Household chemicals pollute as much as vehicles

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A team of researchers in the US has discovered cosmetics and cleaning products are more polluting than most people think. They found this out by accident.

Originally, they were looking at the hydrocarbons released when gasoline and diesel is burnt. But they found the amount of ethanol released is only 20% of what is present in the atmosphere.

They investigated possible sources of this other 80% and found that cosmetics and cleaning products are responsible for a lot of it.

The American Cleaning Institute (ACI), which represents some companies that sell cleaning products, says manufacturers have made changes to their products over the years, and many products break down.

 Household chemicals pollute as much as vehicles was originally published in Chemistry World