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Q. What role do chemicals play in household products? |
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Production rates for synthetic petrochemicals skyrocketed from 1 billion pounds per year in 1940 to over 400 billion pounds per year in the 1980s. Approximately 70,000 chemicals are now in commercial production, many of which are used in household products. Many of these chemicals accumulate in the human body and cause cancer and other diseases, yet they have been inadequately tested or remain completely untested for their safety. Only about 600 of these chemicals are known to cause cancer. Many chemicals used in household products are volatile. That means they become gaseous at room temperature or are sprayed from an aerosol can or hand pump and thus take the form of microscopic particles that are easily inhaled. They can cause damage to the lungs or other organs as they are taken into the bloodstream. |
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Q. Are there really that many chemicals inside an average home? |
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The average home today contains more chemicals than were found in a typical chemistry lab at the turn of the century.3 The Consumer Safety Commission has determined that cleaning products are some of the most dangerous substances in your home. Go into your kitchen and bathroom and look under the sinks where you keep your cleaning & personal care supplies. What have you found? Window cleaner? Bleach? Laundry and dishwashing detergent? Shampoo? Mouth wash? These products can be violent, lethal poisons w/ the potential to kill or seriously injure your child - or any child who may come into your home.
Would you keep a loaded gun under your sink? Of course not! What a silly question! Yet these products can be just as deadly. Maybe you keep your cleaning and personal care products locked or up high, out of reach of children. If you do, good! But I ask you again. Would you feel comfortable keeping a loaded gun there? Would you bet your child's life that he or she could never get to that gun? Of course not! Yet more children under 4 die of accidental poisonings at home than are accidentally killed with guns at home. |
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Q. Are hazardous chemicals from household products more dangerous than outdoor pollutants? |
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Because indoor pollutants are not as easily dispersed or diluted as outdoor pollutants, concentrations of toxic chemicals may be much greater indoors than outdoors. Peak concentrations of twenty toxic compounds -some linked with cancer and birth defects - were 200 to 500 times higher inside some homes than outdoors, according to an Environmental Protection Agency Study. Not surprisingly, EPA experts say that indoor air pollution is one of the nation's most pressing personal health concerns. |
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Q. Have products been pulled from the market because of their chemical hazards? |
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In the last few years consumers have discovered that some of the chemicals in household products whose safety was taken for granted are hazardous. For instance, methylene chloride (also known as dichloromethane), the propellant used in many aerosol products, is carcinogenic. Although some products containing methylene chloride have been pulled from the market, this carcinogen continues to be found in many consumer products such as spray paint and stripper. More recently, it was learned that indoor latex paints used widely for decades contained highly neurotoxic mercury-based fungicides. But it was not until 1990 that manufacturers finally removed most of these potent neurotoxins. |
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Q. What are some of the symptoms caused by chemicals in household products? |
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Symptoms such as a runny nose, itchy eyes, a scratchy throat, headaches, fatigue, dizziness, skin rash, and respiratory infections are all common reactions to indoor air pollution. Long-term exposure to indoor pollution can result in lung cancer or damage to the liver, kidneys, and central nervous system. Young children are especially vulnerable to impaired lung function and respiratory infection. |
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Q. What types of products have the biggest cancer risks? |
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Certain cleansers and many brands of cat litter contain the carcinogen crystalline silica. Some car cleaning products contain formaldehyde. Fortunately, there are safe alternatives. Steinman, David and Epstein, Samuel, the Safe Shopper's Bible, Macmillan: New York, 1995. The truth is that Cancer rates have doubled since 1960. |
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Q. Do we have a choice? |
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Yes. In fact the key word here is choice. Fortunately, it can be as easy as switching brands. There are companies that manufacture safer products for your home. They are free from ammonia, phenol, chlorine, petroleum distillates, synthetic solvents and other dangerous ingredients. |
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