Why Eco? You may be wondering why cleaning with eco friendly products should matter to you. To find out why cleaning the eco way is important to you please click on the links below for more information.
Products containing harmful ingredients are required by law to be labeled "CAUTION", "WARNING" or "DANGER." These signal words are DEFINED as follows:
 "Caution" means that more than 1 ounce must be ingested before life threatening symptoms will occur. 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" means that ingesting 1 teaspoon to 1 ounce can be life threatening. 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" or "Poison" means that from a few drops to 1 teaspoon, if ingested, can be life threatening. A taste to a teaspoon is fatal if swallowed, inhaled or absorbed through the skin by an adult 180-pound man.
If these amounts are fatal to a 180-pound man, imagine what the effects to women, children, and pets.
- That of the 17,000 chemicals that appear in common household products only 30% have been adequately tested for the negative effects on our health.
- Of the approximately 1,400 chemicals the EPA allows manufacturers to call "inert", 40 are known carcinogens and/or neurotoxins, and 64 are believed to be potentially toxic.
- The Federal Environmental Protection Agency (E.P.A.) has found that airborne chemical levels in homes were as much as 70 times higher than outside.
- The Consumer Product Safety Commission found that of the homes tested, the outdoor air contained less than 10 volatile organic compounds (VOC's) while the indoor air contained one-hundred and fifty VOC's. Many of the VOC's involved were traced to household cleaners.
| Chemical | Effects |
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Ammonia
Found in Glass Cleaner & All Purpose cleaners | Fatal when swallowed, can irritate eyes and lungs and cause headaches, bronchitis, pneumonia, and trigger asthma. |
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Chlorine Bleach | Potentially fatal if ingested, Number one cause of poisonings in children |
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Formaldehyde Found in some furniture polishes, and carpet cleaners | Highly toxic; known carcinogen |
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Hydrochloric acid | Corrosive, eye and skin irritant |
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Hydrochloric bleach | Eye, skin and respiratory tract irritant |
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Lye | Severe damage to stomach and esophagus if ingested |
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Naphtha | Depresses the central nervous system |
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Nitrobenzene | Causes skin discoloration, shallow breathing, vomiting, and death |
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Perchlorethylene | Damages liver, kidney, nervous system |
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Petroleum Distillates
Found in Furniture Polish; Heavy-duty Cleaners; Car Wax; Pet Flea Treatments | Highly flammable, eye, skin, and respiratory irritant. May also contain traces of benzene--a carcinogen. |
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Phenol | Extremely dangerous; suspected carcinogen; fatal taken internally |
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Propylene Glycol | Immunogen; main ingredient in antifreeze |
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Sodium hypochlorite
Found in Household Bleach | Potentially fatal, eye, skin, and respiratory irritant – especially hazardous to those with heart conditions or asthma. |
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Sodium laurel sulfate | Carcinogen, toxin, genetic mutagen |
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Sodium tripolyphosphate | Irritant |
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Trichloroethane | Damages liver and kidneys |
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All Purpose Cleaner Toxicity
Chlorinated materials can form orgono-chloride compounds, which in turn are stored in the fat cells and can enter mother's milk. Morpholine is very toxic and a liver and kidney poison. Glycol ether, Stoddard solvent, naphtha and kerosene are neurotoxins and central nervous system depressants which can cause confusion, headaches, lack of concentration, and symptoms of mental illness. Glycol ether is also a kidney and liver poison. Sodium bromide can cause confusion.
Commercial Deodorizer Toxicity
Methoxychlor is a chlorinated hydrocarbon pesticide, which accumulates in fat cells and can enter mother's milk. It is also a neurotoxin and can over stimulate the central nervous system. P-Dichlorobenzene, aromatic hydrocarbons, and naphthalene are central nervous system depressants, which can cause confusion, headaches, lack of concentration, and symptoms of mental illness. Salicylates can cause strong allergic reactions and are very toxic. Formaldehyde is assumed to be carcinogenic. Piperonal butixide is a suspected carcinogenic (cause cancer).
Commercial Furniture Polish Toxicity
Naphtha, diglycol laurate, amyl acetate, and mineral spirits are neurotoxins and central nervous system depressant, which can cause confusion, headaches, lack of concentration, and symptoms of mental illness. Diglycol laurate can also be a liver and kidney poison. Mineral spirits can cause upper respiratory tract irritation and can contain impurities including the carcinogen benzene.
Commercial Glass Cleaner Toxicity
Organic solvents, naphtha, and petroleum-based waxes are neurotoxin and central nervous system depressant, which can cause confusion, headaches, lack of concentration, and symptoms of mental illness. Organic solvents also commonly contain impurities such as the carcinogen benzene and can cause respiratory irritation. Butyl cellusolve is very toxic. Phosphoric acid and ammonia are highly corrosive.
Commercial Solvent Spot Cleaner Toxicity
The ingredients listed are so threatening to health that solvent-based spot removers should simply never be used. Most of the ingredients are carcinogenic, suspected of being carcinogenic, neurotoxin, central nervous system depressants, stored in fatty tissues, a cause of respiratory distress, liver and kidney poisons, extremely toxic and corrosive and can cause death.
Commercial Toilet Bowl Cleaner Toxicity
Sodium acid oxalate, chlorinated phenols, and o-or-p-Dichlorobenzene are highly toxic. Sodium acid sulfate is highly corrosive. Chlorinated phenols are not only corrosive buy metabolic stimulants. Fungicides can cause liver and kidney damage. O-or-p-Dichloriobenzene is a liver and kidney poison, as well as being a powerful central nervous system depressant which can cause confusion, headaches, lack of concentration, and symptoms of mental illness. Germicides can be toxic.
YOUR HEALTH
Medical doctors and scientists have concluded that there is a definitive connection between our health and the use of everyday common household cleaning chemicals.
- Within 26 seconds after exposure to chemicals found in most cleaning products , traces of these chemicals can be found in every organ in the body.
- A 15-year study concluded, as a direct result of the much higher exposure rate to toxic chemicals in common household products women who work at home have a 54% higher death rate from cancer than those who work away from.
- According to the EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) 50% of all illness can be traced to indoor pollution, which can be directly related to the use of household cleaners.
- The Consumer Product Safety Commission on "CHEMICALS COMMONLY FOUND IN THE HOME" identified 150 as linked to allergies, birth defects, cancer and psychological abnormalities with ten percent ( 10% ) causing High Blood Pressure and Migraines and twenty percent ( 20% ) being responsible for mental disturbances.
Health Issues caused and or triggered by chemicals found in common cleaners:
Allergies, Alter the body's metabolism, Asthma, Behavioral disorders, Birth defects, Cancer, Depression, Developmental disorders, Dizziness, Enzyme dysfunction, Fatigue, Fatigue, Headaches, Hormonal changes, Itchy eyes, Nutritional deficiencies, Rare learning, Respiratory infections, Runny nose, Scratchy throat, Skin rash, and Toxicity
- Asthma rates have risen 30% since the 1970s with high increases noted in children. Experts believe sensitive young lungs are reacting to a chemical onslaught created by household chemical products like cleaners.
- Multiple chemical sensitivity (MCS) or environmental illness MCS is thought to result from both acute and chronic chemical exposure. No specific chemicals cause MCS, nor are symptoms the same in each case. Sufferers find themselves suddenly unable to tolerate even minute exposure to some or all synthetics.
- Neurological problems: Tests of many toxins in cleaners have shown that they can damage the neurological system and cause fatigue, memory problems, personality changes, headaches, sleep disorders, coordination difficulties, visual problems, and sexual dysfunction.
- Organ damage: The two organs most responsible for detoxification are the liver and the kidneys. When these organs are exposed to certain chemicals, damage and disease can occur. Butyl cellosolv, a common cleaning ingredient, is just one such compound that has displayed high levels of toxicity to these vital organs.
- Caustic household cleaners can cause severe burning if swallowed or put on the skin, Symptoms of poisoning include redness around the mouth, drooling and difficulty in swallowing.
- Some floor polishes contain chemicals that can cause cancer as well as damage to the heart, kidneys, liver and central nervous system
- Petrochemical toxins found in cleaners can accumulate dangerously in the muscles, fat and bones from one toxic chemical exposure or from many smaller ones.
- One doctor and his researchers studied the babies of women who were exposed to chemical solvents in the workplace, and found that the babies has vision problems. "Vision is one of the functions of the human brain, so it means that these chemicals find themselves through the mum, through the umbilical cord, into the baby, into the developing brain, and damaging functions there, and the baby is born already with a problem."
- Residues of more than 400 toxic chemicals - some found in household products and foods - have been identified in human blood and fat tissue.
- In 1989, the EPA determined the toxic chemicals found in common household cleaners, often dispersed in fumes, are three ( 3 ) times more likely to cause cancer than are other air pollutants.
PETS & ANIMALS
Animals are closer to the ground, which puts them in direct contact with these harmful substances. Animals also have faster metabolisms and smaller lungs than we do. So their bodies have to work harder to try and eliminate these toxins. Not only are they processing these chemicals at a faster rate, they are also breathing them in more rapidly; which makes them more vulnerable to the effects of these toxic chemicals, and to toxic poisoning which could result in death.
Symptoms of Cleaning Product Poisoning For dogs and cats: Anxiety, Burns on the mouth and esophagus, Central nervous system depressant, Colic, Coma, Corneal damage, Cough, Death, Excessive salivation, Foaming at the mouth, Hormonal changes, Hyperthermia, Muscle weakness, Restlessness, Seizures, Shallow breathing, Skin ulcers, Slow respiration, and Vomiting. In addition to the above-listed symptoms, cats, who can have fatal reactions to cleaning products, also experience the following: Cardiac arrhythmia, Hair loss, Hyperactivity, Panting, and Shock
CHILDREN
Approximately 1.4 million people in the United States are exposed to household chemicals and are referred to poison control centers every year. More than half of these are children under 6 years of age. Clever marketers have tried to convince parents that cleaning their house with toxic cleaners to “disinfect” all the surfaces your children come into contact with is a measure of protection. When the truth is that this is causing their children to be poisoned and sick from all the toxic chemicals.
Children are at higher risk when playing on floors with the residue from formaldehyde, asbestos and pesticides from common household cleaners. Their respiration rates are three times higher than adults, and their detoxification systems are not fully developed and cannot filter these toxins out really.
A child’s biology is different. Their immune system is less developed and may be less protective. Developing cells are more easily damaged than cells that have completed development. During the rapid growth period of childhood, cells divide very quickly, making it more likely that a cellular mutation will be reproduced, thus initiating cancer.
- Because they are younger, children have a longer life span ahead of them for chemically induced health problems to progress.
- Children absorb greater concentrations of pesticides and "toxic" chemicals per pound of body weight through inhalation, ingestion and contact with the skin.
- Chemical residues from cleaning products after usage are left behind and easily absorbed into the skin of babies who are much more susceptible to the toxins present in these products.
THE ENVIRONMENT
The average American uses about 25 gallon of "TOXIC" , "HAZARDOUS" chemical products per year in their Home. A major portion of these can be found in household cleaning products. Household cleaners create toxic waste in their manufacture and use, which gets disposed of in the environment in the form of air and water pollution and solid toxic waste every day. This pollution come back to haunt our own health and harms every living thing on earth. For example , the "California Department of Fish and Game" tested the toxicity of common chemicals which were found in waterways. The most toxic substances to aquatic organisms present in the water were : Household Bleach, All-purpose Cleaner, Laundry Detergent, and Dish Detergent. Unfortunately, people overlook the cumulative effect of repeated exposures since no one is really affected by a single exposure of handling cleaning chemicals.
- More than 32 million pounds of household cleaning products are poured down the drain each day nationwide. The toxic substances found in many of these are not adequately removed by sewage treatment plants.
- In 2000, major American companies dumped 7.1 billion pounds of 650 different industrial chemicals into our air and water.
- The Clean Water Fund estimates that the average American interacts with 40 lbs of unsafe chemical cleaners each year (multiply that by 245 million Americans) at their workplace, school, or home.
- Most common store-bought cleaning products that are stored under kitchen or bathroom sinks contain ingredients that are considered hazardous waste.
Please after reading this Consider switching today, go to your Local coop and you will find solutions. |
