Ways to protect your children

8. Keep a Clean Home and Use Safer Cleaning Products.
Many commercial cleaning products are known to contain chemicals that can be harmful to human health or the surrounding environment. Based on extensive testing, even professional cleaning companies have determined that the safer products work as well or better than the more harmful alternatives without increasing costs. The safer chemicals are now being used in some hospitals and schools as a way of better protecting patients and students.

Steps You Can Take:

• Keep a clean house free of dust and dirt. Many of the items children put in their mouth or are exposed to come from the ground, carpet, flooring etc. Children spend a great deal of time playing on the floor and ground and are closer to these elements. Most people walk on floors with street shoes and can carry items from the yard or the street onto floors and carpeting. Keeping a clean house does not mean extensive use of chemical cleaners, but instead simply making sure the area is free of dirt, dust, paint chips and other things that are not meant to be ingested.

• Consider installing an air filtration system. According to the US EPA, poor indoor air quality (IAQ) is among the top five environmental risks. Depending on your home’s heating system, there are numerous choices for your home. These systems are professionally installed and are in various price ranges. Many manufacturers provide information on the benefits of each system.

• Avoid using cleaning products around your children. The cleaning chemicals in many products are potentially harmful to adults. They are likely to be significantly more harmful to children. Do not permit your children to use the products.

• Read labels carefully. To avoid using products in an unsafe manner, read the label carefully. The label clearly states how products should be used, including how much water should be added to dilute the product, and how much fresh air is required to use the product safely. Failure to use products properly can be dangerous to you and your children.

• Switch to safer cleaning products. Given the growing concern about the safety of cleaning products, growing numbers of companies are making safer, highly effective, and affordable products. A helpful list of green cleaning tips and a list of less toxic cleaning products is available online.

• Keep cleaning products out of the reach of children. More children are harmed by household cleaners and chemicals than are harmed by guns. Keep dangerous products out of their reach. Children should never have access to products that can harm them.