Let's start taking small steps to rid your home of toxins that could be causing health issues. Remember most health problems caused by the products you use and the food you eat may not surface for years. Like dirt and grease ill health is a build up problem and prevention is the only cure. A green home is a healthy home and usually free of serious diseases I discussed in my last post.
First a bit of prep work. Chemical companies are not required to list the ingredients used in their products. Supposed organic green products may contain toxic chemicals. Always stay clear of any product containing sodium laurel sulfate. It is found in anything that foams: dish washing detergent, shampoo, toothpaste, laudry soap, most body care products and even soft swirl ice cream. It leaches the chemicals out of plastic bottles and gasses off dioxin or nitrates.
Aubrey body care products are excellent as are Bi-O-Kleen, Mary Moppins and the Clean Team line of cleaners. Bi-O-Kleen carries excellent dish soaps, laundry soaps and dish washer soaps. When I tossed my Cascade dish washer soap and started using Bi-O-Kleen my sinuses cleared up. The "clean" smell that hits your nostrils during the wash cycle of a dish washer is not so "clean." It is off gassing some highly toxic gasses. Until you can make the switch, open a window and turn on the fan to rid your home of those toxic fumes.
Thursday, August 14, 2008
About the time you think you have mastered a subject like green cleaning, along comes a 4x4 plank that knocks you across the head turning your world into humble pie. I've been preaching the glories of using eco friendly products like white vinegar and baking soda for over a decade and thought I knew the world of toxins.
I quickly found out that my "PhD" in green cleaning was barely an elementary education. I knew nothing about the nasty world of things like sodium laurel sulfate, ethylene dichloride, phthalates, dioxin, 2-butoxyethanol, chlorides, diethanolamine, ethylene glycolhydroxides, d-Limonene, Morpholine, Naphtha or Phenols.
That is just the beginning of a long list of products that cause brain and neurological damage, liver and kidney dysfunctions, asthma, a multitude of cancers and lung problems. Did you know that the sodium laurel sulfate in hand soaps, shampoos, liquid dish soaps and bar soaps etc reacts to the plastic from the bottles? That reaction emits toxins like nitrates and dioxins into the product which leach into your body every time you use it. Dioxin is otherwise known as Agent Orange and recognized by the EPA as the most toxic chemical known to man. Dioxin is stored in your fat cells and never goes away.
Dioxin is also formed whenever chlorine comes into contact with other chemicals and it doesn't have to be ammonia. Please discard your bleach and turn to borax or hydrogen peroxide instead.
Why am I telling you this? Because I want you to be aware of the toxins you have invited into your home and your body. You read articles declaring that there is nothing you can do about preventing cancer that one out of two or three people will succumb to it.
Well I'm here to tell you that there is plenty you can do to prevent these serious illnesses. All of that will be covered in another book I'm starting this weekend. It will talk about my life with Hepatitis C and celiac sprue and cover the wholeness approach for a healthy life. Going green and staying disease free encompasses every part of your life.