A Healthy Home or a Toxic Brew?
By Paula Femino

The idea that our home can be a healthy or unhealthy place to live and breathe is a fairly recent one.  It is only in the past decade or so that we have been hearing about ‘household toxins’ and ‘indoor air pollution’.  It is only in the last decade that medical and scientific communities have begun recognizing that common household chemicals can have an adverse effect on our health. 

Like most people, I assume that if a product is available to purchase in a store, that it is also safe.  Especially with FDA regulations, they certainly would not let us hurt our children or ourselves, would they?

Actually, most consumer products that we all use every day are filled with toxic chemicals.  Many of these would require special handling if they were being used in a chemical lab or in a work environment.   Workers would be required to wear gloves and goggles when working with some of the exact same chemicals found in almost every home.  Yet, we use these products in our homes day after day with no protection at all and little or no ventilation, often times spraying them into the air to breathe or into our bodies directly! 

Manufacturers are often protected from listing all of the ingredients (to protect formulas and trade secrets).   But please note the warnings on many of the cleaning supplies and household items in your own home.  Some even provide the phone number for poison control.  Note the warnings about combining certain items with another brand or type of cleaner.  This is because it is possible to unintentionally create a TOXIC BREW in your own home.  Most of us are not chemists and may not realize that this could happen.  Beware!

Doctors are beginning to understand that toxins gradually build up in our bodies over time - sometimes quite a long time before appearing as an allergy or other disorder.  A study done in 2003 by the Mount Sinai School of Medicine found an average of 91 industrial compounds in the bodies of volunteers.  Of the 167 chemicals found, 76 cause cancer in humans or animals, 94 are toxic to the brain and nervous system, and 79 cause birth defects or abnormal development.

To cite only one example, the California Department of Fish and Game tested the toxicity of common chemicals that they found in our waterways.  The most toxic substances to aquatic organisms were household bleach, all-purpose cleaner, laundry detergent, and dish detergent.  These were more harmful to aquatic life than other household products we think of as being more toxic, such as paint or car wax. 

What can we do?  The first step is to educate ourselves.  That is why I chose this subject to write about.  Next, we need to start to eliminate toxic chemicals from our daily lives.  This includes not only cleaning products,  but personal care products as well.  While these are not the only ones, they are the simplest ones to replace with safer alternatives. 

 The natural environment makes it possible for us to live on this earth.  From it we draw everything that sustains our lives.  Without it, we cannot survive.  Due to this knowledge, safer alternatives have been created.  

Now we can make the personal decision to make better choices for our families - to protect the health of the children and elders in our care.  These safer alternatives are readily available; organic and far more environmentally friendly.  Small changes can make a BIG difference.  We can all breathe easier by making the right choice…