool, Garden Use
Swimming pool chloride tablets can
be made from sodium hypochlorite or
calcium hypochlorite. These tablets
are used to disinfect pool water.
Warning: As they are concentrated,
they can be corrosive to the skin and
mucous membrane. Fumes can also be
irritating to the eyes and respiratory
tract.
Chemical Agents: For Backyard, Pool, Garden Use
Insect repellants as the name suggests, repel
mosquitoes and ticks that may be carrying diseases. Usual
active ingredients include butopyronoxyl, dimethyl
phthalate, and diethytoluamide.
Warning: Although rubbed on the skin, they may still
cause some minor irritation.
● Butopyronoxyl if ingested by pets, can cause mild
necrosis in their liver and kidneys.
Chemical Agents: For Backyard, Pool, Garden Use
● Dimethyl phthalate can cause CNS depression if
swallowed.
● Diethyltoluamide (DEET) can irritate the respiratory
tract tissues. If ingested, can cause loss of
coordination, anxiety, behavioral changes, and mental
confusion.
Chemical Agents: For Backyard, Pool, Garden Use
Weed killers although uncommon in households in the
country, are used extensively in gardening businesses and
plantations. Diquats (may be in dibromine or dichlorine),
2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4-D in short), and
glyphosate kill weeds by interfering processes that are
important to a plant’s survival (e.g., photosynthesis, cell
division, etc.)
Chemical Agents: For Backyard, Pool, Garden Use
Warning: Exposure can cause skin and eye irritation. If
ingested, can cause abdominal pain, nausea, vomiting,
and diarrhea.
Chemical Agents: For Backyard, Pool, Garden Use
Rodent control lessens rodent
population in households. Besides
poison-based rodent killers,
substances like warfarin are also
used. Warfarin is an anticoagulant,
which in high doses, can cause
uncontrolled bleeding.
Warning: Warfarin can cause internal
bleeding in high amounts.
Chemical Agents: For Use in the Garage
Antifreeze (ethylene glycol) is used to change the freezing
or boiling point of the water in car radiators. It also serves
as lubricant to moving parts that it comes in contact with,
like the water pump.
Warning: Ethylene glycol is poisonous if swallowed, which
can cause damage to organs such as the heart, kidneys,
and the brain. Inhalation can cause dizziness.
Chemical Agents: For Use in the Garage
Motor oil lubricates engine moving parts
to lessen wear and tear. They may
contain hydrocarbons and also contain
heavy metal contaminants if they are old
stock.
Warning: Hydrocarbons and heavy metal
contaminants are potentially cancerous.
Heavy metals can also cause kidney and
nerve damage if absorbed in the body.
Chemical Agents: For Use in the Garage
Vehicle batteries power the vehicle if the engine is not
turned on. They commonly contain substances such as
sulfuric acid and lead.
Warning: Sulfuric acid is highly caustic to the skin and
may cause blindness if splashed in the eyes. Lead, being a
heavy metal, can cause nerve and kidney damage and is
potentially cancerous.
Chemical Agents: For Use in the Garage
Windshield washer fluid, washes the windshield when it is
full of dust particles and/or foggy. The usual fluid may
contain methanol, isopropanol, and ethylene glycol.
Warning: These are the usual effects of the chemicals
present in this product:
● Methanol - can damage the nervous system, liver, and
kidneys; inhalation can cause lung disease; ingestion
can lead to blindness
Chemical Agents: For Use in the Garage
● Ethylene glycol - poisonous if swallowed, which can
cause damage to organs such as the heart, kidneys,
and brain. Dizziness may occur when inhaled.
● Isopropanol - can cause irritation of the mucous
membranes; ingestion can cause drowsiness,
unconsciousness and death
Chemical Agents: For Use in the Garage
Paint contains color pigments mixed with organic
solvents, such as alcohols (e.g. butanol), ketones (e.g.,
acetone), glycols (e.g. ethylene glycol), etc.
Warning: These organic solvents can irritate the eyes and
skin. Inhaling paint fumes can result to headaches,
nausea, dizziness, and fatigue.
Chemical Agents: Is it safe at home?
In summary, depending on how we use all of the
chemicals that we have talked about, our homes can be
the safest or the most dangerous place on earth.
What do you think shall we do in order for us not to be in
danger from these substances?
Chemical Agents: Is it safe at home?
Storing them carefully, tightly-capped, and away from
children’s reach (or sparks, if flammable) can keep us
away from emergencies. Using them according to the
label or instructions can also lessen the risk of these
chemicals.
Chemical Agents: Is it safe at home?
Wearing safety gear can also keep us away from
exposure.
What are examples of safety gear that we can use when
handling the following:
● Chemicals with harmful fumes
● Chemicals that are skin irritants
● Chemicals that are eye irritants
● Highly-flammable chemicals
Chemical Agents: Is it safe at home?
We can also use alternatives for our household chemicals.
It can be readily mixed or sometimes bought.
Examples can be: vinegar (apple cider, cane, etc.) for
cleaning, baking soda for scrubbing, hot water for
softening grease… there are a lot.
There are also products that are made with “all-natural”
ingredients that are safer for the environment.
SOURCES
● https://www.cleaninginstitute.org/understanding-products/ingredients/ingredient-glossary#:~:text=The%20mo
st%20common%20materials%20are,ingredient%20in%20liquid%20chlorine%20bleach.
● https://www.cleaninginstitute.org/cleaning-tips/clothes/detergents/using-bleach-laundry#:~:text=Bleaches%20
help%20whiten%2C%20brighten%20and%20remove%20stains.&text=Bleach%20can%20also%20brighten%20a
nd,well%20as%20clean%20and%20whiten.
● http://www.madehow.com/Volume-7/Fabric-Softener.html
● https://extension.missouri.edu/publications/gh5928
● https://www.madesafe.org/toxic-chemicals-in-air-fresheners/
● https://www.health.ny.gov/publications/2741/
● https://www.nycoproducts.com/resources/blog/cleaners-degreasers-blurred-lines/
● https://pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/compound/Dimethyl-phthalate#section=Pharmacology-and-Biochemistry
● https://pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/compound/Butopyronoxyl#section=Skin-Eye-and-Respiratory-Irritations
● https://health.clevelandclinic.org/is-deet-bad-for-you-and-your-kids/
● http://npic.orst.edu/factsheets/glyphogen.html#howwork
● http://npic.orst.edu/factsheets/24Dgen.html#:~:text=2%2C4%2DD%20kills%20broadleaf,are%20called%20auxi
n%2Dtype%20herbicides.
● https://pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/compound/Diquat#section=Use-Classification
● https://www.goldeagle.com/tips-tools/the-basics-of-antifreeze-and-why-your-car-needs-it/#:~:text=Antifreeze%
20keeps%20the%20water%20in,from%20freezing%20in%20cold%20temperatures.&text=Antifreeze%20also%2
0keeps%20that%20same%20water%20from%20boiling%20over%20in%20hot%20temperatures.&text=Antifree
ze%20also%20serves%20as%20a,such%20as%20the%20water%20pump.
● https://coatings.specialchem.com/selection-guide/select-solvents-for-industrial-coatings
● Caintic, H.E. Physical science, C&E Publishing House, 2016
● Caballes, D.G., Rodriguez, M.A., Pazon, A.N.R., Physical science, JFS Publishing Services, 2016
● Google Images for pictures