San Diego: Bleach Is Not The Answer

I’ve been asked: why cleaning? What got you into to cleaning? Do you like cleaning?

Personally, I clean to protect my family from microscopic intruders. And, frankly, I use cleaning as a means to make some money while simultaneously helping people in a real way.

Globally, I believe what we do in terms of cleaning continues to have profound effects on the human species and our many habitats–many of the effects, if not all, are negative and unwanted. Just as Elon Musk is determined to find ways for humans to leave a lesser footprint on Earth–and, quite literally, leave Earth–I am determined to enlighten people of better ways to clean; better ways to survive. Afterall, it will do no good for humans to live on another planet and take our destructive habits with us.

Big Chemical Is Killing You

As humans, we clean every day. We bathe. We brush our teeth. We wash our hands. We wash dishes. We roll our cars through a car wash….What we think of “cleaning” has been taught, marketed, learned and conditioned since the dawn of man. We’ve been cleaning so long as a species that we may not even think twice about the chemicals we use, the equipment we choose or the processes we employ. Like unmanned drones, we go through our cleaning lives unquestioning of what we’re doing or what our goal is.

The danger in that is we allow corporate chemical companies to dictate what modern cleaning is, does, and what it uses. We let these companies get away with fraudulent, incomplete marketing campaigns where they pervert toxic-industrial chemicals for household-consumer use. Chemicals like bleach and ammonia were never meant to clean the table or floor our children crawl on; nor were they meant to clean the dishes we cook with or eat from. Somehow, these vicious chemicals have made their way into our “normal” human routine of survival and have become second nature to use in a cleaning crisis.

San Diego Got It Wrong

Most recently, in San Diego, California, there was an outbreak of hepatitis A amongst the homeless population. Over 400 cases with over a dozen deaths. Something must be done to curtail the infection rate. However, when I learned the solution they enacted was to walk the city streets and basically power wash the sidewalks with bleach, I was absolutely aghast. This rang several alarm bells:

Bleach is extremely toxic–especially the fumes. Was there a thought about the negative health consequences that use of toxic chemicals will bring? Respiratory, cognitive and nervous system issues are well documented. Hospitals and doctors in the area should keep an eye out for an uptick in reported issues.

Power washers will only add to the bleach’s harm by spraying fine particles from the overspray into the air where those particles can travel several yards or more depending on wind. The spray will affect the air quality for a greater number in the city rather than just in the local area.

Bleach and other nasty chemicals have contributed to superbugs, like MRSA, in our society.

How and why is bleach one of the first things we turn to in a cleaning crisis? Chemical companies have major lobbying and marketing power. They are dictating which chemicals to use and when. Some conspiracy theorists may say these chemicals are being used to control the population….

As highlighted by San Diego’s response, the unchecked use of toxic chemicals is an extreme detriment to our health and society. Worse yet, there is no guaranty this method of remedy will work or has worked.

Fight The Power

San Diego is just the latest city having to manage an outbreak like this. Is your city next? What will your city’s method of remedy be? Contact your city official’s and let them know bleach is not an answer. You just may have the power to keep your city’s cleaning resolution on a healthy, chemical-free path.

I’m in the cleaning industry to put the use of chemicals in check. A few of you will join me. It’s you I need to help spread the health and educate your family, friends and neighbors on proper, healthy ways to clean. Please share this post.