Spring cleaning may be a familiar ritual from your childhood, maybe it’s even something you try to implement in your own home. Having an annual reminder to examine and clean the contents of our environment has far reaching benefits. So before the sunshine lures you outside, let’s make the most of any weather that gives you a day inside to get some good work done.
Few of us really love cleaning. If you happen to know someone who does, enlist them to be your cheerleader, because it always helps to have some encouragement when you’d rather be doing anything else! This spring cleaning may take you to uncharted territory, and that’s because this time our focus will be on tossing the toxins. This is important for several reasons:
- We are great consumers. Chances are you’ve bought products and used them only once before they end up in the back of the cabinet, never to be used again. There they fall over, leak, damage the cabinet & make a nasty mess, instead of giving you any cleaning benefit.
- Our indoor air is so highly polluted that it has been ranked among the EPA’s top five environmental dangers. A major factor is VOCs (volatile organic compounds), which are emitted as gases from many different household products such as paints, cleaning & disinfecting products, and cosmetics.
- Even in very small amounts, some household cleaners and other products can disrupt our hormones, which are essential in managing just about every body function, from growth and reproduction to metabolism and immunity.
Manufacturers of household products like Procter & Gamble and SC Johnson have decades of experience honing their marketing messages and developing products that we find irresistible. They smell “spring fresh” and promise to make life easier for us and safer for those we love. They’ve cultivated a fear of germs and a dependence on artificial scents that have shaped our buying habits. Unfortunately, the products that they make do not disclose what’s inside. While the United States Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act ( FD&C), has given authority to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to oversee the safety of food, drugs, and cosmetics, many products fall outside of their oversight and are not required to disclose ingredients. Also, American manufacturers are almost never held accountable to demonstrate their formulas do not harm consumers. So we are buying from companies who have cultivated our trust, but haven’t ever demonstrated that they’ve earned it. In fact we commonly buy cleaners with labels that read “caution”, “warning”, or “danger” because we’ve been desensitized to those statements, thinking that it is necessary for cleaners to be caustic in order to work.
There are a number of ways that we are exposed to toxins in cleaning products. The first obvious method is through skin contact, and many products can cause skin irritation, allergies or sensitization. Inhalation is another primary method of exposure, since many of our cleaning products can release VOCs while they are being used, and even when they are stored in our kitchen or laundry room.
According to the Environmental Protection Agency, indoor air can be as much as 100 times more polluted than outdoor air, even in heavily populated cities like Los Angeles. A study conducted by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the University of Colorado at Boulder found that common household products may be equivalent to the VOC’s produced by motor vehicle emissions. They assess that these products used in our homes are actually competing with vehicle emissions as the top source of urban air pollution. While emission standards for vehicles have lowered, household and personal care products including cleaners and scented items are having a growing impact on air pollution.
We also must be aware of endocrine disrupting chemicals. These are chemicals, both natural and man-made, that may mimic or interfere with the body’s hormones. Endocrine organs include the hypothalamus (which can be considered to be the hormone control center of the brain), adrenals, thyroid, pancreas, ovaries and testes, and the hormones they secrete control developmental, reproductive, neurological, immune, and other functions in the human body. By disturbing the careful balance of hormone levels we put ourselves at greater risk of autoimmune disease and conditions such as obesity, diabetes and cancer.
Very small changes in hormone levels lead to significant developmental and biological effects. According to the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS), “this observation leads scientists to think that endocrine-disrupting chemical exposures, even at low amounts, can alter the body’s sensitive systems and lead to health problems.”
Endocrine disruptors are found in many everyday products, including some plastic bottles and containers, liners of metal food cans, detergents, flame retardants, food, toys, cosmetics, and pesticides. Some of these chemicals are slow to break-down in the environment, which makes them potentially hazardous over a long period of time, even when they are taken out of production.
According to NIEHS, the following chemicals are endocrine disrupting chemicals. Since this list is provided by a US governmental agency, it is fair to assume that this is a conservative list of chemicals that have been demonstrated to affect our hormonal health and balance.
- Phthalates are plasticizers found in PVC pipes and vinyl flooring, medical devices, adhesives, inks, and cosmetics. Some phthalates are used to fix fragrances, and may be included on labels as “fragrance” or “parfum” along with hundreds of other possible chemicals.
- Triclosan antimicrobial agent is now banned in hand sanitizer but still found in many consumer products from shoes and socks to cutting boards, and toothpaste.
- Bisphenol-A (BPA) a plasticizer used in plastic food & beverage containers, lining in cans, paper food containers.
- Perfluorinated chemicals (including PFOA) used in nonstick cookware and stain treatment in textiles, is a persistent chemical that has affected a number of water supplies around the country near manufacturing facilities and military bases where the chemicals were used in firefighting foam agents.
- Polybrominated biphenyls (PCB) found in flame retardants applied to many textiles in home furnishings and formerly used on childrens’ pajamas.
According to NIEHS, “Endocrine disrupting chemicals cause adverse effects in animals. But limited scientific information exists on potential health problems in humans. Because people are typically exposed to multiple endocrine disruptors at the same time, assessing public health effects is difficult.” It’s safe to say that means that health effects are probably further reaching than has been observed in scientific studies to date.
So what can we do to clean up our act and make our home safer for ourselves, our family and pets?
First, make the effort to minimize the things that are getting stirred up or are hanging around in the air. Converting to less toxic cleaners and avoiding scented products are the first steps to clearing the air, and since some airborne chemicals settle on surfaces, cleaning your home regularly with a microfiber or damp dusting cloth, a wet mop on hard floors, and a vacuum with a HEPA filter will help control the accumulation of dust and particulates without stirring them up.
Also, don’t underestimate the power of fresh air! Unless allergies or sensitivities prohibit it, or you live somewhere that opening windows brings in more pollution that it will remove, go ahead and provide good natural ventilation as often as possible, weather permitting.
When you’re buying cleaning products avoid any labels that come with caution statements. Since manufacturers are only printing warnings they are required to display, you can actually rely on the truth of these claims. Look for the following WORDS:
- CAUTION, WARNING or DANGER (these labels are required by law for products that contain harmful ingredients)
- Warnings of EYE, SKIN, or RESPIRATORY IRRITATION
- Directions recommending RUBBER GLOVES or MASK
- Directions that require VENTILATION while using the product
- Instructions for HAZARDOUS WASTE DISPOSAL
- A COMBUSTIBLE or FLAMMABLE warning
Also avoid products that boast an appealing fragrance – even “unscented” products may have fragrance added to mask a chemical scent.
Frankly, in our current marketplace, if a manufacturer isn’t boasting about something then you can count on them not having reason to…. So when you find cleaners that are “plant based”, “non-toxic” and “fragrance-free” then you may feel a little better about buying them. A great tool you can use is the Products Database by EWG being compiled by the Environmental Working Group to review the products that receive a high rating because of label transparency and ingredient safety, or you can even use their Healthy Living app by EWG while you’re out shopping.
When you’re ready to toss the toxins that have been cluttering your cabinets, don’t wash them down the drain! Our water supplies are already struggling with contaminants that aren’t removed through our existing municipal water facilities. You can search for your local hazardous waste collection site on Earth911 by entering “household cleaners” and your zip code, or check with your local waste service for drop off locations near you.
If you’d like to receive my Healthy Home Checklist to guide you through the process of tossing the toxins in your home, then sign up using the form below to receive this awesome resource – completely free for a limited time before I include it one of my upcoming courses!
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