Toxic Chemicals

6. WHOLE HOUSE

Cleaning Products

Cleaning products made from chemicals have gained attention in mainstream media over the past few years and continues to be a concern for many. Used on counters, floors, bathtubs, sinks, windows, and a host of other surfaces that we encounter several times per day, cleaning products often contain preservatives (such as formaldehyde and sodium benzoate). The cleaning products used in a home can be isolated to a single room (such as bathroom toilet cleaner) to the entire house (a multipurpose cleaner).

• Chemicals. Preservatives can cause short-term and long-term health conditions. They have been linked to cancer, behavior disorders, menstrual cycle disruption, and irritation of the eyes, nose, throat and skin.
• Tips. Use cleaning products made from natural ingredients—such as vinegar, water, baking soda, hydrogen peroxide, and castile soap. Instead of buying pre-mixed cleaners, make your own!

Chlorine and ammonia are deadly ingredients commonly used in household cleaners, including toilet bowl and oven cleaner. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) found that chlorine byproducts are 300,000 times more carcinogenic than the chemical pesticide DDT. Instead, use cleaners such as baking soda, lemon juice, vinegar, hydrogen peroxide and castile soap.

Air Fresheners

Air fresheners typically contain synthetic fragrances, which are made from any number of chemicals. Inerts are one type of chemical that can be found in synthetic fragrances. The word “inert” means “lacking a usual or anticipated chemical or biological action”(4), giving the impression that these chemicals are not harmful. However, that doesn’t seem to be the case. Phthalates, commonly found in air fresheners, disrupt the endocrine system, which can cause reproductive and neurological damage. They also exist in vinyl, wood varnishes and lacquers. Avoid the word “fragrance” on air fresheners, as it can be a synonym for pthalates. Essential oil diffusers are a healthier alternative.

• Chemicals. Inerts have not been studied for their health effects. However, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency allows 1,400 chemicals to be called inert, 40 of which are known to cause cancer or nervous system toxicity, and another 64 of which are potentially toxic.
• Tips. Instead of standard air fresheners, use organic essential oils that are made from natural sources instead of synthetic chemicals. Simmering water on the stove, and adding lemon, cinnamon or other spice is another healthier alternative to synthetic air fresheners.

Source

Paints

Experts say toxic products in your home might include paints and sealants which release chemicals; wall and crawl space insulation containing fibers that may cause cancer; and heavy metals found in roofs and piping that can damage the central nervous system. With painting the interior of your home or removing older paints, occupants can risk the silent dangers that come with the emission of toxic chemicals from some paints as well as paint strippers, solvents or the dust that is raised by sanding painted surfaces.

Traditional paints and many related products, such as paint thinner or stripper, give off volatile organic compounds (VOCs). Emitted as gases from certain solids or liquids, VOCs include a variety of chemicals that may include toluene, xylene, ethyl acetate, formaldehyde, methylene chloride and glycol. These chemicals can lead to indoor air quality problems and pose serious health risks. VOCs are released when using paint products that contain them and, to some extent, when these products are stored.

Many experts agree that emissions occur during drying in the first few days after painting. But Lullaby Paints says that harmful paint fumes continue to off-gas in your home for years after painting.

Plus, they have an additional concern: “Babies have a higher resting metabolic rate — meaning their rate of oxygen consumption is greater than adults. As a result, they are much more susceptible to harm from breathing in pollutants,” said Julian Crawford, founder and CEO of Lullaby Paints. “We’re talking about a risk of respiratory, cognitive and developmental health problems that will last their lifetime.”

The EPA’s office of research and development’s “Total Exposure Assessment Methodology Study” found that levels of organic pollutants average 2 to 5 times higher indoors than outdoors. During and for several hours immediately after certain activities, such as paint stripping, levels may be 1,000 times background outdoor levels.

Some organic chemicals are known to cause cancer in animals and some are suspected or known to cause cancer in humans. Among the immediate symptoms that are sometimes experienced with exposure are eye irritation, nose and throat irritation, allergic skin reaction, nausea, headaches, dizziness, visual disorders, fatigue and memory impairment.

In individuals who are exposed to high levels of VOCs for long periods of time, such as professional painters, there have been reports of damage to the liver, kidneys and nervous system. People with breathing problems and young children should be protected from paint fumes.

Currently, there are no regulations for the homeowners or occupants regarding the toxins in paint and related supplies. But there are regulations by the Department of Labor and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration limiting exposure for professional painters doing residential painting, according to Neal O’Briant, spokesperson for the NC Department of Labor. These regulations acknowledge the dangers of these toxins.

Fortunately, there are paint manufacturers that have developed paint solutions that have low or zero VOCs. Lullaby Paints, Benjamin Moore, Ecos Paints, and Sherwin Williams are among them.

PVC

One common product that can be a problem is PVC. It contains a group of chemicals that make plastics more flexible and durable. It’s found in ceiling tiles, vinyl flooring, carpet backing, plumbing pipes, window treatments, wiring, and shower curtains. PVC is linked to respiratory problems. A Healthy Building Network report reveals it may damage immune systems and cause cancer. PVC piping, though, can be switched out with PEX or polypropylene.

“Vinyl flooring is one of the worst [PVC products],” adds AJ Stones of highly rated AJ Stones of Master Green Remodeler near Pittsburgh. “It’s toxic stuff.” However, you can reduce your exposure. Jake Stewart, owner of Stewart Family Floors in Cape Coral, Florida, says more customers are requesting green products. He uses low emitting ones whenever he can. “Bamboo is a good one,” Stewart says. “Cork is another.”

Pressed Wood Products

This faux wood takes bits and pieces of logs and wood leftovers and combines them together. Pressed wood products include paneling, particle board, fiberboard, and insulation, all of which were particularly popular for home construction in the 1970s. However, the glue that holds the wood particles in place may use urea-formaldehyde as a resin. The U.S. EPA estimates that this is the largest source of formaldehyde emissions indoors. Formaldehyde exposure can set off watery eyes, burning eyes and throat, difficulty breathing, and asthma attacks. Scientists also know that it can cause cancer in animals. The risk is greater with older pressed wood products, since newer ones are better regulated.

Insulation providers say popular insulators — fiberglass or foam used in walls, crawl spaces and attics — can also cause health issues. “Fiberglass insulation is still the most common form used,” Stadtner says. Studies show it contains formaldehyde and inhalable glass wool fibers that may damage lung function or cause cancer. Contractors say to choose an alternative. “You can get formaldehyde-free fiberglass and the price is comparable,” Stadtner says.

Cellulose is another option. It’s eco-friendly, a non-irritant and costs about the same price as fiberglass. Angie’s List member Michael Smetak of Shakopee, Minnesota, called many contractors before settling on Simply Beautiful to help him strip hazardous home materials. “Our main concern was insulation,” Smetak says. “Our son is sensitive. His immune system is weak.” Smetak chose denim insulation and says his son’s allergies have improved.

Carpets

­Indoor carpeting has recently come under greater scrutiny because of the volatile organic compounds (VOCs) associated with new carpet installation. The glue and dyes used with carpeting are known to emit VOCs, which can be harmful to your health in high concentrations. However, the initial VOC emissions will often subside after the first few days following.

Sources:

• Angie’s List
• JournalNow

Toxic Chemicals in the Home Office

Laser Printers Chemicals

­­A 2007 study found that some laser printers give off ultra-fine particles that can cause serious health problems. Another study confirmed that laser and ink-jet printers can releases volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and ozone particulates. All of these have been linked with heart and lung disease.

Toxic Chemicals in the Garden

Do you know that chemical pesticides, herbicides, and fertilizers have been linked to:

So probably one of the biggest health benefits of organic gardening of all, is just simply skipping all the risks. It’s a pretty simple logic. You’d think more people would get it. But unfortunately misinformation is spread about “toxic load” and consumers don’t realize that a) what they are exposed to is much greater than what labs test for, and b) all the so-called “safety” has created a false sense of security around such chemicals, to the point where no one even reads the basic safety precautions on the bottle. You can read more about how pesticides in our environment are affecting human health, as well as the more dangers of pesticides here.

In addition to skipping the risks, is the benefit of the gardening itself. Without the potential of chemicals messing up your efforts, gardening also:

• Increases Our Vitamin D: It only takes 20 minutes a day of sunshine to get the optimal amount of vitamin D. Vitamin D deficiencies have been linked to Type 1 diabetes, bone density, joint and muscle pain, heart attacks, multiple types of cancer, and much more.²
• Enjoyable Exercise: Most people don’t love the gym, but still need to get active. And I don’t think I need to tell you why that matters. Gardening can be an enjoyable way to increase your exercise in a purposeful, “really doing something meaningful” kind of way.
• Reducing Stress: Chronic stress is a serious issue, linked to a suppressed immune system, heart disease, weight gain, and more.³ Being outdoors, connecting with Nature, fresh air and sunshine…it’s one of the healthiest solutions to one of the biggest killers.
• Good Soil Bacteria Makes You Happy: Did you know scientists have isolated a bacteria that occurs in soil that acts as a natural antidepressant?⁴ So don’t go killing those good bacteria with all those nasty chemicals, which have been linked to the opposite!
• Offers Another Affordable Solution to Food Costs: There are lots of ways to make organic food affordable, and growing your own obviously tops the list. It can be an upfront investment, depending on how you do it, so just watch for the difference between “needs” and “wants”.

When considering organic gardening, we have to consider the environmental impact of conventional gardening. Many studies have been done about the mixture of pesticides, fertilizers and herbicides. Each report shows serious immune, hormonal or neurological impacts of the current toxicity levels of our groundwater.⁵ Pesticides are also nondiscriminatory, meaning they kill beneficial insects as well as harmful ones. Harmful chemicals are thought to be a possible cause to bee colony collapse, and affect butterflies and other pollinators necessary to grow food.⁶

Along with chemical pesticides, fertilizers are thought to contribute to a decrease in plant food nutrients^7,8, which affect all species. And because of the nondiscriminatory way in which these chemicals work, we may have yet to discover how much they are affecting animals directly, although we do know that 67 MILLION birds and up to 14 MILLION fish killed each year due to pesticides.⁹

Most people use pesticides, herbicides, or fertilizers because they don’t feel they have an option. But few stop to ask a very basic question; something so basic we don’t even notice it: why are the same insects or diseases not a serious threat in Nature? Why is it only our gardens or farms that are so susceptible to attack?

Most common gardening issues are caused simply by how we garden.

The benefits of organic gardening come with working with our environment. Think about this: Nature spreads things out, intermingling varieties of trees with shrubs and flowers. Humans, however, create “monocultures”: buffets of one type of plant, appealing both to ourselves and of course, insects.

Michael Pollen talks about this in his best-seller, The Omnivore’s Dilemma. Consider what he points out:

• Creating hedgerows of roses provides a smorgasbord for aphids (and their ant enablers) to set up house.
• Planting all our vegetables in one area is like waving a welcome flag to critters, insects, and animals to take notice.
• Fungus and disease spread more quickly when they can easily jump from one species to a nearly identical co-species.

This is the problem with modern-day agriculture, and our desire to replicate it on a small scale at home. When we lay out a feast, it is only natural that insects and disease take advantage of the opportunity to eat and breed wildly.

But reaping the benefits of organic gardening relies on interspersing plant types and varieties, dense plantings that can offer protection of vulnerable plants from their companions, the use of specific companion planting, and the support of natural systems to slow down the spread of disease and create environments in which trouble has no space to start.

The best organic gardening works because it mimics Nature’s proven design.

It’s as simple as this: Big companies can’t make big money by leaving Nature alone.

Companies like Monsanto don’t make millions when gardeners collect, save, and share their seeds; they make millions by producing genetically-modified and patented seed that farmers are not allowed to save and must repurchase year after year and treate with chemicals in order to thrive. (Go to Millions Against Monsanto to learn more about this critical issue.)

Oil companies don’t benefit from compost and companion planting; they benefit by mass-producing petroleum-based pesticides, fertilizers, and herbicides that create resistant pests, decreased soil fertility, and an endless cycle of their commercial inputs.

The arguments against organic farming all say it’s not possible on a large scale, but this simply isn’t accurate. What THEY do isn’t possible without the broken system they’ve created to maintain it, sure. But we’re not talking about simply eliminating their chemicals and making no other changes. We’re talking about reworking the whole system with one that actually works. With a healthy mix of micro-farms, home gardens, bio-intensive farming, permaculture, and yes, a necessary reworking of the foods we consume (because no, we can’t organically grow fields upon fields of corn and soy for all the cattle and processed foods we currently consume), an organic system CAN work and we can see the benefits of organic gardening on a large scale.

And on a small local scale we can always make a big impact by growing organic, choosing local, and supporting a sustainable industry whenever we get the chance. Don’t let Big Business tell you how to grow. Don’t let them downplay the benefits of organic gardening. Tell them with your forks and dollars how you would like them to change instead!

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