Cleaning Without Toxic Chemicals

Presented by Jody Bertness

Less expensive Better for the environment You can reuse the same bottles over Less toxic for pets and children You can use household items You can create your own scents You can pronounce all the ingredients

What are the Advantages?

What’s in my cleaners?

Bleach- is corrosive to your skin and the lining of your nose, mouth and throat. The fumes can irritate your eyes and respiratory tract.

Ammonia – fumes can irritate eyes and lungs. It can cause rashes and burns on your skin

If you mix cleaners together with these two ingredients it will create deadly chloramine gas.

Common Ingredients

Cresol-can be corrosive to tissue, damages liver, kidneys, lungs pancreas and spleen.

Phenol- can cause central nervous system depression; severely affect circulatory system; corrosive to skin; suspected of causing cancer.

Pine oil- can irritate eyes and lining of nose mouth and throat

AND…

Anti-bacterial cleaners

It is used is anti-bacterial soaps, toothpastes, detergents, and many more items.

The FDA & EPA are currently reviewing the effects of triclosan.

It may contribute to making bacteria resistant to antibiotics and may have a hormone altering affect.

Triclosan

The FDA states that washing your hands with regular soap and water is just as effective in combatting illness as using antibacterial soap.

ANTI-BACTERIAL SOAP IS NOT NECESSARY!!!

Lye- extremely corrosive, burns skin and eyes; can be fatal if swallowed; aerosols disperse chemicals, increasing inhalation dangers

Sulfuric acid- can cause burns to skin and in severe cases, blindness if splashed in the eye

Drain Cleaners

EWG's 2009 state-of-the-art air pollution tests of 21 common school cleaning products turned up a wide range of air contaminants linked to asthma, cancer, reproductive toxicity, hormone disruption and neurotoxicity. Some of the worst offenders are in products also commonly used in the home.

100+ Hidden Chemicals

Comet

This product emitted 146 different chemicals, including some thought to cause cancer, asthma and reproductive disorders. The most toxic chemicals detected - formaldehyde, benzene, chloroform and toluene - are not listed on the label. Little is known about the health risks of most of the contaminants found.

Air freshener warnings include- “use in well ventilated rooms away from sleeping areas” or “do not use in small confined pet areas without adequate ventilation. May be harmful if directly inhaled, may cause allergic reaction in some individuals, DO NOT spray towards face or body, DO NOT get in eyes, avoid content with skin, DO NOT spray directly onto surfaces.

Febreze Air Effects – 89 air contaminants

Air Fresheners

Fatal if Inhaled

Some popular cleaning products contain addictive inhalants. They are potentially fatal in concentrated form. A few of the many inhalant products EWG found:

Glade Air Freshener Sprays, Air Wick automatic air fresheners, and Old English furniture polish

Spot Shot Carpet Stain Remover

For some reason ingredient labels are not mandatory for cleaners. Most companies list some ingredients while others may list none or just one or two vague ingredients such as “solvent”.

Mystery mixtures

Both Target’s Up & Up brand and Walmart’s Great Value brand have several cleaners on their list with either a couple ingredients or none at all. What are they hiding?

According to Philip Dickey of the Washington Toxins Coalition the most harmful cleaners are:

Corrosive drain cleaners Oven cleaners Acidic toilet bowl cleaners

Most Harmful

What to use?

The Basics Vinegar-kills mold and bacteria Olive Oil-nourishes wood Baking Soda-gentle abrasive Cream of Tartar-gentle abrasive Lemons-degreaser Castile soap-degreaser Essential Oils-scent &

antibacterial, anti-fungal, antiseptic and anti-viral

Mirrors- ½ vinegar to ½ water ratio Countertops –all purpose cleaner recipe Bathtubs- baking soda and lemon juice Toilets- ½ cup baking soda, 1 cup distilled

white vinegar and 1 tsp tea tree oil. Floors- no- wax floors use 1 gallon water to 1

cup vinegar.

Bathroom

Countertops- all purpose cleaner spray Greasy messes- citrus degreaser then spray

with vinegar/water solution to shine Sinks- use baking soda in place of comet or

cleaners Polishing chrome- use a little baby oil

Kitchen

1 cup water 2 tsp castile soap 20 drops essential oils

Essential oils-Lemongrass, lavender, lemon, grapefruit, pine, cinnamon, tea tree, clove, eucalyptus, peppermint, rosemary, oregano, and thyme.

All-Purpose Cleaner Recipe

1 cup warm water 1 TBS baking soda 1 tsp castile soap 10-15 drops lemon essential oil

Mix together in a colored spray bottle, spray on greasy messes, wipe with a wet towel and shine with a dry one.

Citrus Degreaser

1 cup water ¼ cup white distilled vinegar 2 TBS olive oil 10-15 drops of lemon essential oil

Mix ingredients and put in colored plastic bottle. Shake before each use as the vinegar and oil don’t stay mixed.

Dusting Spray

http://www.ewg.org/cleaners/hallofshame/ http://

www.fda.gov/ForConsumers/ConsumerUpdates/ucm378393.htm

http://www.organicconsumers.org/articles/article_279.cfm

References