Aerosol products have been used for generations, but in recent decades we’ve come to recognize that they can be dangerous to the environment as a whole and to children in particular. Still, many people will make use of them without giving it a second thought. Often, you’ll encounter automatic air fresheners in homes that spray out air freshener into the room on an hourly basis. This is just one of the many ways aerosol products are woven into our lives. But let’s look at aerosol sprays, the dangers they expose and how we can safely use them.

Unexpected Aerosol Dangers
There’s no denying it, aerosol air fresheners are actually increasing (rather than reducing) air pollution inside homes and buildings. The chemicals used to create this aerosol effect are often not environmentally friendly. Even the EPA – the Environmental Protection Agency – has publicly acknowledged this.

And when you take the time to peruse the ingredients listed on most air fresheners, you’ll certainly find perfumes and fragrances on that list. But the other ingredients can total into the hundreds, and many of them are quite toxic or environmentally dangerous. Many aerosol sprays contain highly toxic chemicals like xylene and formaldehyde – yes the same chemical used to preserve anatomical specimens in a jar.

These toxic ingredients also include neurotoxins and carcinogens that are extremely hazardous for adults, children and family pets. This chemical combination is being sprayed out of many aerosol cans and represents a genuine risk to the environment and to our health. Air fresheners and hairspray in particular can spray out formaldehyde and other VOCs (volatile organic compounds) throughout the air in a home or building and onto surfaces in that space.

Beyond the concern of inhaling these toxins that have aerosolized in the air, we also have to be concerned about the surfaces these toxins settle on. Once these substances are on surfaces, they transfer to your hands and can quickly end up in your mouth. Most people underestimate this particular danger of aerosols, but it is far more ubiquitous and harmful than what is generally realized.

For instance, if you’re painting with aerosol paint, you may not even realize that it can contain methyl chloride. The consumer product safety commission notes that methyl chloride has been identified as causing cancer in animals in laboratory tests. When methyl chloride is ingested, it is converted into carbon monoxide. In your body, this can result in symptoms similar to carbon monoxide poisoning.

Impact of Aerosol on the Environment
Even more concerning is the way that aerosol – which are essentially small particles in suspension in a gas – are impacting our environment. According to Chien Wang, a respected researcher in atmospheric science, MIT’s Department of Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences has demonstrated that aerosols may actually be altering rainfall patterns and percentages around the world.

NASA has also noted the effect that aerosols can have on rain patterns, pointing out that aerosols are believed to reduce precipitation by decreasing the size of cloud water droplets. On the other hand, under certain environmental conditions, aerosols can produce taller clouds which are prone to producing lightning and massive downpours. In a few areas, meteorologists have been able to detect a time-based cycle in the number of thunderstorms over a given period of time and associated this with increases in aerosol emissions.

While the general public frequently associates aerosol spray cans with damage to the ozone layer, and the United States this is no longer the case. US businesses eliminated these ozone damaging chemicals – referred to as CFCs or chlorofluorocarbons – almost 50 years ago. The vast majority of aerosol products manufactured and sold in the United States now use other propellants like nitric oxide or hydrocarbons that do not damage the Earth’s ozone layer.

Unfortunately, many countries around the world have not yet entirely banned such ozone damaging chemicals in their aerosol sprays and paints. This means that the efforts of the United States and other nations to eliminate this threat to the ozone layer have not been entirely effective, and damage to the ozone is still ongoing at this time.

And of course, even eliminating ozone damaging chemicals from aerosol sprays doesn’t make the aerosols entirely safe. Whenever you spray an aerosol product, you are increasing your family’s carbon footprint because of the compressed gases and hydrocarbons contained in the aerosol. As a matter of fact, the CFC free aerosol sprays used today include VOCs that can themselves increase ozone levels at the ground level, which in turn produces smog that can be dangerous for human beings.

Minimizing Aerosol Usage
The EPA strongly suggests that you should avoid using aerosol sprays whenever possible. However, if it is necessary to use an aerosol spray, the following tips are strongly recommended:

• Purchase only as much of a given aerosol product as you need to complete the job you will be doing. Avoid purchasing bundled or supersized aerosol sprays.
• Avoid using aerosol sprays that are designed to be sprayed directly on your body, such as deodorant, hairspray or sunscreen. Instead, select non-spray alternatives, including a pump spray or a cream.
• Do not use spray air freshening products. Open up the windows to freshen the air inside your home.

Proper Disposal of Aerosols
If you have any empty aerosol sprays, you need to make sure that they are separated from your recyclables and sent to a community program specifically intended for aerosols. And this is especially the case if the container in question held any hazardous waste products, such as solvents or paints. This must be treated like a hazardous waste, according to the EPA. If you have any questions, get in contact with waste management in your area for further information about how to dispose of your aerosol product.

Other Problems with Aerosols
Beyond the environmental and health hazards caused by the chemicals used in aerosol sprays, they can pose a number of other significant dangers around the home. They can be especially hazardous for children, who may use them improperly and dangerously. The nature of aerosol sprays and their inherent dangers means you need to understand a few key safety issues when it comes to their use.

How Aerosols Work
Any aerosolized product, whether it’s a can of spray paint or a spray on deodorant, is a type of container holding some substance under high pressure. The substance can be paint, cleaner, deodorant or any number of other products. When you press the button at the top of the container, it releases the substance in question.

The result is a fine spray of the substance into the air or onto a surface. These kinds of aerosols are very widely used throughout the United States and around the world and are commonly found in many homes. However, there are many safety issues involved with their use, and parents in particular need to be aware of such issues.

Physical Dangers Aerosols Pose
Some of the most significant dangers associated with aerosols relate to the fact that aerosol sprays are held in a pressurized – and sometimes highly pressurized – container. Under normal circumstances, this pressure serves a useful purpose and allows the steady and controlled release of the substance inside. But if something goes disastrously wrong, these aerosolized products can easily burst into flames or even explode.

There are also potential safety problems related to how the aerosol product is being used. For instance, is essential to make sure that children understand that they should never spray any aerosol product into someone else’s face. They also need to know that these products should only be sprayed in short bursts. In addition, most aerosolized products should only be used in an enclosed space if a window or door has been opened to guarantee a healthy flow of fresh air throughout the space.

Safely Using Aerosols in Your Home
Below are a few more safety tips to keep in mind when you are using aerosol sprays in your home.

• Carefully follow the instructions that come with the product.

• In most instances, you’ll want to use the aerosol product in short bursts.
• Do not use any aerosol spray paint or cleaning products in a tight, confined space.
• If you are using an aerosol product in a room, open the windows and doors to allow air to pass through. This will reduce the chance the product fuels will become concentrated and dangerous.
• Never spray any aerosol sprays close to your eyes or your face, since many of these substances can cause irritation or even damage to your eyes.
• Do not spray aerosols at or near open flames or fires, since the product is most likely flammable.
• By the same token, do not spray an aerosol product while you are smoking a cigarette, since this can also cause the product to burst into flames.

Aerosol Safety Tips for Storage

When it comes to the issue of safely storing aerosol sprays, there are a few other aerosol safety tips you should keep in mind if you want to avoid accidents.

• Store aerosols away from the sun in a dry, cool place. When aerosol sprays overheat, it increases the pressure inside the can which can cause them to burst and explode. For products like hairsprays and deodorants, the average bathroom provides adequate, safe storage.
• In the same way, never leave aerosol sprays inside your car, whether it’s winter or summer. Cars can concentrate heat in a way that can easily lead to an aerosol container explosion. If for some reason you do need to store an aerosol product inside your car, make sure that you put it in the trunk.
• It’s strongly recommended that all aerosol sprays containing paints, adhesives and cleaners should be far out of the reach of any children in your home. While you can try to store them on high shelves, children are curious and can sometimes get to them anyway. Locking them up is a better option.
• When you’ve finished using your aerosol product, always remember to replace the cap and put it back into storage – never leave it lying around.
• If you have empty aerosol sprays, they should be immediately removed from your home and recycled when appropriate. When you are throwing away aerosol products, do not pierce empty cans to compress them, because they still may have some pressure – not to mention some of the original product inside. This makes them dangerous and possibly flammable.
• Never throw any full or empty aerosol sprays onto a campfire, since they will certainly explode and represent a serious threat of injury.

Aerosol Abuse
There are many different types of aerosols available on the market – many of which you may have in your home. The ingesting or even the inhaling of some of these products will result in instant death or serious fatal conditions. This is all the more reason to ensure that all such products are safely stored or locked away in your home and used with proper care when they are needed.

Beyond knowing proper use and storage tips and how to lock the products away, it’s important to educate your children about the dangers inherent in misusing aerosol products. Adults and guardians especially should always ensure that children understand the possible damage they could do to themselves or others if they engage in aerosol abuse or misuse the product in any way.

Aerosol cans were invented generations ago and were considered safe at the time. These days, we recognize that aerosol sprays can be a major hazard to the environment, threatening both the ozone layer and human health in general. But in addition to these broader problems caused by aerosol sprays, they represent a specific danger in the home when they are not used properly or when they are intentionally misused. Understanding all of this and taking the necessary safety precautions will help you and your family stay safe when using aerosols and also help to decrease your carbon footprint. We should always make our personal health and safety as well as the health and safety of our environment a priority in our day to day lives.