Household Hazardous Products

What are Household Hazardous Products? 

Many of the products that people use to clean and maintain their homes, cars and hobbies can cause harm. The only way to know if something is hazardous and what steps are needed to protect yourself and your family is to carefully read labels.

The words Poison, Danger, Warning, or Caution on the product label tell you that the product is hazardous. Poison and Danger indicate the highest hazard levels:

• Poison means that a product is highly toxic, and can cause injury or death if ingested, breathed in, or absorbed through the skin.
• Danger means that a product is either highly toxic, flammable, or corrosive. Look for the word danger on cleaners, polishes, paint strippers and pesticides. Danger means the product could poison you, cause serious damage to your skin or eyes, or easily cause a fire.
• Warning and Caution both indicate that a product may be mild to moderately toxic, corrosive, reactive, or flammable.

Products that don't have any of the above words on the label are considered the least hazardous.

Hazards of Common Household Products

A product is hazardous if it has at least one of the following properties:

Toxic — Poisonous or causes long-term illness (such as cancer). Pesticides, paint thinners, many auto products and some cleaners are toxic. Look for words on the product label like:

• "Harmful or fatal if swallowed"
  
• "Use only in a well-ventilated area" (this means product fumes are toxic)

Flammable — Burns easily. Paint, thinners and other solvents, and auto products are the most flammable home products. Look for words on the product label like:

• "Do not use near heat or flame"
  
• "Combustible"
• "Do not smoke while using this product"

Corrosive — Eats through materials (acid, for example). Oven cleaners, drain cleaners, toilet bowl cleaners, and auto batteries are common corrosive products. Look for words on the product label like:

• "Causes severe burns on contact"
• "Can burn eyes, skin, throat"

Reactive — Can catch fire or create poisonous gases when mixed with other products (NEVER mix household products). Can also explode when exposed to heat, air, water, or shock. Except for fireworks, there are few consumer products still on the market that are explosive. Some older explosive products might still be stored in homes.