Is Your Home Making You Sick?
I have been telling, more like begging, my family, friends, and clients to pay attention to the products they are using everyday. These items that you come into contact with on an everyday basis are so unhealthy, most being on a cancer causing level. It is not worth it to continue to use them and it is so easy to replace them with organic and natural products. If anyone would like to contact me for ideas on how to replace the use of certain products with organic products please do not hesitate to contact me, and also, share this with your friends and family so they also can make the changes needed to keep their homes free of these harmful products.
Below you will find brief summaries on each harmful product, if you use any of these products do your own research and see for yourself how harmful these products truly are.
Kat
TheOrganicBrew.com
The color dyes that make soap more fun to use and frosting more fun to eat have been linked to increased hyperactivity in children. "What you put on your skin can go straight through to the bloodstream," says Loidolt, the consumer health advocate. She recommends avoiding perfume and chemical-packed lotions. Yellow #5 isn't something we should eat -- or bathe in
Baby bottles (and other refillable hard plastic bottles and plastic flatware) are commonly made from polycarbonate plastics, the most common type on the market. Unfortunately, when washed and heated, these plastics give off bisphenol-a, or BPA. BPA is a hormone disruptor that mimics estrogen and has been tied to developmental and neurological problems for unborn children. The slinky little dryer sheets that keep clothes fresh are chock full of chemicals, including ethanol and chloroform. The ingredient benzyl acetate has been linked to pancreatic cancer and benzyl alcohol is known to cause upper respiratory irritation. When it reacts with ozone, the ingredient limonene can form formaldehyde, a known carcinogen, or cancer-causing agent.
Candles that contained more than two dozen volatile organic compounds, which the EPA says can cause nose and throat irritation, headaches, shortness of breath, nausea, and dizziness. Some of the 100 chemicals tests are classified as toxic under federal laws and can be affecting you even without your knowledge. The doctor recommends making your home fragrant with mint leaves or cinnamon sticks.
In addition to containing known harmful ingredients like ammonia, lye, phosphate, and chlorine, the majority of home cleaning products (just about everything under your kitchen sink) contain a vast array of chemicals, including toxic ethylene-based glycol ethers and non-toxic terpenes that become dangerous when they interact with ozone in the air. You need good ventilation when using them.
An estimated 60,000 new homes--more than half of them in
Nonstick and stain-resistant coatings, used on everything from your favorite omelette pan to your suede sofa, include perfluorinated acids (PFAs). Though their toxicity in human is still unclear, in animals, PFAs cause birth defects, thyroid hormone abnormalities, and liver damage.
Figuring out whether plastic containers are safe can be confusing: polyethylene is safe, polycarbonate isn't; polypropylene is safe, bisphenol-a isn't. After repeated reheating, polycarbonate, a chemical seen in several plastic storage products, can leak BPA, the dangerous hormone disruptor found in some baby bottles.
A single fragrance typically contains several hundred chemicals. Fragrances and other beauty and personal care products often contain the man-made chemicals called phthalates, or plasticizers, molecules absorbed through the skin that have caused birth defects in male genitalia in animals and may cause lowered sperm count in boys and premature breast development in girls.
Superglue and other super-strength adhesives induce sensitization. Exposure can start with allergies and lead to asthma. Other hobby materials can be dangerous, too; people who deal with leaded toys, the chemicals involved in stained glass making and amateur metal refining should be careful.
Between the adhesives, stain protectors, flame retardants, and the "new carpet smell," carpeting combines a lot of potentially unhealthy elements. Put together, these chemicals have caused respiratory and nervous system damage, as well as allergies, headaches, and nausea. Let the carpet air out for a few days in a well-ventilated area.
Foam containers are made of polystyrene, whose chemical ingredients can seep into food and your morning cup of coffee. Styrene has been blamed for skin, eye, and respiratory irritation, depression, fatigue, decreased kidney function, and central nervous system damage.
Particle board, fiberboard, plywood, paneling, and some insulation, can emit formaldehyde, which the EPA calls a probable human carcinogen. Some of these materials contain urea-formaldehyde in the glue, which the EPA says is the highest indoor producer of formaldehyde, the chemical that can result in asthma attacks and other upper respiratory irritation, and burning of the eyes, nose, and throat.
Household bleach contains a concentrated form of chlorine. When people use chlorine bleach and an acid-based or ammonia-based cleaning product together, or even one after the other, they produce a cloramine gas that can be fatal. Short term effects of chlorine exposure include vomiting, difficulty breathing, coughing, and eye, ear, nose, and throat irritation. Avoiding aerosol sprays.
Flame retardants used on upholstered furniture, mattresses, and electronic equipment have undoubtedly saved many lives, but there is a trade off. These polybrominated diphenyl ethers, or PBDEs, have caused memory and learning problems in rats and mice, as well as slowing their thyroid function and neurological development. The effect on humans is not known, however.
Laser and ink-jet printers sure make our lives easier, but recent studies show that they also release volatile organic chemical emissions and ozone particulates, which have been linked to heart and lung disease after being inhaled. The jury is still out on whether the exposure levels in the average home are safe.
A single fragrance typically contains several hundred chemicals. Fragrances and other beauty and personal care products often contain the man-made chemicals called phthalates, or plasticizers, molecules absorbed through the skin that have caused birth defects in male genitalia in animals and may cause lowered sperm count in boys and premature breast development in girls. Nonstick and stain-resistant coatings, used on everything from your favorite omelette pan to your suede sofa, include perfluorinated acids (PFAs). Though their toxicity in human is still unclear, in animals, PFAs cause birth defects, thyroid hormone abnormalities, and liver damage.
Watch warning labels! No one expects consumers to be experts, however, or to know which funny-sounding chemicals are known carcinogens. Look for products that give away the ingredients. Stay away from anything with a color in it. Labels that say 'keep windows open' and 'use in a ventilated room' are a dead giveaway."
Household bleach contains a concentrated form of chlorine. When people use chlorine bleach and an acid-based or ammonia-based cleaning product together, or even one after the other, they produce a cloramine gas that can be fatal. Short term effects of chlorine exposure include vomiting, difficulty breathing, coughing, and eye, ear, nose, and throat irritation. Avoiding aerosol sprays.
Flame retardants used on upholstered furniture, mattresses, and electronic equipment have undoubtedly saved many lives, but there is a trade off. These polybrominated diphenyl ethers, or PBDEs, have caused memory and learning problems in rats and mice, as well as slowing their thyroid function and neurological development. The effect on humans is not known, however.
Laser and ink-jet printers sure make our lives easier, but recent studies show that they also release volatile organic chemical emissions and ozone particulates, which have been linked to heart and lung disease after being inhaled. The jury is still out on whether the exposure levels in the average home are safe.
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