We seem to be a society obsessed with cleanliness. We want our whites whiter and our bathrooms and kitchens hospital-grade disinfected. Industry has answered: today's cleaning products promise faster, easier, better results, and no scrubbing. But is our clean-freak streak is harming our kids?

Shawn Ellis is a toxicologist who's begun marketing his services to anxious homeowners. He tests the air in people's homes to see how many chemicals or other particulate matter may be floating there.

Among his clients is Amanda Saul. She has severe respiratory problems. Five weeks ago, she was rushed to hospital because she couldn't breath.

"I called Shawn because I was having a lot of problems breathing and I wasn’t sure if it had to do with the house, moulds and stuff, or whether it had to do with the air quality, maybe even our cleaning products."

Her oldest son, Kieran, is three. Like so many kids these days, he suffers from allergies, eczema and asthma.

Ellis tests for all kinds of things: mould, moisture and chemicals.

"Some of my clients, using cleaners, especially if it’s a combination of cleaners, can actually feel dizzy or have headaches."

What he's talking about are everyday cleaning products — like the ones Amanda and her husband use every day. Many of them contain chemicals.

"I think the majority of the awareness of cleaning products in people’s homes are that a cleaning product is natural and safe. I don’t think people consider cleaning products chemicals," Ellis said.

Amanda Saul and her family like their cleaners as much as anyone else.

"It is very seductive to try and get the best cleaning product out there that will actually do the job."

And the advertising for those products addresses that feeling. The come-on to parents is full of babies and young children looking adorable — and vulnerable. It's a parent's job to keep them free from germs. Last year, Canadians spent more than $275 million on household cleaning products.

Not required to disclose ingredients

Kathy Cooper — a senior researcher with the Canadian Environmental Law Association — says there's a lot we don't know about the chemicals in our cleaners. Companies are not required to tell us.

"For cleaning products in particular, the only thing the label will tell you is whether it is seriously toxic…if you swallow it or get it in your eye, or will the container blow up…but you don’t have any information about…long term toxicity," Cooper told Marketplace.

If you look at the label of your favourite floor cleaner or furniture polish, you won't see much in the way of ingredients. That's because companies are protected by trade secrets. If you do see an ingredient, it's because it could blow up or poison you. Many other chemicals are not even listed.

"If you had the kind of labelling laws that they have in Europe, where it would tell you that 'this product contains something that may cause cancer' and another similar product that does the same job doesn’t, you might not buy the product that contains the carcinogen," said Larry Stoffman an international expert on chemical hazards information.