:: Why to Keep Your Cleaning Products Away From Your Children!
by Debi Nelson

My quest to find out about exactly what is in a common household cleaner began one day when I was cleaning the shower. I was using a common name brand cleaner and was 5 months pregnant. I became ill. The mere thought of cleaning makes me ill for a start, but I became ill from the fumes emitted from the shower cleaner. I called my Doctor 2 hours later as I was still experiencing nausea, dizziness and a weird bleach like smell in my nose. Needless to say, he told me that inhaling the toxic fumes from cleaning products can seriously harm my unborn child, and not to clean. (I loved this part about not cleaning). To cut a long story short, I rushed out and bought organic cleaning products from a health food market, got home, hubby saw the price tag, rushed the organic products back to the health food market – and the house was no cleaner.

I continued my search online for non-toxic cleaning products and found some information along the way about our common household cleaners. I also spent hours (it seemed like) on the telephone with poison control centers, cancer organizations, allergists, asthma specialists, and the EPA.

Here’s why not to have the common household cleaner anywhere near your child:

According to the EPA, the chemicals and toxins found in common household cleaners have caused the air inside our homes to become five times more contaminated than the air outside, and fifty percent of all illnesses are caused by or aggravated by polluted indoor air. The smells we smell in the cleaning isles at the grocery store are the chemicals, like bleach, coming through the plastic. The term for this is called “outgassing”. The EPA advises keeping cleaning products in a garage or outdoor shed. NOT practical!

Pound for pound of body weight, children drink more water, eat more food, and breathe more air than do adults. For example, children ages one through five years eat three to four times more food per pound than the average adult American. The air intake of a resting infant is twice that of an adult per pound of body weight. These patterns of increased consumption reflect the rapid metabolism of children. The implication for environmental health is that children will have substantially heavier exposures pound for pound than adults to any toxins that are present in water, food, or air. As a consequence of this biological immaturity, they are less able than adults to deal with toxic chemicals and thus they are more vulnerable to them.

The labels on cleaning products only have to warn of the acute (immediate) harms from ingesting a product, breathing the fumes, or contact with the eyes and skin. They don’t reveal the harms presented by chronic (long term) exposure to the chemicals in these products. Many common household cleaners contain chemicals known to contain carcinogens (cancer causing agents), neurotoxins, and corrosives and/or have been linked to ADD/ADHD autism, allergies, asthma, central nervous system damage and interference, muscle spasms, damage to blood tissue, and reproductive disorders. A well known brand of baby shampoo actually contains formaldehyde. This was a huge shocker for me! (By the way many harmful chemicals like formaldehyde and dioxin or Agent Orange are protected by trade secret names. For example, formaldehyde is called Quaternium 15).

Thirty years ago the major childhood illnesses were chickenpox, measles and mumps. Now they are asthma, ADD/ADHD, Autism Spectrum, and Cancer – most of which have been linked to chemicals in the home.

Each year over 1 million children in the US are accidentally poisoned in their homes. More than 250,000 of these victims are hospitalized. 3000 children will end up in intensive care. Dozens more will die. Thousands of children and adults are permanently disfigured or injured through contact with chemicals in the home each year. The most common substance that poisons children in the US today is a well know brand of liquid dishwashing detergent. So what do we wash our “sippy cups” in?

I determined that as the “Head of catering and Housekeeping” in my home, I no longer felt comfortable using the regular grocery store brands. The good news is non-toxic, inexpensive cleaning products do exist.

Here’s what you want to avoid in a cleaning or personal care product – Formaldehyde – a known carcinogen. Formaldehyde has a trade secret name which is Quaternium 15 (or any Quaternium number). Also try to avoid products which contain lye, ethanol, glycol ethers, butane, propane ammonia, and phenol. Phenol can cause infertility problems and birth defects. Ammonia causes chronic lung irritation. Butane and propane cause cancer, central nervous system damage, liver damage and tumors. Also avoid products containing bleach. Bleach can cause central nervous system depression, lung irritation, and nausea. Try to avoid personal care products which contain laurel or laureth. These can be particularly harmful to children, and unfortunately are found (along with formaldehyde) in many baby shampoos and body washes.

A non-toxic cleaning product that contains T-Tree oil would be very effective and safe. T-Tree oil is a natural solvent, kills ecoli, viruses, strep and all bacteria, along with boosting the immune system. While my house is still not spotless, (because I still don’t like cleaning), I am confident, that as a responsible parent, I am doing my part to protect my children from household toxics.

Even when using non-toxic products, please remember to use safety locks on all your storage cabinets.

If you have any questions or would like additional information on safer, non-toxic cleaning products, you can e-mail me at debitexas@comcast.net.

Debi Nelson, born and raised in South Africa, moved to Dallas 3 years ago and started a Wellness Company which she manages from her home. She is a popular speaker/educator at hospitals, mothers groups, day care facilities, clinics, medical practices, schools and church groups. Debi has experience in pediatrics as a Clinical Chiropractic Assistant, and is the mother of two daughters, Laura aged 7 and Sarah aged 5 months. She is married to Brad and currently lives in Frisco.