How Household Sprays Are Putting Your Health at RISK

When it comes to keeping our homes clean and healthy, we often reach for a variety of household sprays, from disinfectants and cleaners to sunscreens and cosmetic mists.

But could these seemingly harmless products be doing more harm than good?

A new study suggests that the answer may be yes, as common household sprays have been found to release invisible particles that could endanger your health…

Researchers from Rutgers University in New Jersey have discovered that when we use household sprays, we’re not just cleaning or protecting our surfaces—we’re also filling our homes with nanoparticles.

These tiny grains of engineered material are so small that they’re invisible to the human eye, measuring just one to 100 nanometers in size. To put that into perspective, a single sheet of office paper is 100,000 nanometers thick.

But just because we can’t see these nanoparticles doesn’t mean they’re not there.

In fact, the study found that when household sprays are used, the residual nanoparticles stick to carpet fibers and floors, and are also suspended three to five feet in the air.

That means that every time you walk through a room where these sprays have been used, you’re stirring up these potentially harmful particles and breathing them in.

What’s even more concerning is that children are more likely to inhale these nanoparticles, as they are closer to the floor where the particles settle. “If an adult is walking in a room and steps on some of these deposited particles, we found that the particles will be re-suspended in the air and rise as high as that person’s breathing zone,” explains Gediminas Mainelis, a professor in the department of environmental science at Rutgers School of Environmental and Biological Sciences.

So, what makes these nanoparticles so potentially dangerous?

Many of them contain silver, copper, or zinc, which have been increasingly used in household products in recent decades due to their unique properties at a microscopic level. For example, some nanoparticles have strong magnetic properties, while others conduct heat or electricity more efficiently or change color.

While the long-term health effects of nanoparticle exposure are not yet fully understood, this study raises important questions about the safety of these household sprays. The researchers found that the concentration of particles resuspended in the air depended on the product, and that children were more at risk of exposure to particles stuck on carpets than vinyl surfaces.

So, what can we do to protect ourselves and our families from this invisible threat? Mainelis suggests that we can use this knowledge to minimize our exposures to various nanomaterials. “Overall, this work could help us understand the resulting exposures and support future studies on human exposure reduction,” he adds.

In the meantime, it may be worth thinking twice before reaching for that household spray. Consider alternative cleaning methods, such as using a damp cloth or mop, and opt for products that are free from nanoparticles whenever possible. If you do use sprays, be sure to ventilate the area well and keep children away from recently sprayed surfaces.

Remember, just because something is invisible doesn’t mean it’s harmless.

To a cleaner, healthier home,

Rachel Mace
Managing Editorial Director, e-Alert
with contributions from the research team

P.S. There’s a new toxic household chemical?

Sources:

Jocelyn Solis-Moreira. (2024). Household sprays are filling homes with invisible particles that may endanger your health. Science of The Total Environment. https://studyfinds.org/household-sprays-nanoparticles/