1b. What about chemical-free cleaning products? Are they chemicals?

Question: Can a ‘non-hazardous’ or ‘natural’ or ‘chemical-free’ or ‘eco-friendly’ or ‘plant based’ or ‘allergy friendly’ cleaning product still be dangerous?

Answer: Yes, absolutely. Even when a chemical is not classed as hazardous according to the GHS requirements, it can still cause harm, although the risks may not be as severe. That’s why treating all chemicals with respect and using good practice is important.

Question: But my cleaning solution provider says the product I use is ‘chemical-free’, it can’t be a chemical can it?

Answer: The truth is, it is still 100% a chemical. Remember even water (H2O) is a chemical. Marketers trying to sell their cleaning products as a safer cleaning alternative often use the term ‘chemical-free’ which is not accurate. That’s why this training applies to all cleaning solutions, even these ones.

Sometimes the “chemical-free’ claim is a reference to the product being classed as a non-hazardous chemical, but it is still a chemical. They may be claiming that the ingredients are non-hazardous. Sometimes products claim to be “chemical-free” that have hazardous ingredients but due to the small amount included, the product is classed as non-hazardous. In many cases even saying a product is “hazardous chemical-free” is not technically accurate because many non-hazardous chemicals contain ingredients that are hazardous in their raw, 100% form but when used in small amounts don’t require a finished product to be classed as hazardous.

Most reasonable people would say ‘chemical-free’ is a dishonest claim because it tries to redefine accepted terms. In any case, the vast majority of general cleaning products on the market meet the criteria of being non-hazardous. So if chemical-free is the same as non-hazardous it’s not a very high bar and there’s nothing very special about it.

The point here is, be cautious of crazy ‘chemical-free’ product claims. It’s a bit of a mess when marketers start redefining terms just to sell more products.