Welcome to Healthy Times
Healthy Times is a bi-monthly free community newspaper that currently serves cities in the Inland Empire, Coachella Valley, and Sand Diego in Southern California. Our distribution is 30,000 copies that can be found at over 300 locations including: natural foods markets, vitamin shops, fitness centers, beauty salons, day spas and restaurants. Healthy Times can also be found in the offices of professional healthcare providers including doctors, dentists, chiropractors, physical therapists, naturopathic physicians, dietitians, holistic health practitioners, massage therapists and other wellness centers. Healthy Times Newspaper offers an affordable franchise opportunitity for individuals to own a home-based health and wellness business with a low start-up cost. Click here for more information.
Greening
Your Cleaning By Janet Little, C.N.
While a good scrubbing of the home creates a healthy environment, it’s crucial to know how certain cleaning products can actually be harmful to your family’s health. It’s also equally important to explore safer, earth-friendly alternatives.
Cleaning often involves the use of potentially harmful products, which can be toxic, corrosive, irritating and flammable. Every time you use a cleaning product, you are absorbing its contents into your skin and breathing it into your lungs.
What Are In Cleansers?
- Phosphates – These can be found in dishwasher tablets. When they reach waterways, they cause algae to bloom. Algae consume oxygen and block the sunlight from reaching other aquatic organisms. As a result, the other organisms die from a lack of much needed nutrients.
- Phthalates – These come from phthalic acid which is used to make dyes and perfumes and has been related to health effects such as organ system toxicity (non-reproductive), reproduction and fertility issues and birth and/or developmental effects. It can also harm the endocrine system, the brain, nervous system and even the immune system (including sensitization and allergies).
- Ethoxylated alcohols – Found in washing liquids, these can be harmful because they consist of chemicals such as sodium laureth sulphate, which help create foaming but are also a possible carcinogen.
- Chlorine – Chlorine, a poisonous, greenish-yellow gas, is a very corrosive and hazardous chemical used in bleaches and creates toxins in waterways. It is crucial to never mix chlorine with other products such as ammonia, as this can create highly toxic fumes. It also creates organochlorines, compounds that pose an adverse human health risk. Some are even carcinogens. Exposure to chlorine gas can produce chest pain, vomiting, coughing, difficulty breathing and/or excess fluid in the lungs. Exposure to 430 ppm in air for 30 minutes or more will cause death.
- Ammonia and nitrobenzene– Commonly found in floor polish/glass cleaners, such chemicals can cause respiratory problems and are skin and eye irritants. It is important to never mix ammonia and bleach. This combination produces dangerous chlorine gas, which in small doses can cause irritation to the eyes, skin and the respiratory tract. In large doses, it can kill.
- Triclosan – This is an antimicrobial agent found in antibacterial liquid hand soap, detergents and other sanitizing/cleansing products. The popularity of antibacterial products has led to increased consumer use of triclosan. However, the American Medical Association (AMA) has advanced an official recommendation against using antibacterial products in the home due to concerns about antimicrobial resistance. In addition, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) panel reviewed the existing research and found no evidence that households that use antibacterial products are healthier than households that use soap and water and other basic cleansers. Read more...
