Journal 12: Humble Beginnings of Hazardous Chemicals

Something that has been in my realm of thought since the Johnson and Johnson Baby Powder trials prominent in years past is the history of chemicals. No one knew that a product so seemingly harmless would be linked to ovarian cysts and cancer in years to come. Diseases perpetrated by chemicals like PCOS are just now having light shed on them. Things like this are what prompted me to research when it was that we began stuffing cleaning agents with preservatives and other toxic substances.

In Prehistoric times, the cleaner of choice and most availability was water, obviously. It was not until the mid 1800's to early 1900's that soap was invented, researched, taxed as a luxury good, and eventually sold as a necessity. This struck me as odd when I first found this out because soap is a daily part of our lives we don't pay an awful lot of attention to. What chemicals were in the first soaps? How did manufacturers create soap? What was the incentive or push to do so? My guess is that it would have been disease and the desire to prevent the spread of bacterial illness.

Washing Machines also provided incentive for soap to be produced. Today this has evolved into laundry detergent, something that anyone with a washing machine most likely owns. Having never previously wondered this, I can't help but wonder what chemicals make some people allergic to detergent. What are we as a school doing to handle chemical allergies children may have to ingredients of cleaning agents used in the building? Of course, we're not using laundry detergent in school, but surely some kids react differently to certain cleaning agents than others throughout the building.

The beginning of cleaning products makes sense now that it is put into context. With the most effective products on the market to date being available to us currently, I have to continue wondering how different time periods effected what went into cleaning products. Was it a concern for pre-wartime homemakers raising children? Or the all-natural hippies of the 60's? The most prominent groups influencing chemical content of products today include the state of California, mothers of concerned children, and various other conscious consumer groups. The only way that the harmful trajectory cleaning products are on can change is if the conscious consumers change them.