There’s been a growing trend among consumers to choose environmentally safe “green” cleaning products for their house cleaning. But are they really any better than traditional home cleaning products?

It turns out they might be. Chemical-based cleaning products often contain a harsh combination of potentially harmful compounds that can affect the health of everybody living in the home even when they are used according to the manufacturer’s recommended instructions.

Choosing Green

Green cleaning products — which are becoming more commonly found in national stores like Target, Walmart and Kmart — usually leave behind less chemical residue that can be absorbed through the skin or breathed by the person doing the cleaning. These fumes also can affect other people in the home as they linger in the air or sit on surfaces.

Some studies have shown that using have shown that breathing a household cleaning spray as little as once per can increase the risk of developing asthma.

Helping the Environment

Chemical-based cleaning products can often find their way into the water supply, where they can cause long-term harm to the environment.

Using green products for your house cleaning helps reduce pollution to water and air and minimizes the environmental impact. It also can help contributed to saving the ozone layer and combatting global climate change because fewer smog-producing chemicals are produced.

Then there’s the containers that the cleaning products come in. Many green products are packaged in biodegradable packaging which don’t clog up landfills.

Safety Benefits

Generally, green cleaning products decrease the risk of chemical burns to the eyes and skin of the person doing the cleaning. Most aren’t corrosive and must adhere to strict requirements for inhalation toxicity, combustibility, and skin absorption.

As more consumers become aware of the benefits of using green products for their house cleaning, you can expect these environmentally safe products to become more widely used.