Your Guide To Green

Biology 101 - Skin is the largest organ in your body.

What you touch and what you breathe ends up in your blood stream. So just for a challenge, pick a day and count how many things in your home touch your skin from the time you get up until the time you go to bed. Then multiply that by 365 days a year!

Exposure

The average person uses five to ten personal care products daily. That's a lot of exposure to items many of us give little thought to beyond the sales pitch. In addition, cleaning products are a concern both when they are used and also because they linger, in your clothes and on your surfaces. Children are particularly susceptible to these products because their systems are still developing, and they are closer to the ground and tend to put things in their mouths at will. And of course, we have the furry members of the family who also are affected by the products we use.

Some symptoms that might indicate product sensitivities include:

• Allergic reactions
• Asthma
• Migraines
• Dizziness
• Nausea
• Eye, Skin, Respiratory irritation.

• Interesting Statistics (See sources listed below.)
• The average home contains 62 toxic chemicals – more than a chemistry lab at the turn of the century.
• More than 72,000 synthetic chemicals have been produced since WWII. Less than two percent of those have been tested for toxicity, mutagenic and carcinogenic effects, or birth defects.
• The majority of products have never been tested for long-term effects.
• There are more than 3 million poisonings every year and household cleaners are the number one cause of child poisoning. The top three culprits are various household cleaners, bleach and medications.
• Toxic chemicals in household cleaners are three times more likely to cause cancer than outdoor air.
• Women who work in the home are at a 54 percent higher risk of developing cancer than women who work outside the home.
• Cancer rates have almost doubled since 1960.
• Since 1980, asthma has increased by 600 percent and common household cleaners and cosmetics are often triggers.
• Children are routinely exposed to chemicals that have never been tested for their effects on kids. Where do you find these chemicals? They are found in popular shampoos, toothpastes and lotions used by children every day.
• Cleaning products and services are the leading source of toxic air pollution. They also are causing water pollution.
• Hormone-disrupting chemicals from antibacterial soaps and cleaning agents were recently found in San Francisco Bay.
• In the latest Personal Care products news: Minnesota imposed a ban on many products containing MERCURY, including eyelash mascara.Sixty-one percent of the lipsticks tested by the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics were found to contain a detectable amount of lead.

Safety

How do you know about the safety of the products you are using? Don't assume that environmental and health claims are true. In many cases manufacturers can make claims that are neither independently verified nor regulated, and the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) does not require companies to test their own products for safety.

Solutions

• Make an effort to use non-toxic products that don't upset nature's delicate balance.

   

• Say YES to:
  • Sustainable sourced natural ingredients free of harsh chemicals
  • Recyclable packaging and
  • Recyclable and biodegradable wipes and dryer sheets
• Say NO to:
  • Phosphates
  • Borates
  • Nitrates
  • Volatile Organic Compounds (VOC's)
• Check out the companies that make your products. When you visit their websites do you only see prices and sales pitches, or do you see information about the company's values, labels, third-party testing and educational information? When there is something to brag about, the website is generally where you find a volume of information.
• Buy products from reputable, time-tested companies that have third party credentials (see resources below). Ask about the product guarantee. Although well intentioned, some “naturalâ€� products just don't do the job. So be sure the company is confident enough in their product to offer a money-back guarantee.
• Read the warning labels. In the workplace, Material Safety Data Sheets (MSDS) must accompany the products used. The work place and the outdoors are considered “legal environmentsâ€� while the air in the home is not. For example, if you've checked your toothpaste lately and you want to make your own these are some basic ingredients: baking soda, vinegar, lemon, peroxide, club soda and borax, which disinfects and deodorizes.
• Buy concentrated products. They are more cost effective and have a smaller environmental footprint. It adds up: 176,000 tons of household waste is generated annually from cleaning products. That's an average of 20 pounds of hazardous waste from the average household.
• Most important - vote with your wallet. When we support the companies that spend the money to make healthy, environmentally sound products we all win.

Sources:

Toxic Brew – Toronto News expose' of cleaning products: www.theglobalsuccessteam.net : enter site, click on “Toxic Brew Movie�

NIH – National Institute of Health reference site for cleaning product ingredients

www.householdproducts.nlm.nih.gov/products.htm

Skin Deep: Environmental Working Group site for cosmetics and personal care safety. Search by product, or company

www.cosmeticdatabase.com

The Safe Shoppers Bible: list of common household products that contain know carcinogens or neurotoxins.

The Real Dirt on Clean: a 12-page dossier on typical household cleaners' data and resources

Email for your free copy: wilde@shaklee.net

Consumers Guide to Effective Environmental Choices, published by the Union of Concerned Scientists

Poison Control

United States Environmental Protection Agency Study

The National Cancer Association

The Canadian Lung Association and the Asthma Society of Canada

TerraChoice