Follow GreenHeadsUSA on Twitter

   GreenHeadsUSA  
Translator

    A Change For The Environment, Change For Your Pocket
GreenHeadsUSA Custom Search
Googlepowered by

The Toxic Facts


Stop and think about this.

There are basically three ways toxic chemicals can enter the body:

  • By Ingestion
  • By Inhalation
  • Or by contact with the skin or eyes.

In 1989, the EPA- (US Environmental Protection Agency) determined the toxic chemicals found in common household cleaners, often dispersed in fumes, are three times more likely to cause cancer than are other air pollutants.

According to the American Cancer Society, prior to the 20th century, only 1 out of 8,000 people in the United States were stricken with cancer. Since the Industrial Revolution the introduction into our lives of a myriad of chemicals, the incidence of cancer has increased to a startling 1 out of 3 people.
 Since World War II, we have developed more than 80,000 chemicals for use in cleaners, pesticides, plastics, personal care products, industrial products and other modern day conveniences. We know very little about the effect of these chemicals on a child's development


  

dirty waterThe Clean Water Fund estimates that the average American uses 40 lbs of unsafe household cleaners each year (multiply that by 245 million Americans). Guess where a majority of them end up!

If you would like to do some research of your own on products you use. You can go to the Household Products Database - Health and Safety Information on Household Products.
The Household Products Database of the National Library of Medicine is based on the Consumer Product Information Database ©2001-2009 by DeLima Associates. All rights reserved.

The database links over 9,000 consumer brands to health effects from Material Safety Data Sheets (MSDS) provided by manufacturers and allows scientists and consumers to research products based on chemical ingredients.

A few facts:

  • The Consumer Product Safety Commission reported that 150 common household chemicals have been linked to allergies, birth defects, cancer and psychological abnormalities.
  • Women who stay at home all day, have a 54% higher rate of cancer than women who work outside the home because their indoor environment is much more polluted than outside due to toxic household cleaning products.
     
  • Allergic asthma is the most common form of asthma, affecting over 50% of the 20 million asthma sufferers. Over 2.5 million children under age 18 suffer from allergic asthma.
    Home is where you cook, eat, sleep, bathe, groom, relax and play with pets. In all of these activities your nose and mouth are dangerously close to, and may even be in direct contact with, the things that cause asthma symptoms. Soaps, cosmetics, cleaning solutions, fireplace or grill smoke, and hair spray may trigger an asthma episode as much as dander, pollinating flowers or dust mites.

  • Some birth defects have been traced to mothers' use of Cleaning chemicals during pregnancy.

  •  Every 7 minutes a child in America is taken to an emergency room for poisoning from household cleaning products, the stuff under the sink.ambulance

Also some things you should know from The American Association of Poison Control Centers (AAPCC)

What are the most common poisons for children?

  • Cosmetics such as perfume or nail polish, and personal care products such as deodorant and soap.
  • Cleaning products (for example, laundry detergent and floor cleaners).
  • Pain medicines (analgesics) such as acetaminophen or ibuprofen.
  • Foreign bodies and toys including silica gel packages to remove moisture in packaging and glow products.
  • Topical preparations such as diaper rash products, hydrogen peroxide, acne preparations, or calamine lotion.

What are the most common poisons for adults?

  • Pain medicines (analgesics) which can be over-the-counter, prescribed, or illegal. Examples include aspirin, oxycodone, acetaminophen, methadone, and ibuprofen.
  • Sedatives (drugs to reduce anxiety), hypnotics (sleeping pills), and antipsychotics (drugs used to treat mental illness).
  • Household cleaning products
  • Antidepressants (drugs to treat depression)
  • Cardiovascular drugs (drugs to treat heart disease)
  • Alcohols

poison symbolToxic ingredients found in common household and consumer products:poison symbol



  • Chlorine bleach:
    • Can irritate the lungs and eyes and in waterways can become toxic organ chlorines.
  • Naphtha and mineral spirits
  • Phthalates:
    • Found in furniture polish.
  • Ether-type solvents
  •  Methylene chloride
  • Butyl cello solve and petroleum distillates:
    • Found in oven cleaning products.
  • Sulfuric acid and sodium hydroxide:
    • Found in drain cleaning products.
  • Alkyl phenol ethoxylates (APEs):
    • Found in detergents and disinfectants.
      Are suspected hormone disruptors.
  • Ammonia:
    • Poisonous when swallowed, extremely irritating to respiratory passages when inhaled and can burn the skin on contact.
  • Indiscriminate use of antibacterial cleansers containing triclosan may be contributing to the rise of antibiotic-resistant germs.
  • Butyl cello solve ethylene glycol monobutyl ether:
    • Poisonous when swallowed and a lung-tissue irritant.
  • Diethanolamine (DEA):
    • When combined with nitrosomes,  produce carcinogenic nitrosamines that penetrate skin.
  • Fragrances may contain phthalates, chemicals linked to reproductive abnormalities and liver cancer in lab animals and to asthma in children.
  • Sodium hydroxide:
    • Found in drain, metal and oven cleaners; extremely irritating to eyes, nose and throat and can burn tissues on contact.
  • Sodium laurylsulfate:
    • A common sudsing agent, can penetrate the skin and cause contact dermatitis.
  • Glass cleaners:
    •  May contain Isopropyl alcohol which can irritate the skin, eyes, nose and throat, and ammonia which can irritate the skin and eyes and cause coughing, wheezing and shortness of breath.
  • All-purpose cleaners:
    • May contain 2-butoxyethanol which can cause headaches, dizziness, lightheadedness and confusion, in addition to irritating the eyes, nose, throat and mouth.
  • Bathroom cleaners:
    • May contain Sodium hypochlorite/chlorine which can severely irritate the skin,  may cause eye damage, coughing or shortness of breath.


earth on grassHow can you change the environment?

Green Cleaning that is truly non toxic will change the environment!



To top of page

Weather Underground PWS KFLFORTM19