Cleaning Poisons

Cleaning Poisons
There are many and varied cleaning products on the market designed to make our busy lives easier. some of these cleaners you may use every day but have your ever thought what that substance contains that you are spraying in your bathroom, on your furniture or on the surface in your kitchen and what about that handy air freshener that spurts a nice smell in to your room at periodic intervals all day long. This article will open yours eyes to the chemicals you are using and hopefully, armed with this knowledge you will chose alternatives that are healthier for you, your children and the environment.

Most cleaning can be done by natural everyday ingredients like:
baking soda
vinegar
salt
lemon juice
vegetable oil,
soap,
borax
washing soda

DISHWASHER DETERGENTS
Many of them contain dry chlorine which is stimulated when dissolved in water. Chlorine fumes can be caused in the steam. This can cause eye irritation and breathing difficulties. Some also contain Quarternium 15 which releases carcinogenic formaldehyde.
ALTERNATIVE
Mix equal parts of Borax and Baking Soda. Use 2 Tablespoons per load.(the amount required depends on how hard the water is)

DISINFECTANTS
Disinfectants can use highly caustic chemicals – Sodium Hydroxide, Sodium hyphochlorite and phosphoric acid. Breathing in these vapours can burn the lungs, eyes and skin.Some contain phenols which damages DNA , the liver,kidney and the nervous system. There are over 300 different active ingredients that are allowed to be used in ant- micro-bacterial products. They are classified by the EPA as pesticides because they kill microbes. Triclosan, one of these chemicals was found in high levels in human breast milk in a Swedish study in 2003.
ALTERNATIVE
Disinfecting / Deodorising Cleaner
Half a cup of Borax added to 4 litres of water – this has been used in some hospitals with good results.
Tea Tree Disinfectant
20 drops tea tree oil, one cup vinegar and emulsifier and blend.


Scientists are concerned that anti bacterial products are killing off useful bacteria and this contributes to the creation of antibiotic resistant bacteria as the ones who are not killed mutate and become resistant to cleaning products.
Take a look for yourself on the label of the cleaning substances you have in your cupboard under the sink. What are the chemicals in them and what are the effects they are having on you. There are many alternatives now on the shelves in whole food stores and in some supermarkets such as Ecover, or you could use the natural products listed.

AIR FRESHENERS
Air Fresheners work by using chemical that deadens the nerves associated with the sense of smell. They do this by coating the nasal passages with an oily film. This masks a bad odour and replaces it with another. They contain formaldehyde, a carcinogen and sensitizer, Butane gas, a known neurotoxin. Some of the solid deodorisers contain the pesticide paradchlorobenzene which causes liver and kidney damage.
ALTERNATIVE
Baking Soda in an open container absorbs smells.
Zeolite a mineral,absorbsodours and heavy metals in the air.

There are many ways in which these chemicals proliferate our environment and bodies. Each chemical has been mentioned in isolation but in reality they enter our systems and become a dangerous toxic cocktail doing as yet unmeasured damage as it is difficult to separate how each one reacts with another within the human body.

People believe that they would not be sold something that would harm them if they have seen it in an ad on the TV or in a magazine advertisement, but really it is all about getting you to spend your money on the product and not about your health and safety. The more aware you become the greater pressure is for these large companies to change their ways, improving the environment for us all.