When we think of air pollution, we usually think of the outdoors. But indoor air quality is just as important for your family’s health.

We spend at least half of each day indoors, where there may be two to five times as much air pollution as outdoors. The greatest contributors are sneaky chemicals – those that come into our homes uninvited, in furniture, dust, sprays, paint and other household products.

It’s time to think about safe cleaning.

With asthma and many childhood cancers on the rise, it’s important to know whether the products we use daily in our homes are a contributing factor. The lax labeling requirements in current law mean that people often don’t know what they’re buying. Consumers are often alarmed to learn that even when used as directed, products commonly found in homes and schools can release hundreds of chemicals into the air, including compounds linked to asthma, developmental and reproductive harm, and cancer.

Recent research has found that many household cleaning products contain harmful ingredients and impurities, including formaldehyde and other volatile organic chemicals, 1,4-dioxane, and toxic fluorinated chemicals known as PFAS or PFCs.

We have a right to know what we’re bringing into our homes. And we have a right to say no to toxic chemicals.

For more than 20 years, EWG has been a trusted source for chemical safety advice. Millions of consumers rely on our tips about how best to avoid dangerous chemical exposures. Because your home should be safe, we decided to develop standards for healthy cleaning that are based on independent scientific studies and EWG’s research. The gold standard in health and wellness, EWG VERIFIED^® products meet that standard.

Get to know EWG VERIFIED^®: Cleaning Products