There’s a lot of great info out there about eating clean foods which is immensely important for good health. But there are also other things to consider when trying to revive your good health. Our world today is absolutely swimming in toxins. We can’t place ourselves in a sterile bubble but there are some things we can do to help minimize what our bodies are exposed to. Surprisingly we are probably the biggest offenders of immersing ourselves in toxins, that’s not all bad news, because we can also bring the biggest change to that situation! Here’s a few places to look for those pesky buggers:
Under your kitchen sink….
If you’re like me you had everything under the sun stowed away under there, from glass cleaner to oven cleaner. A study was done at Berkeley University in 2006 and found that household cleaners have the potential to cause much higher levels of indoor pollution then previously thought. When these cleaners are mixed with ozone they can become much more dangerous especially in smaller less ventilated areas. The study cited several examples that the average consumer might possibly participate in such as cleaning a small bathroom for 15 minutes or placing an air freshener in a child’s room. They found that by doing this especially if the ozone is higher that day you could be exposing your family to higher then normal levels of Formaldehyde and possibly terpene. This could be as high as 25 percent over the legal limit allowed for household use. Not good. Look for non-toxic alternatives to these products. There are many good ones out there. We have replaced all of our cleaning products with these and I noticed immediately that I didn’t have that little wheeze anymore that I used to get when I cleaned the bathrooms. My lungs are much happier!
Check in your washer…
There’s a “laundry list” of nasties in laundry detergent. Four of the worst offenders are : Sodium laurel sulphate, 1,4-dioxane, NPE, and phosphates. Lets just pick one for the sake of keeping this brief. In an article describing the toxicology of 1,4-dioxane it was found to be carcinogenic to humans. It is said to have affected the kidney and livers of lab rats that were subjected to the chemical by- product. The rats were exposed to the by- product throughout their life which could be possible for many humans if they are daily wearing clothes or makeup that contain this product on their skin. Because this is a by-product of other chemicals there are several names that this could be found under when reading labels on detergent bottles. Some of them may include PEG, polyethelyne, polyethelyne glycol, eth and oxynol. This potential carcinogenic is only ONE of the chemicals found in detergent that causes health issues. You can avoid these harmful chemicals by switching to a more natural brand. Many times these brands will say right on the labels what they DO NOT contain as a selling point because more and more consumers are wising up to these hidden dangers in laundry detergents. I will admit some of these natural detergents don’t seem to remove stains quite as well but I have found some solutions that are working pretty good now and still remain natural so sometimes it takes a little experimenting. I will place all of these products I use for our laundry care on my resources page.
It’s in the dishwasher…
Many times automatic dishwasher detergents contain chlorine and phosphates. Phosphate residues may remain present after washing and could cause diarrhea and nausea in some individuals. The phosphates also enter the streams and rivers and may cause an algae overgrowth which is very damaging to the fish after a prolonged period of time. Chlorine can also pose a cancer risk for humans after prolonged use of the dishes that contain chlorine residues on them. We only get a trace amount of these substances with each dish, which may seem fairly harmless, but it is over a prolonged amount of time if the person does not properly detox that some of these things could cause chronic health issues. When looking for a safer dishwasher detergent don’t look for just “all natural ” or “green” on the label. Look for those brands that actually state “phosphate free” or other wise. Marketing ploys tend to slap these words on things to cause the consumer to think they are healthy but most times there is no validity in their claims.
I know all of this sounds depressing like everything you use is horrible for you but knowledge is power and you have the power to revamp your cleaning supplies! You can make your own or buy much healthier products that won’t harm your family. Be informed and make a difference 🙂
I will be talking about this all week and posting some easy cleaning recipes and options, so don’t miss out!
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