https://www.engineeringnews.co.za

Industrial-strength cleaners harmful to human health

NEW INITIATIVES
Green Worx Cleaning Solutions has launched initiatives aimed at making men’s restrooms more pleasant

NEW INITIATIVES Green Worx Cleaning Solutions has launched initiatives aimed at making men’s restrooms more pleasant

20th March 2015

By: Donna Slater

Features Deputy Editor and Chief Photographer

  

Font size: - +

The increasing prevalence in the use of cleaning products marketed as having industrial-strength cleaning properties – especially in the household goods market – does more harm than good to human health and the environment, claims biocleaning solutions company Green Worx Cleaning Solutions.

This is because the strong and harmful chemicals that most cleaning products contain are available in most supermarkets, says Green Worx Cleaning Solutions CEO Chris Kettley.

He tells Engineering News that the term ‘industrial strength’ has received widespread market acknowledgement and is leading to an increase in the sales of industrial-strength products, owing to the perception that they are superior cleaning products.

“In the current age of superconsumption, marketers have trained consumers to seek out brands that deliver superlative benefits over competitors’ products. Consumers buy these products thinking that they are getting the most value for money.”

Kettley says industrial strength is a marketing-infused brand attribute that suggests cleaning products will make homes cleaner and do the job faster or more cheaply.

He adds that the term implies that these types of products are not meant for household use but for heavy, industrial applications: “As consumers, we are driven to want such products simply because we are, technically, not supposed to have them.”

The truth, however, is far more worrying, says Kettley. “The common cleaning products, containing industrial-strength chemicals, which society has grown accustomed to trust, are harmful to people’s health,” he states.

Further, while a significant number of consumers might be aware that some household cleaning products are harmful, they usually do not understand the full extent of the products’ toxicity, which leads to vastly underestimating their harmfulness.

Kettley explains that all harmful cleaning products bear one of three warning labels, called signal words: these include caution, warning and danger. These indicate the level of toxicity – upon swallowing, inhaling or absorption through skin – of the substances found in products that display these signal words.

He says the signal word ‘caution’ is the least severe, as it implies that one ounce to a pint of the product could be harmful, or fatal.

The user should apply moderate caution when using a product displaying a warning, which indicates that one teaspoon to an ounce of the product could be harmful or fatal.

‘Danger’ is the most severe signal word, implying that a simple taste to one teaspoon of the product could be fatal.

Meanwhile, the hazardous ingredients in household cleaning products are categorised as carcinogens, endocrine disruptors and neurotoxins.

Carcinogens cause cancer or promote the growth of cancer, while endocrine disruptors mimic human hormones, which confuse the body with false signals. Exposure to endocrine disruptors can cause several health issues, including reproductive, developmental and behavioural problems. Neurotoxins can alter neurons, which affect brain activity.

Bioproducts Available
Green Worx Cleaning Solutions reports that, since its inception in 2007, market acceptance of its ecobenign microbial products has been on an upward trend, despite the especially niche market for biocleaning products.

“Since inception, Green Worx Cleaning Solutions has doubled its sales volumes year-on-year, without exception,” Kettley notes.

Last year, the company produced 120 t of highly concentrated product, which, when broken down into ready-to-use application form, translates into 1 200 t of product.

The company currently manufactures its products in a 600 m2 factory in Kya Sands, Johannesburg. Kettley says that, over the past eight years, the company has had to move four times because it required larger and improved premises.

Green Worx Cleaning Solutions’ research and development department has developed several first-of-its-kind products over the years.

The company’s most popular products include its South African Bureau of Standards-certified ultra-grease-control Odorite enzymatic deep clean and Bio Tech GTX products. “These three products equate to 60% of the company’s yearly volume – 720 t of yearly production,” he tells Engineering News.

The company’s largest markets – by order or in volume – include the commercial and industrial cleaning sectors, which include wastewater treatment and hospitality.

Edited by Samantha Herbst
Creamer Media Deputy Editor

Comments

Showroom

Booyco Electronics
Booyco Electronics

Booyco Electronics, South African pioneer of Proximity Detection Systems, offers safety solutions for underground and surface mining, quarrying,...

VISIT SHOWROOM 
Goodwin Submersible Pumps Africa (Pty) Ltd
Goodwin Submersible Pumps Africa (Pty) Ltd

Goodwin Submersible Pumps Africa is sole distributors for Goodwin electrically driven, submersible, abrasion resistance slurry pumps.

VISIT SHOWROOM 

Latest Multimedia

sponsored by

Option 1 (equivalent of R125 a month):

Receive a weekly copy of Creamer Media's Engineering News & Mining Weekly magazine
(print copy for those in South Africa and e-magazine for those outside of South Africa)
Receive daily email newsletters
Access to full search results
Access archive of magazine back copies
Access to Projects in Progress
Access to ONE Research Report of your choice in PDF format

Option 2 (equivalent of R375 a month):

All benefits from Option 1
PLUS
Access to Creamer Media's Research Channel Africa for ALL Research Reports, in PDF format, on various industrial and mining sectors including Electricity; Water; Energy Transition; Hydrogen; Roads, Rail and Ports; Coal; Gold; Platinum; Battery Metals; etc.

Already a subscriber?

Forgotten your password?

MAGAZINE & ONLINE

SUBSCRIBE

RESEARCH CHANNEL AFRICA

SUBSCRIBE

CORPORATE PACKAGES

CLICK FOR A QUOTATION







sq:0.076 0.131s - 160pq - 2rq
Subscribe Now