Toxic Ingredients in Toilet Bowl Cleaning Products Affect People and the Planet!

Statistical Information

Here is a reality check.  The earth might seem like it has abundant water, but in fact less than 1% is available for human use.  The rest is either salt water found in oceans, fresh water frozen in the polar ice caps, or too inaccessible for practical usage.  While population and demand on freshwater resources are increasing, supply will always remain constant. [1]

According to McGill University [2], the average Canadian uses about 329 liters of water DAILY at home.  Of this amount, 30% is used for toilet flushing which equates to 98.7 liters of toilet waste per person entering our water systems. 

Based on Canada’s current population of 39 million, that represents approximately 1.4 trillion liters of toilet water are being flushed annually.

If only 10% of these annual flushes contain toilet cleaning products (ie. gels, rim blocks, etc.), then 140.4 billion liters of toilet water with toxic chemicals are entering our water systems in Canada.

According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency [3], the average American uses 82 gallons (310 liters) of water daily at home.  Using the same calculation as above, based on the U.S. population of 333 million, that represents approximately 11.3 trillion liters of toilet water being flushed annually.  Again, if only 10% of these annual flushes contain harmful toilet cleaning products, then an astounding 1,130 trillion liters of toxic chemicals are being flushed into the water systems in the United States. 

Toilet Care Market Growth

In the United States alone, more than 180 million units of toilet bowl cleaners and deodorizers were sold in 2022 [4] with a sales value of USD 618 million [6] for toilet bowl cleaners. In 2017, more than 19 million units were sold in Canada [5].  

The global toilet care market size is expected to grow by USD 1.89 billion as one of the primary factors driving this industry is the emergence of eco-friendly and premium products. Multiple studies show that these cleaning products can adversely affect our health and environment [7,8].  

Health and Safety Effects

Respiratory problems are common issues caused by exposure to various cleaning products [7].  Approximately 6% of employees in the janitorial sector experience workplace injury from chemical exposure.  However, all building occupants come into contact with cleaning products in a direct or indirect way [9].  It is common to see warnings on the label of cleaning products.  For example, on popular toilet bowl cleaning product safety data sheets, there are multiple warnings about chemical burns and how the product may be fatal if swallowed as well as other warnings about vapour or fumes.  A chemical added to most disinfectants, called alkylphenol ethoxylates (APES), has been shown to cause disruption in hormones of the human body [10].

Environmental Impact

In addition to the health and safety concerns, toilet cleaning products, in particular pose serious threats to the environment due to large amounts of water used by toilets.  Many cleaning agents are released into the environment and biodegrade incompletely or slowly, which poses a risk of water supply contamination and impacts wildlife.  

A 2002 survey in the United States revealed that 69% of the streams sampled contained persistent detergent metabolites and 66% contained disinfectants [11].  The number may be even higher now.  The presence of alkylphenol ethoxylates, the chemical added in most disinfectants, in our water is harming reproduction and survival of aquatic animals.  The problem is even worse when this chemical goes through the treatment process because it breaks down into molecules which are more toxic and not readily biodegradable [10].

Summary

Hundreds of millions of toilet bowl cleaning products are being used in North America each year. However, scientific studies warn about the detrimental impacts these products have on health, safety and the environment.  Therefore, any measures taken to reduce the use of typical toilet bowl cleaners will improve our health and make the earth a better place to live.

The New Alternative Has Arrived!

The Automatic Toilet Cleaning System, by MG Inventions Canada Inc., is the solution to helping protect our health and planet.  The ATCS is a new invention that is fully automatic. This self-dispensing product is non-toxic, contains no harsh chemicals and is plumbing and septic safe.  It is currently in the process of receiving the highest accreditation by Underwriters Laboratories (UL) certifying this product is eco-friendly.  To further aid our environment, both the product and the packaging are 100% recyclable.