The Dangers Within.

There’s an excellent chance of not being killed in an air crash, if you avoid flying. Similarly, avoiding dangerous chemicals, practices, and processes will give a good chance of avoiding consequential disease.

We don’t have to venture into laboratories, or nuclear power plants to find these dangers; we blissfully bring many of them into out own homes, daily. They are freely available on supermarket shelves at very reasonable prices, even advertised on television to get us to buy more of them!  “Rush out today!!! Limited Offer!!! Buy one get one Free!!! Attractively packaged poison, guaranteed long term effects!!!”

Many common, well known household products contain harmful ingredients. Back in the 1920's when mass production of these items, and mass marketing of them first started, the toxic and harmful nature of many of these products was not realised; now, for whatever reason governments seem reluctant to control and ban these harmful agents. Add to this a generation of media education to expect ‘easy, instant, off-the-shelf’ solutions to everything, and you have a marketeers dream. Consequently the number of ‘new’ products coming to the world’s markets daily is so great, that the only practical step many governments can take is to allow industries to police themselves.(!)

Ultimately therefore, the practical step we must take to safeguard ourselves and our loved ones, is to take responsibility to protect ourselves, by awareness and choice.

Take your bathroom for starters: the most private room in the house. Perhaps used more times per day than any other, the bathroom is home to our most intimate secret tasks. This is where we minister unto our bodies, our vehicle for the journey through life. In most cases we give more care to the bodywork of our cars.

Most common item in our bathrooms is soap. A major ingredient in soap is animal fat, used as a cleaning and emulsifying product but which can act as a breeding ground for bacteria. Another main ingredient is lye, a highly concentrated solution of sodium or potassium hydroxide, which corrodes and dries out the skin. Many manufacturers of consumer soaps use a type of ingredient similar to brake fluid called diethylene glycol or triethylene glycol. These substances are used to give the soap a smooth non-drying look. However, they are completely unnatural to the skin. These detergent-type soaps made from petroleum products are completely unnatural and remove the skin lipids – your essential protection. Don’t forget: the skin is an organ, like the heart and the liver. Ask yourself : "Would you rub brake fluid all over your liver everyday for 50 years?"

You think this is bad? It gets worse.

Many Mouthwashes and After-shaves contain Alcohol. Used frequently as a solvent, also found in beverages and medicines, alcohol may cause body tissues to be vulnerable to carcinogens. Mouthwashes with an alcohol content in excess of 25% have been implicated in mouth, tongue, and throat cancers. Antiperspirants, antacids, antiseptics usually contain aluminium, a metallic element ideal for aircraft manufacture and prosthetic devices. It has been linked to breast cancers - especially if you shave under your arms, ladies - and Alzheimer's disease.

Women particularly are being exposed to deadly diseases through the everyday use of common cosmetics bought over the counter. The growing list of synthetic ingredients added to products is turning the most innocent-looking shampoos and moisturizers into cocktails of toxins that could cause cancer over years of sustained use.

Commonly found in many cosmetic foundations is bentonite, which clogs the pores and suffocates the skin. Collagen is an insoluble protein too large to penetrate the skin. In skin care products it is often derived from animal skins and ground up chicken feet. Collagen forms a layer of film which can suffocate the skin. Also many cosmetic products and nail care systems contain formaldehyde, a toxic and colourless gas, an irritant, and a carcinogen.
For that silky soft complexion, we are offered glycerin. A syrupy liquid often promoted as a moisturiser for soft skin. Unless the local humidity exceeds 65%, glycerin actually draws moisture from the lower layers of the skin, thereby drying the skin from inside out!

Speaking of moisture, propylene glycol is extensively used in skin and hair products to retain moisture. This is the cosmetic form of the mineral oil you find in car brake and hydraulic fluids; also industrial anti-freeze. Industrial Material Safety Data Sheets, warn against skin contact with propylene glycol since this strong irritant can cause kidney and liver damage.

Ah! What price ‘beauty’?

Most shampoos, cleansers, toothpastes and bath foam include sodium lauryl sulphate (SLS) or sodium laureth sulphate (SLES) high on the list of ingredients, and thereby high in content. SLS is a harsh detergent and wetting agent, used in garage floor cleaners, engine degreasing, and auto cleansing products. SLES is the alcohol form and is slightly less irritating, but may cause more drying. Both can form carcinogenic formulations with nitrates and dioxins by reaction with other ingredients including the packaging. Large amounts of nitrates can enter the blood stream from a single shampooing! SLS is rapidly absorbed and retained in the eyes, brain, heart and liver.

How about innocent talc? Soft, grey-green mineral smothered all over babies for years, and yet easily inhaled as a powerful carcinogen, and linked to ovarian cancer. Also search the product label for AHA's, dioxins, elasticins, fluorocarbons, Kaolin, mineral oil, petrolatum. There are alternatives, seek them out. Refusal to buy these products will soon see them disappearing from supermarket shelves, and reduce the dangers to us and our children.
Are you enjoying this?

Moving out further into the home, paint strippers, adhesive removers, and aerosol spray paints contain methylene chloride which is converted to carbon monoxide in the body; it is known to cause cancer in animals. Benzene is a known human carcinogen. The main indoor sources of this chemical are environmental tobacco smoke, stored fuels and paint supplies, and automobile emissions; so, stop smoking, dispose of excess fuel or paint, keep garages well ventilated.

Sodium hypochlorite in (chlorine) bleach is common to most households. It is a
lung and eye irritant. Household bleach is the most common cleaner accidentally swallowed by children. If mixed with ammonia or acid-based cleaners (including vinegar), it releases highly toxic chloramine gas. Short-term exposure to chloramine gas may cause mild asthmatic symptoms or more serious respiratory problems. Never mix proprietary cleaning products.

Disinfectants regularly contain phenol and cresol which are corrosive and can cause diarrhoea, fainting, dizziness, and kidney and liver damage. Furniture polish, dry cleaning products, spot removers and carpet cleaners, moth balls, toilet bowl cleaners, spray starch… are all potential health hazards with long term ill-effects.

Are you getting the picture? It’s a jungle.

But there are alternatives - and many save money too! In addition to ready-mixed products in any good health store, ingredients such as vinegar, baking soda, salt and lemon juice are found in most homes and have been proven effective as cleaning ingredients for generations. For example, mix two tablespoons of bicarb with one pint of warm water in a spray bottle for an all-purpose cleaner. Add a squeeze of lemon juice or a splash of vinegar to cut grease.

To clean glass or windows, Mix 1/4 cup clear vinegar to two pints of warm water.

For a non-toxic toilet bowl cleaner, use 1 cup borax and 1/2 cup white vinegar. Flush to wet the sides of the bowl. Sprinkle the borax around the toilet bowl, then drizzle with vinegar. Leave for several hours before scrubbing with a toilet brush. For stubborn stains, try a paste of lemon juice and borax, leave about 20 minutes, then scrub.

Use hydrogen peroxide-based bleaches which break down to water and oxygen.

For a carpet deodorizer, sprinkle carpet liberally with baking soda. Wait 15 minutes, then vacuum.

Cedar blocks or shavings are better than moth balls.

A search in your library or on the internet will reveal lots more simple and life-friendly solutions.

It is your life, they are your children; you must protect them. And your armoury is Information. Never before has so much information been so freely available to all of us: become aware, use your knowledge, choose eco-friendly, choose life. Supermarkets have very sophisticated systems for measuring consumer trends; by exercising our free choice we can use their weapons to get what we want.


The Last Place to Go (if you're not feeling well)
© Neil Haddon 2005