Questioning the Chemicals in Cleaners

In April, 2007, Oprah Winfrey had a program on Going Green – you can see the video of this on the right. The following is one of the stories that was shared on Oprah’s show:

‘For years, the Barnett family lived like most Americans. Then, in 2004, they got an unexpected wake-up call that changed the way they clean their home and treat the environment.

Sloan and Roger say they began to notice their son Spencer’s health problems when he was just 3 years old. At first, Sloan says her son coughed continuously. One day his heart was racing, so she rushed him to the emergency room.

“I don’t think we knew whether we were going to lose him or not,” Roger says. “They told us that he had a respiratory issue. They thought he might be developing asthma.”

Sloan says she began researching chemicals that can irritate the lungs and found them in a startling location…inside her home. [color=red]According to a physician, some household products—like bathroom cleaners, disinfectants, floor cleaners and oven cleaners—contain toxic chemicals that can trigger an asthma attack.[/color]

As soon as the Barnetts learned that cleaning products can be hazardous to their health, Sloan says they cleaned out their cabinets and made their home a place where everyone could breathe easier.

After throwing out common household cleaners, Roger discovered the Shaklee Corporation, a company that had been producing natural cleaning products for 50 years.

Sloan and Roger began using these eco-friendly cleaners inside their house. “We thought they worked terrifically,” Roger says. “The great news is that Spencer has never had to go back to the hospital since we switched our products and that really speaks it all for us.”

Oprah says “The Barnetts liked the products so much, they bought the company!”

Now, Sloan says she tries to live in a way that’s responsible to the health of her children and to the health of the planet.

Shaklee products, which include everything from dryer sheets to stain removers, are made from pure ingredients and won’t leave your house smelling like a lemon tree. “Clean, real clean, doesn’t have a smell,” Sloan says. “Real clean is good for our children, good for our families.”

Check out the cleaning products here

Oprah says she’s a big fan of Shaklee’s H2 Organic Super Concentrated Cleaner. “Use a couple of drops of this, and it’s amazing,” she says. “You can clean the windows. You can clean the counters….You can clean everything!”


P.S. Out of 1,435 pesticide poisonings in a 1 year period, over 40% were due to exposure to disinfectants and similar cleaning products in the home. (Source: State of California Study) Just reducing (not eliminating) environmental carcinogens alone would save at least 50,000 lives from cancer annually (Source: Dr. Lee Davis, former advisor to the Secretary of Health)

America Recycles Day

Every little bit helps. Take a step and start recycling now.

Check out National Recycling Coalition's website. There is a lot of useful information there to help you.

November 15th is being celebrated as America Recycles Day. Take a step or take a bigger step by committing to enhance your current recycling habits. Take the pledge to make a difference.

Take the pledge on the National Recycling Coalition's site and pass on the challenge to at least 5 others. Your effort can make a substantial difference.

Learn more about Shaklee's environmental legacy and the numerous milestones that Shaklee has completed, with the products they distribute, and the causes they sponsor and/or have spearheaded. Also, read about Wangari Maathi, one of Shaklee's honorary ambassadors.

Your Home is a Toxic Waste Dump

I'm not trying to be mean. And this has nothing to do with how clean you keep your home.

But, think of your home as a toxic waste dump.

*The average home today 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 2% of synthetic chemicals have been tested for toxicity, mutagenic and carcinogenic effects, or birth defects.

*The majority of chemicals have never been tested for long-term effects.

Isn’t it time to do something about what is in your home?

Here is one option for you: Get Clean - The Get Clean starter kit has 0 (zero) chemicals.

How Household Cleaners Affect Children

In the last few posts I’ve shared with you the dangers of the toxic cleaners that most people are using. It is alarming to think how many families and children are suffering unnecessarily because they just don’t know an economical alternative to their toxic cleaners exists.

Below is a testimonial from a mother of 4 that I thought you would find interesting:

Being a concerned mother of nearly four, I do care about the wellness of my family and the toxins in my home. But this concern has taken different action over the past years. When I had my first baby, I gave cleaning products a great deal of thought and tried to make as many as I could using earth friendly ingredients and recipes I found online. Then, after the arrival of my second baby, I needed convenience and so I tried some of the green cleaners found at health food stores. This was expensive so at times I had to just use the chemicals that choke you in the cleaning aisles of grocery stores. And finally, after my third baby, I needed maximum convenience and minimum price. So I started to use Clorox wipes, among other things.

Unfortunately, I was doing more harm than good. A friend of mine suggested I watch Toxic Brew, a news segment produced by a Canadian news station. After watching this, the reality of what I was bringing into my home began to dawn on me.

Only a month or so later, I heard of the work of Dr. Doris Rapp, who researches the effects of harmful chemicals on children’s health. (You can find her books, including Is This Your Child’s World? at www.amazon.com.) In one of her studies, she tested the effect of bleach on six-year-olds’ handwriting. I looked at the printed results, and was amazed at the evidence. Before a bottle of bleach was opened, students wrote their names fairly well. Then, with just an opened bottle of bleach in the room and the fumes wafting through the air, the children wrote their names dramatically different. Some wrote messy, some too small to read, and one even wrote backwards.

Being the devil’s advocate that I am, I thought: ‘Well, they just printed up the worst case scenarios. Certainly it wouldn’t effect my kids this way.’ So, I determined to do the same test at home. I didn’t tell my kids what I was doing. I only told them to write as neatly as they could. They printed their names on a sheet of paper. Then, I told them to hold up their papers while I wiped the table off with a Clorox wipe. As soon as it was dry enough, I had them put their papers down and write their names again. I was shocked! My daughter’s writing was visibly messier; instead of letters being tight and connected, they were loopy and crooked. My son was completely distracted by something while he was writing his name! (This is uncharacteristic of him. He has no attention difficulties.) When he realized that he was talking about something else, he stopped mid-sentence and said: ‘Wait, I’m supposed to be writing my name!’ The next letter he wrote was upside-down (which my son had never done before). I took it to the next level and had my children move to another room where there were no Clorox fumes. They wrote their names again and proved that without being ‘under the influence’ they could write just as neat as the first time. I could clearly see that the chemicals were affecting both writing ability and focus.

My children are homeschooled and we do chores every morning before school starts. Since they have direct exposure to cleaners, I was burdened by thoughts of how the cleaning chemicals were affecting them in other ways. To make a long story shorter, I promised myself from that time on that I would not subject my children’s minds to danger again, not to mention their lungs and skin. And I am very pleased with the alternatives that Shaklee Get Clean offers! These are very powerful, environmentally friendly, cost-effective cleaning products that contain no toxic chemicals and no dangerous fumes! What more was I looking for? I have totally clean, residue-free dishes; totally clean, irritation-free clothes; and totally clean, fume-free choretime! I LOVE IT and I want to spread the word so that every mom can give her children the priceless gift of a toxin-free home.

Amy K
Jefferson, GA

Check out the products mentioned above here

Did You Know?

• In 2005, 218,316 reported poison exposures came from household cleaning products

• Common household cleaners and appliances give off fumes, which can potentially increase the risk of asthma in children

• The EPA says that only a fraction of the more than 81,500 registered chemicals have gone through testing for human health concerns. 81,500 represents approximately one in every 750 known chemicals

• The EPA lists the following household cleaning products as ‘hazardous waste” – oven cleaners, drain cleaners, wood and metal cleaners and polishes, toilet cleaners, tub, tile and shower cleaners and bleach.

• The average US household generates more than 20 pounds of household hazardous waste per year, and the average home can accumulate as much as 100 pounds of household hazardous waste in the basement and garage and in storage closets.

Because children drink more water, breathe more air, are more active than we are, and eat more food than adults, they also take in much higher concentrations of toxic chemicals. Our children’s growing and developing bodies are especially vulnerable to harm caused by toxic chemicals. Rates of certain diseases linked to environmental exposures in children are increasing at alarming rates. Here are some stats that may cause you to think really hard about the toxins we have in our homes.

• Cancer rates in children have increased 28% between 1975 and 1998.

• In the last 25 years the number of children who suffer from asthma has doubled to more than 8%

• Nearly 12 million children have one or more learning, developmental, or behavioral disabilities.

Is there anything you can do? ABSOLUTELY! GO GREEN – GET CLEAN

Safer, Toxin Free Home Environment

Have you heard about the dangers that everyday cleaners pose for you and your family? The statistics of what the toxins are doing to us and our families are terrifying.

Did you know that:
• 50% of all illness is because the air inside the home is of poor quality? (1989 State of Massachusetts Stody) and that an EPA survey concluded that indoor air was 3 to 70 times more polluted than outdoor air. Another EPA study stated that the toxic chemicals in household cleaners are 3 times more likely to cause cancer than outdoor air. CMHC reports that houses today are so energy efficient that “outgassing” of chemicals has no where to go, so it builds up inside the home.

• Fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue syndrome, arthritis, lupus, multiple sclerosis, circulatory disorders, Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s disease, irritable bowel syndrome, depression, and hormonal problems are diseases commonly related to chemical exposure

• ADD/ADHD are epidemic in schools today. Behavioral problems have been linked to exposure to toxic chemicals and molds. Use of Ritalin has skyrocketed since 1990.

• Of the chemicals found in personal care products, 884 are toxic, 146 cause tumors, 218 cause reproductive complications, 314 cause biological mutation, 376 cause skin and eye irritations. (U.S. House of Representatives report, 1989)

• In one decade, there has been a 42% increase in asthma, 29% for men; 82% for women. The higher rate for women is believed to be due to women’s longer exposure times to household chemicals. (Center for Disease Control)

That is scary!

So what can you do? Safe, non-toxic cleaners are available. Check out the non-toxic cleaners. If you have any questions or want more information, call me toll free at 1-866-811-5357

Are You Giving Your Child Toxins Each Day?

Naturally, we would not knowingly,give our children toxins, but do you know how safe your laundry and cleaning products are?

Each day you are exposed to more than 123 chemicals through your skin and mouth – the vast majority of which have never been screened for safety by the FDA.

Analysis of cord blood of newborn babies at Mt. Sinai Hospital found more than 200 chemicals already in the blood stream at birth!

What do we do when we bring a new baby home from the hospital? We make sure that they are safe – the best car seat, baby gates, electric plug covers, locks on cabinets to keep them safe from hazardous household chemicals.

But when the baby goes to sleep, we get those same chemicals out and spray them all over the baby’s environment – the high chair tray they eat off; the floor they crawl on, the air they breathe. It just doesn’t make sense!

There are 80 scary chemicals in many of the products we use every day.

Let’s look at some of the most common hazardous household chemicals and which ones may be hiding out in your bathroom….laundry room…or under your sink.

All the information I’m sharing here comes directly from a government watchdog group National Institutes of Health

Check out some of the products you may be using. One company you will find does not have any of these toxic chemicals is Shaklee. You can check out those products at http://www.householdproducts.nlm.nih.gov/ingredients.htm

Ok – let’s start off with Sodium Hydroxide:

*Causes 75% o all caustic injury to the esophagus of kids under 5 years old
*Can cause burns in tissues – eyes, skin, mouth and throat
*Can cause irritation to the respiratory tract
*Can cause liver and kidney damage.

You wouldn’t want this in your dish products.

What common products have Sodium Hydroxide? Tide, Cascade, Clorox, Palmolive Gel, Clorox Spray, Spray and Wash, Tilex, 409, Shout

Next - Butyl Cellosolve

*Linked to reproductive harm
*Can cause irritation and tissue damage from inhalation
*Exposure for 15 min. while cleaning shower, could inhale 3x the acute exposure limit
*toxic to kidney and liver
*Exposure through the skin

Here are products with Butyle Cellosolve:

fantasik, 409, windex, simple green, pledge, glass plus

There are some other chemicals that are harmful too. Be sure to check your products at the government watchdog url. Look up these - hydochloric Acid, potassium hydroxide, and sulfamic acid.

Now, I know some of you have these products in your home – not because you want those chemicals – but because you didn’t realize there is anything else out there that can do the job.

There is a simple way that you can get all the chemicals out of your home-- use greener, safer alternatives that really work and save money at the same time.

Check them out here: Safe Green cleaners

Always safe....Always green....always works.....

Paper...Plastic...OR....?

When I'm at the grocery store, I see those plastic bags and wonder - is it really that bad to use them? And, of course, paper bags? We know that is eliminating trees. My grocery store doesn't even offer paper bags. My only choice is plastic....or plastic.

I wasn't convinced about the dangers of plastic until I saw this video. It really surprised me.

So, I got some cloth bags

These are reusable for 3-4 years! I am trying to remember to take them in with me each time I shop. And the green color of these bags reminds me that I am Going Green!

I'm A Water Waster - Are You?

The EPA says that even tho 2/3 of the earth is covered with water, only 1% is for human use.

That started me thinking of ways I could eliminate ways I waste water.

...Don't leave the faucet running while I'm brushing my teeth
...Don't run the dishwasher with a partial load of dishes
...Check and fix any water leaks
...Install water-saving devices on faucets and toilets
...Install a low-flow shower head

Do you have any other ways we can conserve water usage?

Going Green

That's the buzz word now a days. But where to start? There seems to be so many things that you can do that it becomes overwhelming.

This blog will have tips to help take steps in protecting yourself and the earth by Going Green.