Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) communities often experience disproportionate health impacts from hazardous material exposure. Nationally, more than half the people who live close to hazardous waste are BIPOC, and BIPOC are more likely to die of environmental causes. Everyone has a right to a clean and healthy home environment. In King County, the Haz Waste Program is committed to reducing health disparities from hazardous waste through equitable engagement.  

That’s why the Haz Waste Program focused a series of outreach efforts around the use of bleach in Spanish-speaking households. 

Bleach is a common household product for many Latinx families. While bleach is a powerful disinfectant that can reduce the spread of illnesses, it can also cause headaches, and skin, eye, and respiratory irritation if misused. And it can be fatal if ingested. That’s why the Haz Waste Program launched the award-winning “Ojo con el cloro” campaign in 2020 to provide in-language information about the health risks associated with using bleach. Phase two of the campaign - which ran in 2021 –  expanded this focus across King County and the Puget Sound region.

On July 24, 2023, the third phase of the Ojo con el cloro campaign will begin. This year, informed by community feedback from prior phases, the Haz Waste Program is conducting in-person outreach events that leverage a “train-the-trainer” strategy of behavioral change. 

These in-person events will showcase safer cleaning kits and include live demonstrations on how to use safer cleaning recipe cards and low-to-no-cost cleaning products, like baking soda, to prevent exposure to harmful cleaning products and promote safer cleaning alternatives. 

The Haz Waste Program will be at Fiestas Patrias on September 16 and 17, 2023 as well as at other community events throughout the summer of 2023. Come say hello or read on below to learn more.

The Ojo con el cloro awareness campaign is a multi-phase awareness effort and the product of research and working with community groups to understand Spanish-speaking communities’ attitudes and habits towards cleaning practices. The core campaign strategy, concept, and messaging were originally developed with the community in 2019. By sharing this campaign, the Haz Waste Program hopes to help make cleaning safer for King County families.  

Haz Waste Program staff are deeply committed to serving all people who live and work in King County and ensuring that race and ethnicity are not determinants of hazardous materials exposure. The Ojo con el cloro campaign is just one example.  

Other Haz Waste Program initiatives that work to eliminate race and ethnicity as determinants of hazardous waste exposure are the co-created Safer Healthy Homes project with Mother Africa. Another example is the Public Health Partnership program that aims to reduce elevated blood lead levels in refugee children living in King County.  

The Haz Waste Program strives to be a community-centered organization that partners with communities for inclusive outreach and engagement. Learn more about our work towards racial equity by reviewing the Program's Racial Equity Strategic Plan, which sets a path to improve policies, practices, and service delivery.