A couple months ago, I watched a documentary on Netflix that forever changed the way I clean my house.
The name of it is Chemerical: Redefining Clean for a New Generation (there's a trailer for it on their website). I definitely recommend watching it if you can. If you don't have Netflix, it's available on youtube for $2.99.
This documentary helped me to see just how harmful the toxic chemicals are in our everyday store-bought cleaners and personal care products. I had known some of this - mostly in a vague sense - but this helped me to really clarify what exactly we're putting into our bodies by using these products and that it truly is harmful to us because of the constant contact we're having with all of it.
In this first post, I'm going to give you the information I learned in the documentary. Following that, I'm going to share with you what I've learned about homemade cleaners and what I've started making for myself.
Making your own is cheaper than store-bought and absolutely healthier because you are eliminating ALL toxic chemicals and using natural ingredients.
***
Chemerical: Redefining Clean for a New Generation
The Goode Family
Throughout this documentary, the Goode family is followed for 3 months to see if they can go toxic free in their cleaning supplies and personal care products. They are a family of 5 (two teenagers and one in middle school), and live on a tight budget.
At the beginning of the 3 months, they have 40 store-bought cleaners in their home that are found to contain dozens of toxic chemicals. The home's air quality is tested in 3 rooms over 3 nights. There are found to be dangerously high levels of VOCs (volatile organic compounds) in the house.
Throughout the 3 months, the family is convinced of the benefits of natural, homemade cleaners and will not go back to the way they used to clean their home. Their air quality was tested again, and the toxic levels were much less than half of what it was before, bringing them down to acceptable and healthy levels.
Cleaning Products
- Americans are in contact with over 72,000 chemicals per year.
- Women who stay at home have a cancer rate 54% higher than women who work outside of the home (the narrator/producer's mom stayed at home and she died of cancer at 57).
- Chlorine is the #1 household poison.
- Napthalene - a chemical in carpet cleaner - is a toxin created from coal tar. It can damage your liver, blood, heart and brain.
- Ammonia and Chlorine were first used in WWI to kill the enemy. They were then reformulated to attack the new enemy: bacteria, mold and mildew.
- Residues from cleaners are left behind that you end up ingesting.
- Indoor air quality is 10 to 50 times worse than outdoor air, thanks in part to the products we clean with, known as VOCs.
- Over 2 million Americans have a condition called Multiple Chemical Sensitivity - a severe sensitivity to everyday chemicals.
- Every year, 10s of thousands of children under the age of 5 are poisoned by the chemicals found in our household cleaners and personal care products. Yet the chemical industry has convinced us that this is a suitable and reasonable risk to accept for having their products in our homes.
Natural cleaning products: Soap and water, Vinegar, Baking Soda.
Personal Care Products
Cosmetics. Your body absorbs makeup through your skin. You end up ingesting what you put on your lips, and you inhale what you spray into the air which gets absorbed through your lungs.
Fragrances. They are made of phthalates, plastic chemicals that will build up in your system and that have been associated with various types of cancer. Studies on phthalates have linked their use to a drop in male sperm count and a reduction in the birth rates of male offspring. Phthalates are in personal care products, cosmetics and hundreds of other items.
Parabens. They are a commonly used preservative in cosmetics, other care products and food. According to Wikipedia, "they are becoming increasingly controversial, however, because they have been found in breast cancer tumors. Parabens have also displayed the ability to slightly mimic estrogen (a hormone known to play a role in the development of breast cancer). No effective direct links between parabens and cancer have been established, however. Another concern is that the estrogen-mimic aspect of parabens may be a factor in the increasing prevalence of early puberty in girls."
Sodium Lauryl Sulphate. A foaming agent linked to known carcinogens that is in almost everything we use from toothpaste to dishwashing soap. Read more.
Talking with Stacy Malkan, author of Not Just a Pretty Face. In 2007, she looked at 33 popular brands of red lipstick. 61% contained LEAD. The companies she contacted said that lead is only a problem for children. Yes, lead is a neurotoxin, which can interfere with brain development and is most dangerous during developmental phases of children...but, where do they think children come from ("Pregnant women and women of child-bearing age are also at increased risk, because lead ingested by the mother can cross the placenta and affect the unborn fetus").
Personal care products are not regulated like food. Claims can be made like - Organic, Natural, Pure, Gentle, Dr. Recommended, Hypoallergenic, etc. and they mean nothing. They are without any legal standard what-so-ever.
Conclusion to the film
I wrote down two quotes that I want to end on.
"Gradually, there's an accumulation of these toxins in your body and over the long term they have a health affect on you."
"The changes that you make don't have to be expensive. It's about taking your time and finding out what works for you. If you try something and it doesn't work, try something else. And be willing to take that journey."
No comments:
Post a Comment