Why Do I Clean Green? Part 2: Ever Read Your Products Warning Labels?

I read an article recently about Warning Labels on Cleaning products.
Look at your favorite cleaning product.
See words like Warning Caution or Danger? That's not good. Here's something I recently read on some labels for cleaning products:

CAUTION	An ounce to a pint may be fatal or harmful if swallowed, inhaled or absorbed through the skin by an adult 180-pound man.
WARNING	A teaspoon to an ounce may be fatal or harmful if swallowed, inhaled or absorbed through the skin by an adult 180-pound man.
DANGER	A taste to a teaspoon is fatal if swallowed, inhaled or absorbed through the skin by an adult 180-pound man.

Definitely not good. If absorbed through the skin? By an adult 180-pound man? What?!?!
Now I'll take a little peek at the labels to the cleaning products I loved to use before I started Green Cleaning:

COMBUSTIBLE MIXTURE.

KEEP AWAY FROM HEAT OR FLAME.

DO NOT INGEST.

AVOID CONTACT WITH EYES AND PROLONGED CONTACT WITH SKIN.

USE IN WELL-VENTED AREA.

 OK this was a cleaner I would use to clean just about everything in my house! Sound safe? Not really. Let's try another one:

WARNING: SKIN AND EYE IRRITANT. Vapors may irritate. Harmful if swallowed. Do not get in eyes or on clothing. For sensitive skin or prolonged use, wear gloves. Avoid prolong breathing of vapors. Use only in well-ventilated areas.

Um, how ventilated is your bathroom? Your kitchen? How do you avoid prolonged breathing of something you are spraying in a house in which you live? How do you know how sensitive your skin is until you get chemicals all over it and develop a reaction? Or your children? What happens when your kids set their toothbrushes down on the counter right after you've cleaned it? Or to be honest, hours after you've cleaned it?
One thing I know is that whenever I used chemical cleaners, my youngest son could always tell by how his skin felt - no matter how much I rinsed. He could just feel when I had cleaned the bathtub that day. Not good.
Now we'll take a look at the warning labels on my new cleaner:

Oh, wait! Vinegar doesn't have any warning labels!
Hmm . . . . neither does Baking Soda.
Now Borax does state:

If (it gets) in eyes: Rinse with water.

If ingested: drink large glass of water or milk.

Sound too bad? Not really, considering the previous list. However if I were totally honest and were going to be absolutely, positively safe, I would not clean my baby's highchair with it - I would instead use my Cleaning Wipes, made simply with water and vinegar.
All the fuss over weight and knowing what's in our food really got people to start looking at their labels. Do it with cleaning too. There are so many alternatives to buying something off the shelf and using it in your home. Keeping everyone safe in the number one priority of a Mama, right? So look at your labels!