Home, Sweet Toxic Minefield?

Episode 110

In Episode 110 we visited with Joy Beene, owner of Cool Earth Cleaning, an environmentally conscious cleaning company. Joy and her husband, Jake Beene, started the company about a year ago after doing some research into the toxic nature of household cleaners and they decided they wanted to offer people a healthier option. For more information visit their website at www.coolearthcleaning.com

We looked at a number of common household cleaners and at some of the toxic chemicals that they are made of. This information was not easy to come by, but thanks to my tenacious internet skills we were able to unearth some very interesting and disturbing information. I discovered a very useful site which details the ingredients in many common household cleaners, it is http://householdproducts.nlm.nih.gov (from the National Institute of Health, NIH, a US government organization).

Research has shown that our bodies are reservoirs for toxic chemicals. Many chemicals accumulate in our fat tissues and are stored there for many years after exposure. This is called bioaccumulation.

According to a five year EPA study, the air in American homes has chemical contamination levels 70 times greater than outdoor air.

Women who work at home have a 55% greater chance of developing cancer than women who spend the majority of their time outside of the home. (Toronto Indoor Air Commission)

Cancer incidence has increased to epidemic proportions. Cancer levels are up 56% in men and 22% in women since the 1940’s. In the US alone 1.3 million people get cancer each year and 550,000 of these people will die of cancer.

According to the National Research Council, no toxic information is available for more than 80% of the chemicals in everyday-use products. And many products do not list the toxic ingredients that they contain.

Part of the problem lies in the lax regulation of chemical manufacturing, distribution and labeling. In Canada and the United States the laws to a certain degree protect commercial interests rather than protecting our families. To give you a sense of the scope of this issue; in the past 50 years an estimated 75,000 chemicals have been introduced into our environment, about 300 and have been detected in human tissue, even in newborns.

Under the current legislation it is left up to the public to definitively prove a product is harmful to the environment or a detriment to our health. With regard to our health there are two primary concerns.

Firstly, we need to be concerned about the effects of prolonged, repeated exposure. Many of these chemicals may be acceptable if you are exposed to them once or twice, but who buys a product and uses it once or twice?

Secondly, how do these chemicals impact the environment? Some will interact with other chemicals and then become carcinogenic, while others will simply be toxic to fish, plants and animals. When we eat fish, plants or animals then we get more exposure.

We have to take a proactive approach to protect our children, pets and ourselves. That is precisely why Green Health Live was created, people, to provide you with information that the mainstream media can or will not, due to the fact that it is beholden to the commercial chemical behemoth.

Here are some of the products and chemicals we discussed and some simple alternatives to them.

Pledge: furniture polish

Ingredients from MSDS/Label:

Chemical/Percent:

Isopropanol/ 10-30
Isobutane/ 3-7
2-Butoxyethanol/1-5
Ammonium hydroxide/<0.5
Water/60-100

Chemicals of concern:

Butyl cellosolve
(also butoxyethanol, butyl oxitol, ethylene glycol monobutyl ether). A toxic synthetic solvent and grease cutter that can irritate mucous membranes and cause liver and kidney damage. Butyl cellosolve is also a neurotoxin that can
depress the nervous system and cause a variety of associated problems.

Ammonia
Ammonia is an irritant that affects the skin, eyes and respiratory passages. The symptoms of ammonia exposure are: a burning sensation in the eyes, nose and throat; pain in the lungs; headache; nausea; coughing; and increased
breathing rate. Ammonia adds nitrogen to the environment. In areas that cannot handle the added nitrogen, disruptions to the ecosystem will result. These include toxic effects to plants, fish and animals. Ammonia is included as a toxic chemical on the EPA's Community Right-to-Know list and the EPA has set limits on permissible levels in bodies of water. The FDA also regulates the amount of ammonium compounds in food.OSHA regulates the maximum allowable levels in the air to protect workers.

What you could use instead:

Orange 100

Orange-based cleaner and degreaser (Cool Earth uses Orange 100, made by Natural Choices ). The natural versions of these products are made from limonene -a natural solvent that is squeezed from orange peels (the oil in orange peels is about 95% limonene.)

Ajax: All purpose cleaner

Ingredients from MSDS/Label:

Chemical/ Percent:

Sodium carbonate/ 6
Quartz / 1.02
Sodium dodecylbenzenesulfonate/ 1.7

Chemical of concern:

(Sodium dodecylbenzenesulfonate, Sodium dichloroisocyanurate, Sodium hypochlorite, chlorine, chlorine bleach - all basically the same).

Long-term, low-level exposure (e.g. several years of exposure to chlorine):

Organ Systems: The main effects of exposure to chlorine gas include diseases of the lung and tooth corrosion. People with previous lung disease, smokers, and those with breathing problems are more sensitive to chlorine.


A photo of soldiers wearing gas masks in World War I.

Chlorine gas (used in chemical warfare in WW 1) destroyed the respiratory organs of its victims and this led to a slow death by asphyxiation (suffocation). I refer to this chemical in my practice as "a lung shredder" because that's what it does.

What you could use instead:

Oxy-Boost

An oxygen-based bleaching system, also made by Natural Choices. Similar to hydrogen peroxide (oxygen dissolved in water), but in powdered form. Nontoxic, biodegradable.

Mr. Clean

Ingredients from MSDS/Label:
Chemical / Percent:

Fragrance(s)/perfume(s)/?
Surfactant(s) (unspecified) /0.1-1
Ammonia/?
Water/?
C9-11 Pareth-3/ 0.1-1
Colorant/Pigment/Dye(s)/?
Quality control agent(s)/?

Chemical of concern:

Ammonia (see above), too vague on other ingredients to know.

Alternative: Oxy-Boost, see above

Easy Off oven cleaner

Chemical / Percent:

Isobutane / 1-5
Diethylene glycol monobutyl ether / 7-11
Monoethanolamine (MEA) / 1-5

Chemicals of concern:

Monoethanolamine (MEA) :A synthetic family of surfactants, this group of compounds is used to neutralize acids in products to make them non-irritating. Monoethanolamine (MEA) and Diethanolamine are slow to biodegrade and reacts with natural nitrogen oxides and sodium nitrite pollutants in the atmosphere to form diethanolnitrosamine, a suspected carcinogen.

Ethylene glycol
(also Diethylene glycol monobutyl ether, ethylene dihydrate, ethylene alcohol)
This synthetic solvent is highly toxic and is both a nasal irritant and a neurotoxin, Reproductive toxin and Liver kidney toxin .

Its vapors contribute to the formation of urban ozone pollution. Ethylene glycol is listed in the 1990 Clean Air Act as a hazardous air pollutant and is on the EPA's Community Right-to-Know list.

Alternative: Orange 100 (see above) in stronger concentration

Formula 409, all purpose cleaner

Ingredients from MSDS/Label:
Chemical / Percent:

2-Butoxyethanol / 0.5-5

Chemical of concern:

2-Butoxyethanol, Butyl cellosolve (also butoxyethanol, butyl oxitol, ethylene glycol monobutyl ether).
A toxic synthetic solvent and grease cutter that can irritate mucous membranes and cause liver and kidney damage. Butyl cellosolve is also a neurotoxin that can depress the nervous system and cause a variety of associated problems.

Alternative: For general purpose cleaning, we use Orange 100 (natural orange oil cleaner) and a soy-based all-purpose cleaner. For window cleaning, Clean Earth uses a coconut based cleaner. Neither of these products contain Glycol ethers or Butyl Cellosolve.

Alternative: Oxy-Boost (see above)

Windex, window cleaner

Ingredients from MSDS/Label:
Chemical / Percent:

Isopropanol / 1-5
2-Butoxyethanol / 0.5-1.5
Ethylene glycol n-hexyl ether / 0.1-1.0
Water / 90-95

Chemical of concern:

Ethylene glycol (see above)

Alternative: Natural Choices has a product called Guardian that is non-toxic, and ammonia, alcohol and harsh volatile solvent-free.

That's all for now, and its just the tip of the iceberg. We will be re-visiting this subject matter in the future.

Be well and remember, your health is in your hands.