To wonder why lethal cleaning products aren’t illegal?

[EmpressLesbianInChair]

Shopping today, I noticed how many standard cleaning products - washing up liquid, bleach, liquid for washing clothes - have warnings on the back about being highly toxic to aquatic life.

I can’t believe there isn’t more fuss about this. Yes, there are alternatives if you look hard enough but why are these products even allowed?

I often wonder the same. We are killing the planet!!

everything is toxic in the wrong exposure.
Water & oxygen can easily kill you.
Diluted they can be ok in the environment.

everything is toxic in the wrong exposure.
Water & oxygen can easily kill you.
Diluted they can be ok in the environment.

If they were ok diluted then there wouldn’t be a need for them to have ‘Harmful to aquatic life with long lasting effects’ written on the containers, though.

Everything in the right (or wrong) quantities can be lethal. Chuck a bottle of oil in a pond and it would likely kill some things off, but we aren't going to ban that are we?

It's how safety data sheets work. There will be another safety data sheet with a different set of warnings for the product in use. Probably with no warnings on them.
It's all about the concentrations of specific ingredients in the product as it's sold.

If they were ok diluted then there wouldn’t be a need for them to have ‘Harmful to aquatic life with long lasting effects’ written on the containers, though.

We live in a world where a box of crunchy nut has a warning saying may contain nuts. Everything has warnings on these days

Lots of things we use in every day life are fatal to other flora and fauna. Lots of things we use are fatal to us for that matter. Those bottles you've posted pictures of would kill you too if you drank them (or at least would make you very ill!).

That doesn't make them inherently bad, it just means that we shouldn't be pouring them into lakes. Or drinking them.

I thought you meant lethal to people using them. Lots of things are lethal to wildlife arent they? If I sprayed a fly with air freshener it would die

That’s not to say I don’t think legislation should be passed to make products safer though

That’s to prevent people from using them in waterways (when camping for instance) or dumping it in their fish tank or what have you. It’s not going to harm anyone if used properly.

Fairy liquid goes down the drain, to the sewers, where it is treated and cleaned before being returned to the watercourse.

It's harmful to aquatic life if you discharge it directly into a river or stream, but that's illegal.

Just as dangerous to aquatic life if discharged directly into a watercourse is milk. Milk takes all the oxygen out of water and kills all the fish.

Do you want to ban milk?

I thought about this the other day. I imagined all of the factories producing millions of litres of products - bathroom cleaners, bleach, window cleaning sprays, etc. Then I imagined them all being used and poured down the sink/toilet/drain. All at once. Basically it helped me to realise how much we are pouring down the drain daily as a nation. It’s alright saying it’s only a small amount used daily in the home, but actually it is a massive deal. I frightened myself and so I started to look into more natural products and I shall try to stick to the old fashioned vinegar and water, lemon juice etc and see how that goes.

Ok, a lot of this is really useful information. I saw the labels this morning & thought WTF (and I have no intention of drinking any of the products by the way!)

I didn’t know the part about being treated & cleaned so that’s reassuring.

I shall try to stick to the old fashioned vinegar and water, lemon juice etc and see how that goes.

Yes, I use white vinegar for cleaning and it works fine.

this is why regulation is complicated, there's safe & dangerous ways of using most things, and most things are plausibly safe if only used as instructed. it's why we have big institutions & govt to try to find a balance betw the just too dangerous vs. acceptable chemicals. It's the reason we end up with Red Tape.

You're asking for simple lines where it's very hard to draw them.

These signs are outside most public places in California. The warning is legally required & absolutely meaningless & ignored by everyone.

Missing the point entirely, but it really tickles me when the TV ads always say 'Keep away from children' at the end. The invariable response is 'I try to'

Chemist here! It says that on the bottle, but as a previous poster said, a lower concentration of product would not have the same effect as if you added the bottle to your fish tank. It's all about different concentrations. By the time it hits aquatic life it is likely to be so dilute that it would not be of a dangerous level.

By the time it hits aquatic life it is likely to be so dilute that it would not be of a dangerous level.

GOOD. I’m feeling much more reassured now!