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Household Products | Pesticides |
Home Safety
Hazardous Household
Products
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Should You Be
Concerned?
Do you have these products in your home?
Bleach, rat poison, mothballs, charcoal lighter fluid, oven cleaner, batteries,
mercury thermometers, gas, oil, wood polish, toilet and drain cleaners, shoe
polish, bug spray?
Household products like these are
dangerous for your children!
|
In 2000, nearly 20,000 children were
exposed to or poisoned by household chlorine bleach. |
Household products are called hazardous if they
can cause harm when not used the right way. Not every product is hazardous and
some are more dangerous than others.
You can use most products safely if you follow
the directions on the label. Doing things that are not on the label is risky
for your health and your family’s. People get in trouble by using too much
of a product, or by mixing two products together, for example.
Children can be poisoned if products are stored
or thrown away unsafely. Children’s bodies are small, so even a little bit
of some chemicals can cause big problems.
Eating or drinking a hazardous product is
dangerous, of course. Also, just touching or breathing some products— even
a very small amount of them— can be harmful. They can burn your skin or
eyes just by touching them. Some hazardous products can make you sick if they
get into your body through the skin or when you breathe in their dust or fumes.
Sometimes you know right away if you or your
child has come into contact with a hazardous product. You may feel sick to your
stomach or dizzy. Your skin may itch or burn. Your eyes may water or hurt.
Other problems don’t show up until later,
like cancer or harm to your lungs. Also, being exposed to chemicals can affect
a child’s growing body.
You can protect your children and yourself from
illness and injury. Use hazardous products safely. Store them carefully.
Dispose of them properly. The following will help you learn more!
|
In Case of
Emergency
You can reach your local Poison
Control by calling (800) 222-1222 from anywhere in the country. Put this number
next to all of your telephones and where you store your hazardous
products. |
Questions to ask?
Use
Safely
Do you store hazardous household products
safely?
- Read the label. That is one of the most
important steps in using products.
- Look for words like CAUTION, WARNING,
FLAMMABLE, HARMFUL, DANGER, POISON. These can tell you a product is
hazardous. If you see these words on a label, be extra careful.
- Look for special instructions on the label
such as: “work in well ventilated area.” This means work outside or
with the windows open. The fumes can make you sick if you do not have enough
fresh air.
- Wear “protective clothing.” This
means wear goggles, safety glasses, gloves, long sleeves, or other coverings.
The right clothing can prevent burns or keep chemicals from going into your
body through the skin.
- Never mix products unless the label says it
is safe to do it. For example, never mix products containing chlorine bleach
with products containing ammonia. You will make a deadly gas by mixing these
together.
- Keep children and pets away from the area
while you use hazardous products.
- Always put the cap back on and put away the
product right after you finish using it.
- Never leave the product or container where
children can see it or reach it.
- Don’t eat, drink, or smoke when using
hazardous products.
- Be ready in case there’s an accident:
Put the Poison Control Center telephone
number, (800) 222-1222, where you can find it quickly in case of an emergency.
Tape it to the wall by your kitchen phone, for example.
- Buy Syrup of Ipecac at your local
drugstore and keep it handy. This medicine makes a person throw up. But only
use it when a doctor or Poison Control Center tells you to. Sometimes throwing
up makes the poisoning worse.
Use
Less
Can you cut down on the hazardous
products in your house?
- Do you buy only what you need, so you
don’t have extras.
- Prevent or reduce pest problems so you
don’t need chemicals to kill them. Wash dishes and wipe counters often.
Keep the garbage area tidy.
- If you’re pregnant, don’t use
hazardous products if something else will do the job.
- Think about using tools or products known to
be safe: use a plunger to unclog sinks instead of chemicals. Clean with baking
soda (for scrubbing) or vinegar (for cutting grease).
Store
Safely
Do you store hazardous household products
safely?
- Keep them away from children. A locked,
secure place is best.
- Store them in the package, can or bottle
they came in. Never put them in another container (especially one for food or
drink)! This helps prevent poisoning and keeps the label instructions with the
product.
- Keep containers and packages dry. Close them
tightly.
- Set containers inside a plastic bucket in
case of leaks.
- Store products at least 150 feet away from
your well, cistern or water pump. This will protect your water supply and your
health.
- Keep products away from heat, sparks or
fire.
- Store batteries and flammable chemicals like
gasoline in the shade, away from direct sunlight.
Safe
Disposal
How do you get rid of leftover
products?
- Share the extra with someone who will use it
up.
- Take leftovers to a community hazardous
waste collection point. Ask your local or state health department where this
is.
- Some products— like pesticides
—are very hazardous. You will even need to be careful how you dispose of
the container. The label will tell you what to do.
 Never dump or burn hazardous
products on your property. Dumping or burning them near a water supply is very
dangerous. - Never burn hazardous wastes in a barrel or
stove. Burning may let off toxic gases and make hazardous ash and smoke. And,
it’s against the law in many states.
- Recycle used motor oil or antifreeze. Many
communities have places for you to do this.
- Mercury is a threat to health. Some products
that have mercury in them are fluorescent bulbs, thermometers, thermostats, and
blood pressure monitors. Call your local trash department or local health
department to find out where you can recycle products with mercury.
Action
steps
Here are some ways to protect you
family's health!
- Buy only what you need to do the job.
- Use products known to be safe when possible.
- Read and follow directions on product
labels— always!
- Post the Poison Control Center telephone
number next to the phone.
- Never mix two products together unless you
are certain it is safe to do so.
- Never mix bleach and ammonia.
- Keep all hazardous products, including
bleach, in a cabinet out of reach of children.
- Buy products in childproof containers.
- Keep hazardous products in their original
containers.
- Give my leftover products to someone else to
use.
- Find out about my community’s hazardous
waste collection points.
- Recycle products that you can — oil,
antifreeze, products with mercury.
- Never burn or dump leftover products or
containers on the ground.
When in Doubt,
Check it Out
Call your local Poison Control Center (800)
222-1222
Call your local Cooperative Extension office
Call your local or state health department
Call the Consumer Products Safety Commission:
(800) 638-2772
http://www.cpsc.gov
Contact Healthy Indoor Air for America’s
Homes: (406) 994-3451
http://www.montana.edu/wwwcxair/
The Home* A* Syst handbook gives more details
about this and other healthy home topics. (608) 262- 0024
http://www.uwex.edu/homeasyst
EPA's Consumer Labeling Initiative
http://www.epa.gov/oppt/labeling/
Next Chapter: Pesticides >>
This chapter was adapted from
“Managing Hazardous Household Products,” by Elaine Andrews,
University of Wisconsin Cooperative Extension. In Home* A* Syst, An
Environmental Risk- Assessment Guide for the Home, ©1997 Regents of the
University of Wisconsin System. All rights reserved. |
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