Can Cleaning Make You Sick?

April 08, 2019 Leave a Comment

Maybe you're one of those people who say you're allergic to housework or that hate cleaning. Even if it's your job to clean office buildings and other commercial settings, cleaning can be drudgery. Actually, the health risks for those in the commercial cleaning industry can lead to missed days of work, which can be costly to a company. The truth is, cleaning can literally make you sick, whether you are cleaning a house or an office. In fact, there are many ways cleaning can affect your health in a negative way. The effects can range from mild irritation to more serious threats. A study from the University of Bergen concludes that using cleaning sprays regularly can be as harmful to a person's lungs as smoking a pack of cigarettes a day for 10 to 20 years. Those are alarming statistics. So let's look at the question can cleaning make you sick and ways you can ensure that it doesn't.


This topic is a real concern not only for the average consumer, who may wonder why they feel so down after a day of house cleaning, but to janitors and others in the housekeeping industry who worry about some of the cleaning tasks they are faced with. Whether you are doing your personal cleaning or part of the commercial cleaning field, you are at risk in ways you may not have ever thought about.

What Conditions Can Make You Sick When You Clean?

This is a good question with a good answer. An area that sits for some time without being cleaned regularly, or in many cases, even when there is regular cleaning, can develop a setting that can cause sickness. Dust is one of the big ways that you can get sick from cleaning. Dust accumulates on every surface, including ceilings and fans, window sills, furniture, moldings, window shades, decorative items, and curtains. It even settles into your carpet. There's no escaping it. The dust that accumulates when cleaning hasn't occurred in a while can immediately cause irritation and allergies. Dust accumulates fairly quickly and is present often, even if an area is cleaned regularly. The minute you begin to dust it becomes airborne and can be ingested through the mouth or inhaled.


Cleaning where there is mold and mildew present can be dangerous for your health as well. This can be a high risk in public restrooms that are not cared for regularly or properly. Bacteria and fungi can make you ill even when you aren't cleaning, but once you start cleaning and actually come into contact with these substances, you're chance of getting sick only increases. Mold and mildew is widely found in kitchens and bathrooms, but it can also be present in places where you don't expect to find it, especially if there is some area that gets damp and moist that you aren't aware of.

These are the main contributors to getting sick when you clean in the home, but for those in the cleaning business, such as janitors in commercial settings, exposure to bodily fluids can lead to more serious health issues. Wearing protective items can help cut down on contracting an illness, but the risk is still present.

Besides the obvious factors that can weigh in on sickness while cleaning, some people find the harsh chemical cleaners used in the process is enough to make them sick. Common cleaners like bleach and store-bought products containing bleach and other chemical additives can cause sickness if they aren't handled properly. Many people use these products in areas that aren't well-ventilated, which, according to the EPA and CDC, can cause issues with breathing and even more serious issues over the long term.

If you aren't sure that the store-bought products we use to clean, sanitize, and disinfect are hurting us, just listen to the major health agencies. The CDC, the World Health Organization, and the American Lung Association are all making it clear: cleaners and disinfectants are harmful, not only to consumers, but to the environment. In fact, these agencies have stated that it is quite possible long-term use of these products is killing us. Many of the products have been linked to birth defects, asthma and allergies on the low end of the spectrum and in severe cases respiratory disease and cancer. They have also been linked to ADHD and autism.


Of course, wearing gloves and a mask can help keep you safe while you're cleaning, but the effects of these products stick around long after the cleaning is finished, and these precautions do little for those who are in the area while you're cleaning. There is, however, another way to alleviate some of the health issues involved with cleaning. It's simple. Change the way you clean. This means using a better method of cleaning and buying safer, less-toxic cleaning products. That's where GenEon comes in. We have developed a better way to clean, sanitize, and disinfect.

On-Site Generation and Electrochemically Activated Water

At GenEon, we use a process called On-Site Generation, which allows consumers to create the cleaning, sanitizing, and disinfecting products they need as they need them using water, electricity, and minerals. By creating the cleaning products you need as you need them, it is no longer necessary to store harmful chemical cleaning products. Since you only create what you need when you need it, On-Site Generation is also more cost-effective. This is a win/win situation. It's safer and costs less money. These products are
completely sustainable and safer for the environment than the harsh cleaning products found on store shelves and in commercial cleaning settings.

GenEon On-Site Generation is a process that produces powerful, efficient cleaning, degreasing , and sanitizing products using a method called electrochemical activation (ECA). Here's how it works. One of the natural minerals that GenEon uses as a catalyst is salt. Salt is a compound comprised of sodium and chloride. Sodium ions are positively charged and chloride ions are negatively charged. GenEon Onsite Generators expose these ions to a low electrical charge. The positive side of the charge electrochemically converts the chloride ion (Cl) to hypochlorous acid (HOCl), which is a powerful sanitizer. The negative side of the charge electrochemically converts the sodium ion (Na) into sodium hydroxide (NaOH), which is a cleaning compound commonly found in soaps and detergents. Unlike many other OSG systems, GenEon's system is a Blended Stream System that uses both versions in the same solution. The hypochlorous solution is represented as Free Available Chlorine (FAC) that has 80-200 times the sanitizing power of chlorine bleach. Since it is produced at a near neutral pH, it won't bleach out furniture or clothes. This is referred to as electrolyzed water for cleaning, and we are the leaders in high quality, safer, and more effective electrolyzed water solutions. That makes us the right choice for a safer cleaning, sanitizing, and disinfecting solution.


Whether you want to use our products in a residential or a commercial setting, GenEon offers just the right tools for your needs. We offer several on-site generator options, including the InstaFlow system, the perfect way to create a high volume of cleaning and sanitizing products. For more portability, we suggest the convenient Immerse-A-Clean, which is compact enough to hold in your hand while you create the all-natural, sustainable cleaning and sanitizing products you need on the spot.

Of course, we do offer a line of advanced delivery systems that allow you to apply our cleaning products in all types of settings, from the largest commercial facility to residential settings. The Mist delivery systems and our smaller Mist 2.5. are two of highly advanced methods of dispersing our products. Used with our cleaning, sanitizing, and disinfecting products, this is the perfect way to keep small and large areas clean and sanitized without getting sick, without harming the environment, and while saving money.

If you're interested in learning more about how GenEon products can help you clean, sanitize, and disinfect more efficiently or how you can start using GenEon's sustainable, cost-effective cleaning systems in your home or business, call us at 866.217.0205. We will be happy to introduce you to a better, safer way to clean.


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