What are Enzyme Cleaners? The New "Chemical Free" trend.

Doesn’t it make you mad? The following is copied from a MSDS for a product that claims to be “Chemical Free”

“SECTION II INGREDIENT INFORMATION
Chemical Identity/Common Name CAS# OSHA PEL ACGIH TWA TLV Wt %
Surfactant Blend Proprietary N.E. N.E. 1-10
Water 7732-18-5 N.E. N.E. Balance
Enzyme Protease/Lipase/Amylase Proprietary N.D. N.D. 1-10
Fragrance Proprietary N.E. N.E. 0.01-0.20
SECTION III HEALTH HAZARD IDENTIFICATION (Also See Section XI) ROUTE(S) OF ENTRY - Skin and Ingestion
EFFECTS OF ACUTE EXPOSURE: EYE: Causes irritation. SKIN: May cause irritation. INHALATION: May cause respiratory irritation. INGESTION: On ingestion of large quantities slight GI discomfort, diarrhea and headache may occur.
MEDICAL CONDITIONS GENERALLY RECOGNIZED AS BEING AGGRAVATED BY EXPOSURE: Prolonged contact with skin may cause irritation. “

What is a Surfactant?
What is an Enzyme?
What is Fragrance?

Yes, these are rhetorical questions. They are Chemicals! “Proprietary” means they don’t have to tell you what they are.

Surfactants are known to be toxic to animals, ecosystems and humans, and can increase the diffusion of other environmental contaminants. Despite this, they are routinely deposited in numerous ways on land and into water systems, whether as part of an intended process or as industrial and household waste. Some surfactants have proposed or voluntary restrictions on their use.

Enzyme -- "an organic molecule, produced by a living organism, that increases the rate of a chemical reaction." Enzymes are present throughout nature--almost all life processes, such as the food digestion, needs enzymes to occur at significant rates.

Enzymes are very powerful and strong, which makes them good cleaning agents, but also difficult to biodegrade. So they do go out into the environment. And remember, too, their function is to speed up chemical reactions. It just doesn't seem like a good idea to unleash enzymes into the environment separate from their biological regulators.

Fragrance “a chemical compound that has a smell or odor.”

A solution to home cleaning chemical pollution is Vapor Steam Cleaning. Please visit http://www.icleanhouse.com for more information