Want To Keep Your Lungs Healthy? Avoid This Chemical, Study Finds

We all strive to keep our homes tidy, often using harsh cleaners and chemicals to achieve that spotless clean. But the great irony is, in an effort to keep our homes clean, many of those very cleaners have negative effects on our bodies and our health.

According the study authors, it was already known that exposure to QACs raises the risk for both asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). But because QACs aren't readily absorbed by the gut or our skin, they hypothesized that breathing in QACs could be contributing to QAC levels in blood, as well as increasing our risk for those airway diseases.

To test the theory, they conducted a mouse study in which they exposed the mice to various chemicals, including QACs. They then looked at QAC levels in the mice's blood.

The team observed that when mice breathed QACs at levels that harmed their lungs, the QACs in their blood were similar to QACs found in human blood, suggesting that breathing in QACs is much more harmful than, say, ingesting them.

According to the study authors, despite evidence that QACS are harmful, they're still used widely. "The banning of alternative disinfectants triclosan and triclocarban by the FDA in 2015 increased QACs usage, as did the COVID-19 epidemic—and QAC air concentrations rose in this period," they note.

With one million pounds or more of QACs produced or imported annually, the study authors add, they're used in everything from herbicides, to eye drop disinfectant, nasal sprays, oral mouthwash disinfectants, dryer sheets, and more.

It might not be a bad idea to avoid QACs entirely, but based on this study's findings, it's the aerosol products you really want to avoid. "We have to question whether we really want to have all of these QAC-based disinfectant sprays in the environment given their proven lung toxicity in mice," Cortopassi says.

To that end, you'll want to go for nontoxic cleaners without harsh or harmful chemicals. Look for products with a Safer Choice27 label, which means the brand follows best practices by the Environmental Production Agency. Other labels to keep an eye out for include Non-GMO Project, B-Corp, and MADE SAFE certified.