Spring clean these dangerous everyday chemicals from your home

Ah spring! The perfect time to refresh and rejuvenate our homes and gardens. Yet amongst the flurry of dusting, pruning and decluttering, a potentially dangerous hazard can be overlooked in our cupboards and sheds: everyday household chemicals.

Before you think about tipping those chemicals down the sink or into your kerbside bins, there is a better, safer way to dispose of toxic household items: Sustainability Victoria’s Detox Your Home program.

Disposing of toxic items correctly will:

• reduce the risk to our environment and human health
• help keep our waterways clean
• prevent chemicals from ending up in landfill
• reuse precious resources.

Read on to learn about 5 dangerous everyday household chemicals, and how you can book into a Detox Your Home drop-off day near you to safely spring clean them from your home. For those chemicals that you still need, learn how to safely handle and store those products so you can protect your pets and family.

1. Cleaning products

According to researchers from the Victorian Injury Surveillance Unit (VISU) at the Monash University Accident Research Centre, common household cleaning products accounted for more than 850 emergency department (ED) visits over the past 10 years – more than any other type of poison. VISU researchers say the most common types of cleaning products ingested by children aged 0-4 years were detergents (171 ED visits), toilet cleaner (41 ED visits) and disinfectant (18 ED visits).

2. Poisons and insecticides

Monash University researchers found that over the past 10 years, 227 Victorians were treated at an ED for accidental ingestion of rat poisons, insecticides or ant killer. Most concerningly, 89% of patients presenting for rat poison ingestion were aged 0-4 years.

3. Hand sanitiser

Surprisingly, hand sanitiser has a use by date! It’s also been the cause of 30 visits to the emergency department for poisonings over the past 10 years, including 22 children aged 0-4 years. Children are especially at risk from accidental hand sanitiser ingestion as even a small dose of alcohol can cause poisoning.

Alcohol-based sanitisers tipped down the drain can have dire effects on aquatic life, and sanitizer disposed in landfill bins can contaminate groundwater and leach into the wider environment. As a flammable liquid, it also increases the risk of fire in garbage trucks and at waste disposal facilities when disposed of in the landfill bin.

4. Flammable chemicals

Storing flammable chemicals in your home or shed is dangerous, particularly in fire season. In the event of a fire, toxic household chemicals can act as extra fuel and release gases that pose a risk to you and your family, and to the emergency services personnel who come to your aid. Safely disposing of unwanted flammable chemicals, like turpentine, kerosene, mower fuel, and other cleaning and garden chemicals, is an important part of preparing for bushfire season.

5. Beauty products

A somewhat surprising entry to this list, beauty products are considered toxic household chemicals, and are potentially harmful to humans, waterways, wildlife and our environment. So how can you dispose of those old, half-filled bottles of beauty products – the ones that promised eternal youth but didn’t quite live up to the hype?

Drop unwanted products off at a Detox Your Home event. If the containers are empty, you can recycle the plastic packaging by returning them to a Mecca, Priceline, MAC or Kiehl’s store.

Attend a Detox Your Home drop-off event

• Detox Your Home is Victoria’s free and safe way to dispose of unwanted household chemicals from your home, shed, or garage.
• Approximately 40 pop-up events are hosted around Victoria each year in partnership with local councils. The program is delivered by the Victorian Government through Sustainability Victoria.
  
• Toxic chemicals dropped off at these events are immediately sorted by qualified chemists and transported to a specialist waste treatment facility where they are either repurposed, recycled or stored in secure landfills.

To find out more and to book an event near you, visit Detox Your Home.