Cleaning Products and Indoor Air Quality Actions to Reduce Exposures

This page last reviewed January 04, 2010.

The use of certain common cleaning products and air fresheners can cause an increase in indoor concentrations of both gaseous and particle air pollutants when those products are used in the presence of ozone. In a recent study funded by the California Air Resources Board (ARB), investigators found that chemicals directly emitted from the products generally were not a problem, but that indoor chemical reactions of the substances emitted produced formaldehyde and ultrafine particles, pollutants of serious health concern. Fortunately, people who use these products can take simple steps to reduce the production of air pollutants and their exposure to them. The fact sheet linked below provides more information on the research results and lists actions you can take to reduce your exposure to pollutants when using cleaning products.