To bleach or not to bleach...

NOT my bathroom, thank goodness! If it was, the answer to this post wold be more straightforward - hose and bleach! But most of us don't have bathrooms like this, so let's talk about bleach in a calm and rational manner.

Just the other morning on the BBC Breakfast show, they were talking about the "hygiene hypothesis"... a term used to describe the clean and hygienic state of our homes leading to more allergies because children aren't exposed to enough microbes. Now I know that I have blogged about 'whitening whites' wherein I said that chlorine bleach is unnecessary, but what about around the rest of the house? Should we abandon bleach for good? Well on the same breakfast show, the had a hygiene specialist who brought along all sorts of cleaning products - many of them containing bleach, and she was saying that there really are only two areas of our homes where dangerous bacteria lurch and that we should be disinfecting these areas. She was of course talking of the bathroom and kitchen.

I cannot write about liquid chlorine bleach without going into the health risks. Chlorine bleach is not to be taken lightly, and you really should never use it without wearing gloves to protect your skin. It can cause respiratory problems, skin irritation, chest pain, and vomiting, coughing, and excess fluid in the lungs. People most susceptible to these symptoms when exposed to chlorine bleach are the young, the elderly and anyone with health concerns such as respiratory problems. A colleague of mine once decided to spring clean his bathroom with bleach. The bathroom was just off the bedroom where he sleeps and he woke up the following morning after a night of nightmares, with a painful headaches and dizziness and as a result had to take the day off work he felt so ill.

So why would anyone even use chlorine bleach, or a product containing chlorine bleach? Well, bleach is a disinfectant, Chlorine bleach is effectively a pesticide since it kills of viruses (2). And truth be told, household bleach isn't all bad, it is a relatively weak solution of sodium hypochlorite. The trouble with household bleach is that it poses a risk due to carelessness and misuse and of course it's not great that so much of it is going down the drains into the water system because of the environmental impact it has (1).

So as with many things in life, I think it's best not to get radical. By all means, keep the bottle of bleach, but remember, it's your home you are cleaning, not a hospital. So don't over use the bleach. Remember that the best way to keep you and your family safe from bacteria is good old hand washing with warm water and soap!

But here are some safety tips if you decide to keep the bleach:

• Always avoid direct skin contact with bleach, wear gloves for goodness sake!
• Dilute as per the instructions and use the diluted solution immediately since diluted chlorine bleach loses its antibacterial properties after a couple of days.
• Never, ever mix anything else with bleach, especially ammonia based products. That goes for toilet bowl cleaners, wash away all traces of other cleaners before adding bleach to the toilet bowl and don't even think about making your own concoction of vinegar and bleach -it's lethal!
• Try to only use bleach around the toilet area and in your kitchen where necessary, and in the kitchen, make double sure you have properly rinsed off any traces of bleach with water.
• Avoid using bleach in confined spaces. The oven is one example, this is a space that is hard to ventilate, you would be better off with some bicarbonate of soda for that job.
• Don't buy scented bleach - on it's own it's nasty enough, it certainly doesn't need any extra chemicals to make it worse.
• ALWAYS ALWAYS store bleach, or any products containing bleach well out of reach of children and pets!!!

Now, if I've scared you enough with the talk of respiratory problems and headaches and you would like to give bleach a miss, there are some alternatives, although perhaps not as powerful. But once again, some hand washing will do more to protect your family than that bottle of bleach.

• White vinegar can help to keep surfaces clean and bacteria free.
• Hot soapy water is the best way to kill off salmonella and e-coli, so if you're washing your dishes in hot soapy water you're already doing a good job of getting rid of them.
• There are some non-chlorine bleach products out there such as from the Ecover range to use in and around the toilet bowl.
• Scrubbing sinks, tubs, and counter tops with a paste of baking soda and water effectively removes dirt rings and some stains (3).
• A steam cleaner effectively kills bacteria and is a wonderful device if you or any members of your family suffer from Asthma or allergies.
• Bacteria and mould grow in moist conditions, so use a used towel in the bathroom to dry off any surfaces after a bath or shower, and you'll hardly ever need to disinfect your bathroom again.
  

I hope you've been informed by this post, and that you will all avoid reaching for the bottle of bleach every time you clean. I think with a bit of caution and careful dilution, using bleach once in a while is not such a bad thing. But consider using gentler products for everyday cleaning, and by that I mean avoid any general household cleaning products that may also contain chlorine bleach (so many of them do), it just isn't necessary and not worth the risk.

For some more facts on the uses of bleach:

1http://www.thegreenguide.com/doc/95/bleach

2http://www.epa.gov/kidshometour/products/bleach.htm

3 http://www.grist.org/advice/possessions/2003/03/18/possessions-cleaning/index.html

http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2004/may/18/medicineandhealth.lifeandhealth

http://www.ehow.com/how_2123272_use-bleach-around-house.html