Konsumenters användning av kemisk riskinformation på rengöringsprodukter

Sammanfattning: The use of chemicals is increasing. Human health and the environment are exposed to hazardous substances along a lack of knowledge about how these substances actually affect us and our environment. In the homes, the use of chemical cleaning products is widespread. Various products meet many important needs, but could at the same time pose major risks to human health and the environment if not correctly used and unsafely handled. Annually, several poisonings and accidents with cleaning products are reported to the Swedish Poisons Information Centre. Chemical products must be labelled with symbolic and written warning information in accordance with special labelling legislation. Warning information, created for consumers to be alerted and aware of the hazards of a product in use. However, previous research suggests that consumers often completely ignore this warning information and instead use other simple attributes of a product to determine how hazardous it is. In this study, a survey was conducted to collect information on whether consumers used warning information on cleaning products. The results showed that all participants absolutely wanted information in case a product could have effects on health and/or the environment. However, the participants then seemed to want to decide for themselves whether they wanted to use this warning information by not always look for warning symbols and follow the instructions and precautionary statements. The results in this study confirm what previous research in the field has concluded - there is no general obviousness in looking for and following cleaning products' warning information and the reasons for these are many and individually spread. The results can be used as a basis for legislators in the field to review the way warning information on chemical products is communicated, so that it actually reaches consumers and awakens their attention.