Cleaning products used daily during COVID-19 may be doing more harm than good: study

A new study warns that certain cleaning products that became high-use during the COVID-19 pandemic may be doing more harm than good.

Researchers highlighted that cleaning products containing something called quaternary ammonium compounds (QACs) may be connected to asthma, dermatitis and inflammation in humans.

Experts say that soap and water, as well as cleaning products that don’t include these chemicals, are safer to reach for, and are recommending better regulation of QACs.

The study, published Monday in the peer-reviewed journal Environmental Science & Technology, reviewed scientific literature performed both before and after the start of the pandemic and found that the use of products containing QACs has been on the rise and are lacking in proper regulation and research.

“Disinfectant wipes containing QACs are often used on children’s school desks, hospital exam tables, and in homes where they remain on these surfaces and in the air,” Courtney Carignan, a co-author and assistant professor at Michigan State University, said in a press release. “Our review of the science suggests disinfecting with these chemicals in many cases is unhelpful or even harmful. We recommend regular cleaning with soap and water and disinfecting only as needed with safer products.”

QACs are a very common class of chemicals, used in numerous products as antimicrobials, preservatives and softening agents, as well as providing the active ingredient for many cleaning and disinfecting products.

They’re very commonly found in disinfecting wipes, a cleaning tool that saw a spike in use at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic as consumers sought to make their spaces as safe as possible.

Since 2020, research has established that COVID-19 is an airborne virus, and does not spread easily merely through touching a contaminated surface. But many are still disinfecting surfaces at a higher level than pre-pandemic, researchers suggested, and may be unaware that some of the common products they’re reaching for could pose health concerns.

“Despite widespread use and environmental releases of QACs to the environment, most QACs have not undergone rigorous regulatory assessment for potential adverse human and ecological health effects,” researchers wrote in the study.

In their review of the existing scientific literature about QACs, researchers found that these chemicals persist in our wastewater and leach into our environment. Some studies have shown that many QACs are “moderately to highly toxic” for some species of fish, but researchers noted that research is lacking in QACs impact on terrestrial organisms.

When it comes to humans, however, there appears to be a clear link between QACs and negative health outcomes, the study found.

“These products that we use sit on the surfaces that we’re cleaning, and they stay there for a while — think about a child’s classroom where everything is being wiped down — and they’re also in the air, and the question is: can they be harmful to our health?” CTV Medical Expert Dr. Marla Shapiro said in an interview with CTV News Channel on Tuesday. “So this is a study that looked at exactly that.”

Researchers combed through studies looking at the effects of chronic exposure to QACs, and found that exposure could be linked to increased risk of certain health problems.

“Think about the fact that you’re inhaling some of these compounds because they’re sitting on surfaces. So they have been linked to quite a few health problems,” Shapiro said. “For example, some of the health problems that we see are things like asthma, for example, because you’re inhaling these compounds, dermatitis because they’re going on your hands.”

One study included in this new review found that nurses with a high-level of exposure to disinfectants and cleaning products were significantly more likely to develop chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

Shapiro added that some studies, as this new review also mentions, have tracked “potential links to fertility and infertility and birth defects,” associated with QAC exposure. These links have mostly been observed in animal studies thus far.

Those with high exposure risk to QACs include workers who manufacture cleaning products and those in medical, housekeeping or cleaning jobs, as well as school staff. Researchers also found that children may experience a higher exposure to QACs than the average adult because children are more likely to put their hand in their mouth after touching an unknown surface.

Another factor that concerns experts is that these chemicals may be contributing to antimicrobial resistance, an issue in which our tools to fight bacteria grow increasingly weaker due to overuse. This new research cited one study where after soil microbial communities were exposed to a specific QAC, it resulted in several antimicrobial genes growing in strength and abundance.

“So in a sense they’re not helping at all, and they’re teaching the bacteria to be resistant to these particular chemicals,” Shapiro said.

The increase in QAC use was an issue even before the pandemic, according to researchers.

In the U.S., researchers theorized this was because they are frequent replacements for many active ingredients that were banned in hand and body washes by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in 2016.

They are found all throughout Canada’s industries as well.

In accordance with the Canadian Environmental Protection Act, Canada released information in 2020 on how many QACs were found in goods manufactured and imported in Canada in 2017. They received data on around 800 QACs present across multiple industries, with the top industries being cosmetics, beauty supplies and perfume stores; chemical and allied product merchant wholesalers; toilet preparation manufacturing; soap and cleaning compound manufacturing; and toiletries, cosmetics and sundries merchant wholesalers.

There were more than 10 million kilograms of substances that fall under QACs in laundry and dishwashing products in Canada alone in 2017, the data stated.

In light of the worrying data surrounding QACs, researchers are recommending that QAC use is eliminated in products where it is unnecessary or the effectiveness hasn’t been proven, and that regulations around QAC disclosure in products are strengthened.

“Drastically reducing many uses of QACs won’t spread COVID-19,” Carol Kwiatkowski, a co-author and scientist at the Green Science Policy Institute, said in the release. “In fact, it will make our homes, classrooms, offices, and other shared spaces healthier.”

So how do you tell if your cleaning products contain QACs?

Shapiro said that a common QAC found in cleaning products that consumers can look out for is benzalkonium chloride, and that labels may have other chemicals listed that end in “ammonium chloride” or something similar.

“You can recognize these because they (often) have the name ammonia in them,” she said.

Those who are concerned should know that not all cleaning products contain QACs.

“So there are options. Firstly, remember soap and water? Soap and water is probably one of the best disinfectants that we can use,” Shapiro said.

The study’s press release also included a list of safer cleaning products assessed by the Toxics Use Reduction Institute (TURI) with the University of Massachusetts Lowell which consumers can turn to instead of products containing QACs:

SAFER PRODUCTS

Antibacterial All-Purpose Cleaner - Method Products Inc

Arm and Hammer Essentials - CR Brands Inc.

Comet Disinfecting Bathroom Cleaner - The Proctor & Gamble Company

Lysol® Bathroom Cleaner - Reckitt Benckiser LLC

Lysol® Neutra Air® 2 in 1 - Reckitt Benckiser LLC

Purell Professional Surface Disinfectant - GOJO Industries Inc

Kaboom - Church & Dwight Company Inc

Clorox Commercial Solutions® Clorox® Disinfecting Biostain & Odor Remover - Clorox Professional Products Company

Lysol Multi-Purpose Cleaners - Reckitt Benckiser LLC

Clorox Pet Solutions Advanced Formula Disinfecting Stain & Odor Remover - The Clorox Company

Envirocleanse A - Envirocleanse LLC

Cleansmart - Simple Science Limited

Scrubbing Bubbles - S.C. Johnson & Son Inc

Windex Disinfectant Cleaner - S.C. Johnson & Son Inc

Force of Nature Activator Capsule - HCl Cleaning Products LLC

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The full list, including commercial, institution and industrial use products as well as residential use, can be found here at the TURI website.

TURI notes that products are included on the list based on whether their active ingredient is one that is considered safer, and that they do not “endorse any specific products or vendors.”