Using bleach to clean your home could create toxic airborne pollutants ‘which can irritate your eyes, nose and throat and damage your lungs’

• Fumes from bleach cleaning products react with chemicals from air fresheners
• When light hits them they create toxic secondary organic aerosols (SOAs)
• Previous studies have shown these particles cause eye and airway irritation

Cleaning your home with bleach could put you at risk of an array of health problems, a study suggests.

Scientists discovered fumes from bleach cleaning products reacted with chemicals given off by air fresheners.

And when exposed to light – either sunlight or from lamps – they can mix together to form toxic airborne particles, known as secondary organic aerosols (SOAs).

These particles irritate the eyes, nose and throat, and can cause headaches, nausea, as well as damage to the lungs. 

Scientists have now warned the SOAs can easily build-up in high levels in poorly ventilated homes and buildings. 

They advised people clean their homes with the windows open and try to stick to one cleaning product at a time. 

Scientists discovered fumes from bleach cleaning products reacted with chemicals given off by air fresheners. When exposed to light they can mix together to form toxic airborne particles, known as secondary organic aerosols (SOAs)

University of Toronto researchers added limonene, HOCl and Cl2 to air in an climate chamber and then measured the reaction products.

Limonene is commonly used in air fresheners, sprays and surface wipes to give off a citrus smell. 

The other two compounds, HOCI (hypochlorous acid) and Cl2 (chlorine gas) are both emitted by bleach cleaning products.  

In the dark, limonene and HOCl/Cl2 quickly reacted to produce a variety of volatile compounds.

When the team turned on fluorescent lights to mimic a light bulb in a home, these volatile compounds interacted with the light to form SOAs.

The same happened when the scientists exposed the chamber to sunlight pouring in through a window.

HOW DO BLEACH FUMES CREATE TOXIC CHEMICALS?

Two compounds, HOCI (hypochlorous acid) and Cl2 (chlorine gas) are given off by bleach cleaning products.

The fumes build up in poorly ventilated homes.

They then react with the chemical limonene.

Limonene is commonly used in air fresheners, sprays and surface wipes to give off a citrus smell.

When they react, they produce a variety of volatile compounds.

When these volatile compounds are exposed to light –  either sunlight or from lamps – they produce secondary organic aerosols (SOAs).

These particles irritate the eyes, nose and throat, and can cause headaches, nausea, as well as damage to the liver and kidneys.

The researchers, led by Professor Chen Wang, warn they could pose a serious health risk to the public. 

However, the team of academics note that health effects of these particles need to be studied further.

They found that indoor lighting or sunshine through windows split the compounds HOCl and Cl2. 

This process made them more susceptible to reacting with the air fresheners to form SOAs. 

Previous studies have shown SOAs, also produced by aromatherapy oils, cause eye and airway irritation. 

Professor Wang told MailOnline: ‘I recommend people to not mix different cleaning products, for example do not mix bleach with a terpene cleaner. 

‘I also recommend to ventilate the home during cleaning – for example, open the windows – which will decrease indoor concentrations of cleaning emissions.

‘Fine particles are only formed in presence of light, because light split the compounds from bleach, and reacts with limonene. 

‘We observed reaction of limonene with bleach emissions in the dark, but not particle formation. That’s not to say they are not harmful without light. 

‘Likewise, we won’t say it is harmful, because this requires identification of the reaction products and health studies in the future.’ 

The findings are published in the European Journal of Preventive Cardiology.

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