Posts Tagged ‘Cleaning Products’

Did you know that most of your common household cleaning products contain potentially toxic chemicals?  The website EnvironmentalHealthNews.org states that the typical American home contains 3-10 gallons of hazardous materials and uses and stores more than 60 hazardous household products.  Most of these toxic chemicals can be easily absorbed through your skin and you can breathe them into your lungs and these toxins build up in your system over time.  Some of the health effects of ingredients in common household products are:

     Respiratory problems
     Eye irritation
     Cancer
     Disruption of the endocrine system

With the holidays approaching most of us will be hosting guests for parties or for extended stay in our homes.  This means…it’s time to roll up the sleeves and get to scrubbing.  This year do your holiday cleaning with safer, time-tested ingredients you already have in your cupboards and closets while avoiding toxic products that cause indoor air pollution, endanger children and disrupt the environment.

EnvironmentalHealthNews.org is a fantastic site that has fact sheets, science journals and news articles on chemicals in household products including guides to safer home cleaning recipes, expert contacts and a plethora of resources for additional information.  It can be a bit overwhelming if you are unfamiliar with research online but just dig in and stay persistent.

Here’s a head start…Go to: household toxic cleaning products

Using home cleaning recipes, such as those found at EarthEasy.com, can reduce numerous environment impacts.  Your home cleaning recipes will reduce the manufacture, packaging and shipment of commercial products, since home cleaning recipes use ingredients which are safe to buy in bulk and which ounce for ounce go a lot farther than commercial products.

For example:

All-Purpose Cleaner

Mix 1/2 cup vinegar and 1/4 cup baking soda
(or 2 teaspoons borax) into
1/2 gallon (2 liters) water.
Store and keep.
Use for removal of water deposit stains
on shower stall panels, bathroom chrome
fixtures, windows, bathroom mirrors, etc.

You can find this recipe and many, many more here: http://www.eartheasy.com/live_nontoxic_solutions.htm

Here’s a simple starter list of what you need to make your own natural cleaning products:

Baking soda
White vinegar
Lemon Juice
Hydrogen peroxide
Liquid castile soap
Organic essential oils [optional]
Mixing bowls
Spray bottles
Micro fiber cloths

Well, perhaps you simple prefer to use a manufactured, store bought product, which is an alternative, but beware!  Not all “green” or “natural” cleaning products are as safe as they lead you to believe.

The terms “green” and “natural” are becoming more and more common but they are nothing more than a marketing trend and they do not automatically equal safety.  The market is still very much unregulated and have you ever noticed how very few manufacturers list the ingredients?  Cleaning product manufacturers are not required by law to disclose all of their ingredients on their labels.

Many responsible manufacturers [like Seventh Generation and Ecover] will put as many ingredients on their packaging as possible or provide you with contact information on where to find out more.  If you should find a label, dangerous ingredients to look out for include:

*petroleum distillates like “benzene” or 1,4 dioxane – both can cause cancer and 1,4 dioxane is a suspected kidney toxicant, neurotoxicant and respiratory toxicant.
*phospates – cause algae proliferation in bodies of water, killing marine life
*nonylphenol ethoxylates (NPE’s) – cause reproductive defects, liver and kidney damage
*volatile organic compounds (VOC’s) including 1,4 dichlorobenzene – cause nose and throat irritation, dizziness and asthma
*glycol ethers
*ammonia
*chlorine
*ethanolamines

Natural chemicals that can cause allergic reaction and should be avoided include:

*limonene (a citrus based oil)
*pine oil
*coconut diethanolamide

I agree all of this can be overwhelming and I admit that it took me a while to “give in” and try the home recipes but I [and my wallet] am so thankful I have.  I think you will be to.

I wish you luck in your endeavor to remove the GALLONS of unnecessary toxins from your home by finding alternatives to standard cleaning products and for further research I have listed a few links below for you.

Sites for research:

http://www.environmentalhealthnews.org/

EarthEasy.com

Debra Lynn Dadd http://www.dld123.com/homesafehome.html

Quick reviews on in-store Eco-friendly/natural cleaning products:

House and Home [Local to this site]

Articles on topic:

“Natural doesn’t always mean safe” – EWG

“How Safe Are Green Cleaning Products?” – Mercola.com

“You Can Avoid Hazardous Chemicals” – Washington Post

“Some skip commercial cleaners for those made from pantry” – USA Today

“Going Green When You Clean” – CBSNews

“Can you clean and still be green?” – Santa Cruz Sentinel

How I removed the poisons from my home.

A quick review…removing toxins from your life as much as possible will make a huge impact on your health.  Common everyday toxins can cause such problems as:

• Neurological disorders (Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s, depression, attention deficit disorder, schizophrenia, etc.)
• Cancer
• Nutritional deficiencies
• Hormonal imbalances
• Enzyme dysfunction
• Altered metabolism
• Reproductive disorders
• Fatigue
• Headaches
• Obesity
• Muscle and vision problems
• Immune system depression
• Allergies/Asthma
• Endocrine disorders
• Chronic viral infections
• Less ability to tolerate/handle stress

We are bombarded everyday with numerous toxins that our body’s normal healing functions can’t keep up with.  When my husband and I decided to make the change and remove as many toxins from our lifestyle as possible, I admit I was overwhelmed with the information.  I didn’t know where to start first.  It was my Chiropractor and his wellness team that assisted my husband and me in getting started.

Step 1.  We started with our foods.

Although we ate pretty “healthy”; no fast foods, no sodas, no fried foods, used olive oil, tons of veggies…we weren’t eating and thinking green/organic.  We immediately changed our produce to organic.  Found it to be much cheaper to buy directly from the farmers at the farmer’s market than by shopping at the grocers or by ordering in bulk online.  Luckily Savannah has two farmer’s markets; one on Saturdays and one on Wednesdays.  It makes it very convenient to always have “farm fresh” produce.

We then started researching grass-fed beef and free range poultry.  It was very difficult to find these items locally and when we did there was very little variety and supply, and it was very expensive.  My husband followed a suggestion from our Chiropractor and looked into ordering our meats online.  There we found excellent suppliers of what we needed and then some!  We always try to find suppliers that are as close to GA as possible and we have found that by buying in bulk (thankfully we have a storage freezer) we save so much more money than if we were buying similar items from the few grocers in town.

You can research places to purchase organic foods from the “List” here.

Now this does not mean that we never eat out anymore.  Luckily we do have a handful of organic restaurants in our town and when possible we go to them, but they are pricey.  We do however like to go out with friends and we do not force our views on them-we’ll eat nearly anywhere in town, but we are very selective about what we eat.  Once you get the hang of eating organic, farm fresh foods, you learn what you can get by on in while eating out with friends.

Step 2.  We cleaned up our water.

We had been drinking bottled water in the home for ages using tap water only for cooking.  We found out about cleaning your drinking water with reverse osmosis or using carbon filters and even by distilling it (very acidic-eventually removes the minerals from your body, you need to neutralize it after distilling it or take a mineral supplement) you can have “healthy water” at home.

Once we figured out what to do with our drinking water, we turned to our bathroom shower head.  We ordered a new shower head with replaceable carbon filters for our main bathroom. Why?  Remember that our skin is our body’s largest organ.  Anything that touches the skin will be absorbed.  Think about how much time we spend in the shower or bath in our lifetime.  That is a ton of chemicals being absorbed.   I am amazed with the difference in the quality of our shower water.  I’ve always had difficulty with dry skin, my husband as well in the cooler months, and our skin has become baby soft.  No more flaking, no more super sensitivity.  The change was really made clear to us recently.  We broke the shower head in the bath we use most often.  We quickly ordered a new one but it was on back order and we went nearly three weeks on a standard shower head.  Within a few days (less than a week) we both had dry skin, constant itchiness and I had developed dandruff for the first time.  We now have a filtered system in both bathrooms.

You can research filters from the “Lists” here.

Step 3.  We removed all toxic health and beauty and cleaning products from the home.

This took a little longer than the previous steps.  Cosmetics and bath and body products are expensive in general, there was no way I could empty out the house and replace everything in one day.

To begin my research on cleaning out my cosmetics and our bath and body items I turned to the Environmental Workers Group, also known as the EWG.  They are an amazing resource and even have a cosmetic database called SkinDeep where you can get a toxin rating on most cosmetic and bath and body products.

With their help I started researching companies that I could buy from worry free and found a few I am very happy with so far.  Two in particular are:
Beautorium.comand   Lavera

You can find them and more on the “Lists” here.

There are also numerous sites that give you information on cleaning products.  You can start your search from the “Lists” here.

I stared finding products that were recommended by Debra Lynn Dadd in the book “Home Safe Home”.  You can find her website in the “Lists” or here.

I am now experimenting with natural cleaning homemade recipes from various online sources.  I haven’t posted that information yet, I’m still testing them out.  Once I have a stronger opinion on the results I’ll be happy to share the information with you.

Step 4.  Clean out the body by pulling out the toxins.

We started a detoxification system (recommended by our doctor) called NeuroCleanse .  It was simple and easy to use and we felt wonderful on it.  For approximately two months we followed the plan (not everyone needs to use it for so long) and we sincerely recommend it to anyone interested.  This was not one of those celebrity fad detox systems.  This was a true cellular detoxification product.  We ate healthy, didn’t starve ourselves, nor did we pump our bodies full of other chemicals to ‘detox’.

Step 5.  Removed our amalgams.

Actually my husband had his removed a little over a year earlier.  Neither of us are on any type of medication so luckily that was not an issue for us, but some time ago, a relative gave us research material on the dangers of mercury used in dentistry and we dove into the subject more.  I, at the time, did not have insurance that would cover such treatments as amalgam removal, so as soon as we could (by the end of month two and right in the middle of our detoxification program) I had everything worked out and I had my amalgams properly removed.  So, again…people ask why.  Metal fillings are a major source of mercury. Be sure to have the removal done by a qualified biological dentist. Although nearly any dentist is technically qualified to replace your amalgam fillings, very few have any clue on how to do it properly so your risk of mercury exposure is minimized. Do it right the first time and save yourself the expense and grief. If you don’t personally know a qualified biological dentist, many people find one by contacting several of the health food stores in their area and asking the employees who they know. This is typically an excellent resource as they are usually networked quite well in the local health community.  You can also use the Dental Wellness Institute website to try and find an appropriate dentist in your area.

So that’s how we did it in my home.  I hope this information was insightful and useful.  You can also go to Dr. Mercola’s site for more information on this topic and much more.

I find that many people in the world around me tend to focus on only one area to improve their health and claim they are “healthy”…most commonly it’s nutrition.  The second most common is by doing some form of regular exercise but not changing many of their eating or lifestyle habits.  How many of you fit into one of these two categories?  Now, how many of you are taking prescription drugs or still smoke?  Yes it is important to eat well, but if you ignore the other fundamentals your body will not assimilate the good food that you have eaten.  It’s nice to be in great physical shape and have a good looking body, if the other fundamentals are ignored…as it has been said…you’ll look good in your coffin but can still suffer from many ailments that affect most couch potatoes.

If you wish for your body to function and heal normally, if you wish to lead a long, joyful, fulfilling life, follow these fundamentals.  The fundamentals were introduced and explained to me simply and thoroughly in the book “Maximized Living Makeover” by doctors Ben Lerner, Greg Loman, and Charles Majors, and are referred to as “The 5 Essentials”.  Each of these fundamentals is necessary to live the full, healthy life that you were intended to live.  You need to practice these fundamentals if nothing else to improve your health by keeping the cells in your body in top shape and replicating normally for optimal body function.

So, What are the basic Fundamentals?

#1 Minimize the use of drugs, other toxins and surgery… Toxins and chemicals found, for example, in medications and refined foods affect hormone balance and glandular function.  We all know that you die or get really sick from being poisoned. This includes exposure to chemicals and carcinogens found in medications, foods, unhealthy environments, and household cleaning products.

#2 Maximize quality nutrition… Diets high in carbohydrates leave a constant level of insulin in the system, which lowers serotonin levels and causes inflammation. Imbalances in omega-3 and omega-6 ratios have been found to be the first factor to address regarding depression, according to professors at Harvard and Oxford universities.  If your pH balance is off it can lead to inflammation.  Stimulants such a sugars, artificial additives negatively affect brain function.  Nutrient deficiency can be solved by the right foods, foods robust in soluble fiber, and supplements.

#3 Maximize oxygen and lean muscle… Inactivity and lack of “intentional” exercise has many damaging effects on body function and mental health.  Staying active, getting at least 30 mins of “intentional” exercise a day will greatly improve fat to muscle ratios.  Movement creates the necessary intake of oxygen. The movement is what transports the oxygen-rich blood through your body, and you become more efficient at the circulation, absorption, and storage of this oxygen. When this happens, your cells have the oxygen they need to survive and live in health. With a sedentary lifestyle, you’re literally choking yourself to death. Fat-to-muscle ratio imbalance: How much fat you have in comparison to lean muscle will be a determining factor in organ function and the development of many diseases and disorders.

#4 Maximize peace and strong relationships… Increase in stress hormones creates everything from obesity and high blood pressure to high cholesterol, decreased libido, and aging. Peace is a vital health and longevity necessity in addition to making sure you’re not miserable.

*A 5^th Fundamental  and number two of the “Essentials” that I practice is ….Maximize nerve supply.  Not everyone agrees with Chiropractry but I do.  The central nervous system is your brain and spinal cord. This system is the central computer and master control system of the entire body. If there is disturbance or interference with CNS function, everything breaks down. Emotional stress is one factor that affects, or interferes with, your CNS function. Also, misalignment of the spinal column directly affects and even damages long-term nervous system function.

This is a topic that will return to this site often.  We’ll soon discuss how to put these fundamentals to work on a daily basis.  This is not a “fad”.  This is your life.  In the meantime you can read more at www.maximizedlivinghealthsite.com