Skip to main content

Environmental Impact of Household Cleaners

This is a first in a series of quotes and facts from doctors, health professionals, the EPA and more on how toxic chemicals we use everyday impacts our lives and those around us.


The Vulnerability of Children

· "We are conducting a vast toxicologic experiment in our society, in which our children and our children's children are the experimental subjects," stated pediatrician Herbert L. Needleman.
Little information on possible toxic potential is available for the 80,000 chemicals registered today with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
Of the 3,000 chemicals produced or imported at over 1 million pounds a year, only 43% have received even minimal toxicologic assessment, and a mere 23% have been tested to determine whether they have the potential to cause developmental damage.
Source: Landrigan, P.J. & Weiss, B. (2000). Environmental Health Perspectives Supplements, v107
supplement 3, June.


· Children are highly vulnerable to chemical toxicants. Pound for pound of body weight children drink more water, eat more food and breathe more air than adults.
The implication of this is that children will have substantially heavier exposures than adults to any toxicants that are present in water, food or air.
Source: Landrigan, P.J. & Garg, A. (2002). Chronic effects of toxic environmental exposures on children’s health. Journal of Toxicology: Clinical Toxicology, 40(4), 449-456.

· Why are children a sensitive subpopulation?
Children’s metabolic pathways, especially in the first months after birth, are immature. Their ability to metabolize, detoxify and excrete many chemicals differs from adults.
Source: Landrigan, P.J., et al, (1998). Children's Health and the Environment: A New Agenda for Prevention Research, Environmental Health Perspectives 106, Supplement 3, June.

· Carcinogenic and toxic exposures sustained early in life including prenatal exposures appear more likely to lead to disease than similar exposures encountered later.
Source: Landrigan, P.J. & Garg, A. (2002). Chronic effects of toxic environmental exposures on
children’s health. Journal of Toxicology: Clinical Toxicology, 40(4), 449-456.

· Faster metabolisms in children speed up their absorption of contaminants.
“Children absorb a greater proportion of many substances from the intestinal tract or lung,” says pediatrician Dr. Philip Landrigan.
“For example, children take up approximately half of the lead that they swallow while adults absorb only about one-tenth.”
Source: PBS.org, Trade Secrets: A Moyers Report (2001).

· Children spend a considerable amount of time putting things in their mouths.
In 1998, scientists at Rutgers University discovered that pesticides sprayed in a home evaporate from floors and carpets, and then re-condense on plastic and foam objects such as pillows and plush toys.
By observing how frequently a group of pre-schoolers put clean toys in their mouths, the researchers calculated that contaminated toys are likely to give young children much higher doses of poison than adults would get in the same environment.
Source: PBS.org, Trade Secrets: A Moyers Report (2001).

· Children have more time to develop chronic diseases triggered by early exposures.
Many diseases that are caused by toxicants in the environment require decades to develop.
Source: Landrigan, P.J. & Garg, A. (2002). Chronic effects of toxic environmental exposures on
children’s health. Journal of Toxicology: Clinical Toxicology, 40(4), 449-456.

· Babies don't excrete contaminants or store them away in fat in the same ways that adults do, making the poisons more available to affect rapidly growing bodies.
Furthermore, because a baby’s immune system is not fully functional, a baby’s body cannot counteract toxic effects as well as an adult can.
In an adult, a blood-brain barrier insulates the brain from many of the potentially harmful chemicals circulating through the body. But in a human child, that barrier isn't fully developed until six months after birth.
Source: PBS.org, Trade Secrets: A Moyers Report (2001).

· Many contaminants such as dioxins and PCBs have an affinity for fatty tissue.
During pregnancy, women mobilize their amassed stores of body fat to provide nourishment for their growing babies; the contaminants in the fat are then passed to their children.
Nursing mothers also transfer a good portion of their lifetime accumulation of chemicals to their babies.
Source: PBS.org, Trade Secrets: A Moyers Report (2001).

· Children exposed in the womb are at greatest risk of all.
Because cellular structures change so rapidly during embryonic and fetal growth, a toxic exposure at the wrong moment can permanently alter further development.
According to Dr. Landrigan, the central nervous system is especially vulnerable. To function properly, the developing brain must lay down an intricate web of interconnecting neurons.
Small doses of neurotoxins during critical periods of brain development can alter those crucial neural pathways – one mistake early on, and the brain may be forever changed in subtle or serious ways.
Government and university scientists are currently investigating the possibility of a connection between fetal exposures to toxics and developmental disabilities such as attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).
Source: PBS.org, Trade Secrets: A Moyers Report (2001).

· Children’s metabolic pathways, especially in the first months after birth, are immature.
Their ability to metabolize, detoxify and excrete many chemicals differs from adults.
Source: Landrigan, P.J. & Garg, A. (2002). Chronic effects of toxic environmental exposures on
children’s health. Journal of Toxicology: Clinical Toxicology, 40(4), 449-456.

These statistics and quotes are quite scary. The chemicals in our home, under our sinks and being used everyday can pose such a danger to our children in ways we never imagined.

We all want a clean, safe home for our families, but if what we are using is causing more harm than good, how do we achieve a clean home without hurting our families in the process?
By using safe, proven and effective cleaners designed by nature and perfected by science.
I hope you found this information helpful and that you reconsider the toxins being used in your homes today.

Julie

For more information on how toxic cleaners can cause serious health problems and some safe solutions available, you can read this article: Health Hazards Associated With Household Cleaners

Or you can view this short video here > Healthy Home Video  and choose “Healthy Home” (near the bottom of list)

For more information visit our website at: http://tobehealthy.myshaklee.com

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

FREE Webinar- Making the Vitamin Connection with Dr. James Scala

FREE Webinar - MAKING THE VITAMIN CONNECTION WITH DR. JAMES SCALA WEDNESDAY JUNE 10, 9:00 ET Join us in our upcoming webinar, where Dr. Jim Scala will talk about the latest scientific findings on fiber, vitamins, minerals, food supplements, and the role of diet in longevity and cancer. In this free webinar, you'll learn: How our understanding of nutrition developed and evolved How vitamins and minerals affect our body The critical balance between sodium and potassium Nutritional fallacies Plus, much more! Save your virtual seat by registering for this FREE webinar here:  Making The Vitamin Connection # vitamins   # vitaminconnection   # rolesofvitamins   # freewebinar   # health   # wellness   # youtobehealthy

The Secret of Basic H® in Your Garden

Summertime is when all of us want to enjoy the beauty and bounty of our gardens – but who wants to spend all their time taking care of them ? Basic-H® has been used for years by farmers and home gardeners alike to reduce the amount of watering time, improve the quality of the soil, and treat for pests. Even in those areas where Basic-H® Soil Conditioner is not available (Pennsylvania, for instance), you can still get great results by using Basic-H®, Basic-G ® and Liqui-Lea ®. The best information we’ve found on using Basic-H in the garden has come from MaryAnn and Mike Mizicko of Vienna, Ohio. Mike is a very successful truck farmer – and Basic-H is his secret! Be careful to note special circumstances, such as whether to spray on foliage, to apply only to the soil around plants, avoid spraying on blooming trees or plants, and other restrictions. Basic-H is a surfactant, not a fertilizer, so don’t use one concentration for all uses, or you will kill the plants you love. Soil P...

Testimony: ADD

I'm an adult with ADD but was never diagnosed. Scanning my old report cards, I see "doesn't concentrate, can't stay on task, has focusing problems". All I knew growing up was that I seemed to be on a different page than everyone else. I'm the mother of 2 girls. Niki is 21 and I'm soooo proud of her. She is in Military Intelligence with the Army and is fluent in Russian and Spanish. With the physical and mental challenges she faces, she grabs a handful of B Complex and knows she can get through anything. Then, there is Kristina, my 13 year old. Diagnosed at 4 with ADHD, I knew from birth she was different. The doctor put her on Ritalin but it didn't work. We tried something else but she was getting worse. I was in nursing school and studying everything on ADD but having no success. At 7, medication kept her from sleeping so we had to put her on more medicine to sleep. She would disappear in the middle of the night. Often we...

Contact Form

Name

Email *

Message *