.: Improve Home Health :.

What You Need to
Know About Home Toxins

How Toxins Invade Our Homes
Inadequate Regulations
How Toxins Impact Our Health
VOCs and Indoor Air Pollution
Toxins in Our Products
Health Statistics
Alert! Children & Toxins
References

How Toxins Invade Our Homes

Advertising is powerful. Advertising defines our perception of quality and our consumer choices. Unfortunately, advertising has very little to do with real quality. Major marketers of consumable brands spend millions of dollars and thousands of hours on creating the right image; the image that will drive sales. In such a highly competitive market, manufacturers are forced to compromise quality ingredients for cheap synthetic alternatives, many of which are known toxins. With effective branding and advertising, consumers have little understanding of how safety and quality have been sacrificed. Unless consumers actively seek out original sources or summary articles such as this one, they may never become fully informed. The reason is simple: mainstream media is supported by advertising and articles about toxins in everyday products would offend the advertisers. There's no government agency that adequately monitors consumer products so it's up to consumers to take action and make informed decisions about the health and safety of their homes, their families and their impact on the environment. The dangerous quality of consumer products is a trend that will continue until consumers drive change in the marketplace by choosing manufacturers that hold to higher standards of quality and safety. This is what informed consumers need to know:

Since the 1950s, the number of synthetic chemical ingredients in our homes has increased dramatically. We buy specialty products for practically everything from cuticles to water spots. Marketers play on our desire for quick and easy solutions in a can or a tube and we consumers assume these products are safe. Unfortunately, I learned that the ingredients used in our products are not as safe as we think. There are over 80,000 registered chemicals listed with the Environmental Protection Agency, or EPA, and that does not include those regulated as pesticides, food additives, drugs or even cosmetics. Now think about this: of those 80,000 chemical ingredients used in consumer products, 75% of those have NEVER been tested for basic toxicity. [1] A direct quote from the EPA states : “This lack of test data compromises the public's right to know about the chemicals that are found in their environment, their homes, their workplace, and the products that they buy.” [2] In other words, just because a consumer product is on a store shelf means absolutely nothing in terms of its safety.

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Inadequate Regulations

The idea that products on your store shelf may not be safe is a new concept to some people who assume that our government has systems designed to protect us from unsafe ingredients. Unfortunately, I believe the systems are inadequate and compromised by manufacturer's interests. There ARE three regulatory agencies that have some involvement in monitoring our products. Americans are most familiar with the Food & Drug Administration which monitors pharmaceutical and over-the-counter drugs and food processing. The Environmental Protection Agency monitors pollution put into the air and water by manufacturers and it also overseas production of certain classes of chemicals considered to be major pollutants, including pesticides. The EPA does not have power to force manufacturers to supply safety data for other consumer products and there are many chemicals now known to be toxins that were excluded from EPA oversight laws in the 1970s due to lobbying on behalf of manufacturers.

The last regulatory agency Americans are familiar with is the Consumer Product Safety Commission which can suggest recalls on products, such as car-seats, only after a product has caused injury or death. Given this regulatory environment, the bulk of our everyday consumer products from paints and glues to cleaning products, laundry, lotions, soaps, scents, and even cosmetics fall into an un-monitored void where no government agency is ensuring the safety of the ingredients we are exposed to every day . [3]

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How Toxins Impact Our Health

The toxins we are exposed to in the home environment can pose either an immediate threat such as poisoning, or a chronic or long-term threat to our health. Poisoning can be from ingestion, like drinking a product, inhalation such as the toxic fumes created by mixing chemical cleaners or touch, as an acid burning your skin. In 2002, the American Association of Poison Control Centers received reports of more than 2.3 million cases of exposures to poisonous substances. Amazingly, 96% of all reported poisonings, both adult and children, occurred in a home environment and 52% of those cases involved children under the age of 6 who got into cosmetics, personal care or cleaning products in the home, including pesticides such as chlorine bleach. [4]

Labeling laws on consumer products (not including cosmetics) require notification of what to do in case of acute poisoning such as ingestion. A “Poison” or “Danger” label means the product is extremely toxic, just a small amount could kill. A “Warning” label means the product could kill if about a teaspoon is ingested and lesser amounts could cause serious injury. You should consider any products with a Poison, Danger or Warning label as extremely hazardous to health. [5] .

A Caution label is more of a catch-all category including products that could kill if a considerable amount, such as a pint, is ingested or products that could cause mild irritation if sprayed in the eyes such as a natural product made with vinegar. I'd love to see the Caution category broken down further to include an official Non-Toxic group but that hasn't happened yet. “Non-Toxic” is not an official label category. It's hard for consumers to know what's safe within the Caution category because it is so broad.

Also, just a note on what the labeling means. Well, the categories are based on the amount that could harm or kill a healthy, 155-pound (can you guess?) a male. There is no consideration in the current labeling laws for health threats to women or children, for what happens when products are used simultaneously in the home, which is what marketers seem to recommend, or for long-term exposure to the ingredients in various products despite what's known about many of those ingredients. Labels deal only with acute poisoning dangers to adult males and that is just a reality of our current laws.

The average home has 3-10 gallons of known hazardous materials. [6] These ingredients are in the products we've purchased, we use and that we also store under our sinks, over our washing machines, in our basements and garages. They also include the toxic ingredients in many of our everyday cleaning products such as disinfectants. At the very least they pose an immediate threat from poisoning if not properly handled but did you realize that many consumer products are actually polluting the air inside your home as well?

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VOCs and Indoor Air Pollution

When you walk down the cleaning aisle in a store you smell the chemicals. What you smell are Volatile Organic Compounds, or VOCs, which emit or “outgas” from the products even when they are sealed up tight. In your home, products such as solvents, adhesives, paints, wood preservatives, aerosol sprays, cleansers, disinfectants and even air fresheners emit airborne toxins. Indoor air pollution is actually one of the nation's most serious environmental health problems and according to the EPA, homes across America – and it doesn't matter where you live, rural or urban areas –have airborne concentrations of hazardous and toxic chemicals, such as VOCs, that are 2-5 times -- and sometimes even 70 times -- higher than the outside air. What's happened is that we've tightened up our homes making them more energy efficient at the same time we've continued to bring in synthetic chemicals. This is not a good combination and it has serious health effects including eye, nose, and throat irritation; headaches, loss of coordination, nausea; damage to the liver, kidneys, and central nervous system. Some VOCs, including one of the most pervasive in the home, formaldehyde, are even suspected carcinogens meaning they may cause cancer. [7]

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Children are particularly affected by indoor air pollution . A recent study by researchers in Australia showed that toddlers exposed to indoor VOCs had higher rates of asthma and allergies. In fact, the reasearchers said, “Domestic exposure to VOCs at levels below currently accepted recommendations may increase the risk of childhood asthma.” [8] The research is out there but if your child shows symptoms of asthma or wheezing your doctor's recommendation will be an array of pharmaceutical drugs which don't address the potential source of the problem in your home.

Volatile Organic Compounds are the third biggest indoor air polluter after cigarette smoke and radon. [9] Where I live in Southern California, consumer products are contributing not only to the pollution of air inside the home but also outside. After auto tailpipe emissions, consumer products are now the second leading source of air pollution in the Los Angeles basin and it's increasing so rapidly that by the year 2020, products used in houses and small businesses are predicted to be the biggest contributor to smog in the entire LA region. [10]

Breathing in toxins just one day may not cause health problems, but constant long-term exposure is unhealthy. Indoor toxins contribute to chronic and disabling conditions such as asthma, central nervous system disorders and cancer. Many toxicologists say chemicals have replaced bacteria and viruses as the origin of modern disease. Here's just one example, I mentioned that formaldehyde is a suspected human carcinogen, it is also a known respiratory and skin irritant. Yet formaldehyde is a commonly used preservative in many of our cleaning and personal care products. Why? Because it's inexpensive.

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Toxins In Our Products

A few years ago, the National institute of Occupational Safety and Health looked at 2,983 chemicals used in personal care products like shampoos, make-up and lotions. The study found that many of the ingredients not only cause eye and skin irritations (n=376) but are toxic (n=884), cause biological mutations (n=314), caused reproductive complications (n=218), caused acute toxicity (n=778), and even caused tumors (n=148). [11]

Even if you refuse to believe that any company would dare to manufacture something harmful to the public or to the environment despite great profit potential, then listen to this. Several states where hazardous chemicals are manufactured require strict reporting of where those chemicals are going. In a three-state study, facilities reported that for every pound of toxins emitted into air or water, 42 pounds of toxic chemicals were shipped out in product primarily for consumer use. Some of these toxins were included in products going directly to stores for home and small business use and the rest were in the raw ingredients shipped to other manufacturers. The report showed that a substantial portion of chemicals are present as impurities or byproducts yet these chemicals are not included on the product labels. It may be that the manufacturer of the specific product isn't even aware of the toxic by-products in ingredients they purchase. [12]

In this study, Lysol All-Purpose Cleaner was found to contain glycol ethers, known neurotoxins, which were not listed on the label. In addition, Revlon Moondrops Lipstick contained unlabeled phthalates, also neurotoxins and reproductive toxins and they were definitely not listed on the label. [13]

According to the Stop Cancer Before It Starts Campaign that was submitted to Congress, some cancer-causing home products include: talcum powder, Cover Girl Natural Finish Make-Up, Crest Tartar Control Toothpaste, Alberto V05 Conditioner, Clairol Nice ‘n Easy Permanent haircolor, Ajax Cleanser, Zud Cleanser, Lysol Disinfectant Spray, Zodiac Flea Collars and Ortho Weed-B-Gone. [14]

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Health Statistics

Here are some other statistics that I found alarming. Asthma has increased 75% between 1980-1994 and among children under four years of age it rose 160%! Endocrine and metabolic diseases, such as diabetes, as well as neurological diseases including multiple sclerosis have all increased 20% between 1986-1995. [15] The cancer rate is also continuing to rise. In fact, it's up 24% and childhood cancer is up 26%! We mostly hear about the increase in survival rates, which of course is wonderful (we catch cancer earlier and have better drug protocols for treatment), but we still can't ignore the fact that the rate of new cancer cases goes up each year. [16]

And here's a concern for women: A 15-year study concluded that women who work at home have a 54% higher death rate from cancer than women who work outside of the home. The authors concluded that an increased exposure to home toxins contributed to the difference.

I started my research into products wondering which specific ones to avoid. That's too overwhelming a job for any one consumer. I came to the conclusion that to ensure the safety of your home and family, you need to actively seek out brands and manufacturers that are committed to safer ingredients. If this philosophy is not at the foundation of the company you buy products from then your dollar is going toward potentially toxic ingredients. Learn more about Safer Brands .

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Alert! Children & Toxins

Consumers should be aware that children are much more susceptible to the long-term health effects of toxins than adults. First of all, children are still developing and they don't have the ability to process toxins and detoxify like adults. Second, children's exposure to toxins can lead to developmental disorders, cancer, asthma and a host of other problems and we just don't know yet at what levels these problems start. As in the case of pesticides, experts are recommending absolutely no contact for children or unborn babies. Third, children get proportionately bigger doses of toxic exposures per pound of body weight of air they breathe compared to adults. Children's behavior also increases their chances of environmental exposures because they spend more time on the floor where chemical sprays settle and they tend touch more and then put fingers in little mouths and up little noses thus increasing exposure. [17] Brain cancer is up 30% among children, a form of bone cancer up 50% and even testicular cancer in young men is up 60%. [18] These statistics are evidence that if we control our home environments better we can improve our health and also protect our children.

Children are also particularly affected by indoor air pollution. A recent study by researchers in Australia showed that toddlers exposed to indoor VOCs (Volatile Organic Compounds) had higher rates of asthma and allergies. In fact, the researchers said, “Domestic exposure to VOCs at levels below currently accepted recommendations may increase the risk of childhood asthma.” [19] The research is out there but if your child shows symptoms of asthma or wheezing your doctor's recommendation will be an array of pharmaceutical drugs which don't address the potential source of the problem in your home.

Health experts such as Dr. Philip Landrigan, a leading researcher on environmental health, are very clear about what is causing the dramatic increase in modern disease: a combination of genetics and environmental exposure to toxins. Reducing exposure to environmental toxins in the home has been shown to improve health! The chronically ill use an analogy called the Barrel Theory of Health that I think is helpful. Think of your body as a barrel that can only handle and process a certain amount of stressors: a bad job, lack of sleep, poor nutrition, chemical toxins, whatever. When a barrel is full that's when the body gets sick, maybe it's just a cold but it could also be the start of something more serious. The size of each person's barrel is different. For a child, that barrel is smaller. You could have family members with very different tolerances with some adults being more compromised than children.

I firmly believe that if we reduce the stressors going into that barrel, particularly by having better nutrition and reducing the toxins in our environment, then we increase our own body's ability to get and stay healthy. Maybe we can only reduce those toxins 5% or 15% or even 20% but any effort can help to keep the barrel from overflowing.

So how do you do that? When I started my research that's exactly the question I wanted to answer for my own home. I felt disturbed by what I learned but also very motivated to make some positive changes. I offer you 7 Simple Steps to Reduce Household Toxins .

What You Need to Know About Home Toxins

What You Need to
Know About Home Toxins