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Tuesday, November 23, 2010

Dangers of Using Bleach! Learn Why You Should Stop Using Bleach!

More and more household chemicals are being replaced with greener options. More and more people are learning just how bad our cleaning supplies are for us and our environment. However, few of us realize that even bleach, a household chemical frequently used for generations is a horrible product. Chlorine based bleach are really bad for you, your family, your pets, and the environment!

Are you among the millions of consumers who believe that because it is sold on the grocery store shelves it is safe? Well, think again! The dangers of bleach and other cleaning products are well documented and often reported in the news.

Bleach isn't a safe option for eliminating germs. While the commercials would have you believe that bleach and the products it is in are a great way to keep your family healthier, there is actually a number of health issues related to bleach. Bleach and the products it is in often cause respiratory issues (even ones that are common and treated with medications). It can also cause burns to the skin and even nervous system damage. Allergies and asthma are often irritated by bleach and can cause serious reactions in those who have problems with these conditions already.

There are no regulatory agencies that monitor the products that are brought into your home. There isn't a Federal Drug Administration for cleaning products. And the manufacturer is protected from revealing their ingredients by trademarks and copyright on the proprietary formulas of the products.

If you are using bleach in the work place OSHA (Occupational Safety And Health Administration), which regulates the safety of the work place, will require you use a mask and gloves to handle the chemical to protect yourself. Do you use those precautions at home? Were you even aware you needed to?

Did you know that the Sanitation Department will not dispose of full containers of cleaners because they are classified as hazardous material?

The American Association of Poison Control Centers (AAPCC) recorded many exposures to household cleaning products that were serious enough to require hospitalization and physician care. The largest number of hospital occurrences in 1993, were from exposure to cleaning products such as drain cleaners, toilet bowl cleaners, bleach and detergents.

Bleach is a strong corrosive material. It will irritate the eyes, skin and the respiratory tract from just inhaling the gasses. The dangers of bleach extend to mixing bleach with other cleaners. When this happens a poisonous gas is released that can cause bloody noses, neurological disorders, headaches and even death.

And household bleach, without having been mixed with other products, can cause pulmonary edema, vomiting or coma if ingested.

Chlorine is also a common additive to cleaners in the home such as dishwashing detergent. Chlorine was the first agent of chemical warfare in WWI. Since that time it has been added to our water supply and other products used in the home. The danger of chlorine inhalation increases in the shower as the heat aerosolizes the chlorine chemical producing tiny droplets we breathe in.

Exposure to chlorine has also been strongly linked to breast cancer. Scientists will only handle chlorine with gloves, facemasks and ventilation. Most cleaners also contain chlorine in a dry form. The number one cause of household poisoning is dish detergent. If swallowed it is corrosive and will permanently damage the mouth and throat and can prove to be fatal.

How can you protect yourself and your family? First - educate yourself. Find safer alternatives to the corrosive materials that now reside under your sink. You'd be surprised how much cleaning and laundry you can do with baking soda, vinegar, lemon and borax.
Next, minimize the use of harsh chemicals in the home and around the children. Clean up spills immediately so you aren't tempted to pull out the bleach to clean the spots.

Always store cleaning material in their original containers and keep them out of reach of children. Lock the kitchen cabinets where the dish detergents and cleaners are kept. Follow the labeled directions and use the minimal amount of the product for the job.

The dangers of bleach are significant to your health and the health of your family. Accidents have happened where one person adds toilet bowl cleaner and another, following behind, will inadvertently add bleach. The noxious gasses have been found to cause fatal injuries.

There are a huge number of reasons that people should eliminate bleach. It doesn't have a place in our society and many non-bleach cleaners can do everything just as well without the dangers. Many people don't understand just how dangerous bleach is to people, animals, and the environment. We need to take steps each and every day to eliminate it from our lives so that our future will continue to look bright. Even a single person can make a difference!
 


To your health and the health of your family!

Jen McLennan

2 comments:

  1. This was very informative. I use bleach mainly because its cheap and I can't afford 3 dollars or more for a cleaning product a third of its size. Obviously there is no safe cleaning product but Bleach is by far the most harsh. I'm sure one could get pretty bad chemical burns from bleach.

    Thanks for this post.

    Heather From and Mommy Only Has Two Hands! and Lynhea Designs

    ReplyDelete
  2. There is Safe cleaning Products made from nature and they do work! I actually use cleaning Products that are cheaper to buy, then in the store and are 6 times concentrated so one bottle equales to 6 bottles of store bought cleansers. I'm saving money, getting better quality products, and using safer products for my family and the earth.
    Jen

    ReplyDelete

I love to hear your comments! Thanks so much!

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Did You Know......?


Did you know.................
50% of all illness is due to poor indoor air quality (Source: 1989 State of Massachusetts Study)
AIR FRESHENERS: interfere with the ability to smell by coating nasal passages with an oily film, or by releasing a nerve deadening agent! Toxins in air fresheners include: Formaldehyde: highly toxic, known carcinogen. Phenol: can cause skin to burn, peel, and sweat. Can cause convulsions, coma, circulatory collapse and even DEATH!

LIQUID DISH-SOAPS: is the leading cause of poisonings in the home for children under the age of 6 (over 2.1 million accidental poisonings per year) (contains formaldehyde and ammonia in most brands) One Million poisonings in Canada each year are due to household cleaner ingestion. Some are fatal. The #1 cause of household poisoning is dish detergent. What kinds of chemicals are in those products? http://www.rense.com/general19/chemical.htm

AUTOMATIC DISHWASHING DETERGENTS: contain dry chlorine that is highly concentrated. #1 cause of child poisonings, according to poison control centers.

CHLORINE BLEACH: is a strong corrosive and can burn or irritate skin, eyes and the respiratory system. Can cause vomiting or coma if swallowed! WARNING! Never mix with ammonia as the fumes are very dangerous and can be DEADLY!

AMMONIA: is very volatile and damaging to the eyes, skin and respiratory tract!

FURNITURE POLISH: contains Petroleum Distillates, which are highly flammable and can cause lung and skin cancer!

DRAIN CLEANER: most drain cleaners contain lye, hydrochloric acid or trichloroethane, which are all very caustic. They burn the skin and eyes, and can cause liver and kidney damage.

OVEN CLEANER: contain lye, which is a strong caustic and irritant to skin and eyes. Can cause tissue damage if swallowed.

TOOTHPASTE: can contain a number of harmful ingredients, such as: ammonia, benzyl alcohol/sodium benzoate, colors, ethanol, flavours, fluoride, formaldehyde, mineral oil, plastic (PVP), saccharin. Formaldehyde, mineral oil, PVP, and saccharin are all classified as carcinogens or suspected carcinogen, as is fluoride, which has been banned in many European countries and is the subject of concern with regard to thyroid problems. In fact, as of April 1997, toothpaste is required to carry poison control information on the label as even a small amount can harm or kill a small child.

Occupational Safety & Health analyzed 2,983 chemicals used in personal care products. A personal care product is de-fined as anything we use to clean our bodies, or make ourselves look or smell good.
The results are as follows:
884 are toxic
146 cause tumours
218 cause reproductive complications
314 cause biological mutation
376 cause skin and eye irritations
778 caused acute toxicity

Over the last 20-30 years, as more toxic chemicals have been introduced in greater amounts, the level of toxins stored in adipose tissues (fat cells) of our bodies has risen. Bio-accumulation studies have shown that some toxins store in our bodies for life. Greater and greater amounts are being stored at younger ages. Diseases that used to occur later in life are now appearing at younger ages. Diseases that used to be rare are more frequent. For Example: There has been a 28% increase in childhood cancer since the addition of pesticides into household products. (Source: National Cancer Institute)

In one decade, there has been a 42% increase in asthma (29% for men; 82% for women-the higher rate for women is believed to be due to women's longer exposure times to household chemicals) (Source: Center for Disease Control)

Due to the increase in toxic build-up in our bodies, including the toxic build-up of formaldehyde, dead bodies are not decomposing as fast as they used to. (Source: National Institutes of Health)

There is an increased risk for leukemia in children where parents have used pesticides in the home or garden before the
child's birth (Source: Journal of the National Cancer Institute)

Over 150 chemicals found in the average home have been linked to allergies, birth defects, cancer and psychological
abnormalities. (Source): Consumer Product Safety Commission

In most cases, however, you won't find much information on the label. There are no requirements of manufacturers to actually disclose what is in a product, and there is no regulation or enforcement. All of it falls under proprietary trade secret legislation.

Today, cancer is the leading cause of death for women ages 35-74. In 1901 cancer was considered a rare disease. Statistics show that only 1 out of 8000 people had cancer. TODAY, according to the American Cancer Society, 1 out of every 3 people has cancer. TODAY, 1 out of every 2 people has been touched by cancer. The fear of cancer is on every-one’s mind these days. So many forms of cancer and they all had to start somewhere . . .

How Safe is My Family?
This is the question that every parent should be asking themselves.

We have no choice but to breathe the air, eat the food, and drink the water; but we DO have a CHOICE of what we put on our skin and what products we have in our homes.

I know that I personally do not ever want to believe that I caused harm to my family, when I had the choice to change it. I’d love to help ensure a safer home for your family.

For more information on how to make your home a healthier place for you and your family please go to my website and I will call you with the information. I would love to help you have a healthier safer home!
Jennifer McLennan
www.WorkAtHomeMomJen.com

QUOTES TO LIVE BY!

"To be successful, you must love and believe in what you do! You must have belief in yourself! Anything is possible with belief!"
Written in 2011 by Jennifer McLennan (ME) --- Canada
I truly think if you don't have belief in what you are doing and in yourself, there is no chance in success. But if you do have the belief, all things are possible!

"Life's like a boom-a-rang. The more good you throw out, the more you receive in return." ~Josh S. Hinds

"Treat people how you want to be treated."~Unknown

"Honesty is always the best policy."~Unknown

"No act of kindness, know matter how small is ever wasted."~Unknown

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