|
Household Products
Containing |
||||||||||
|
TOXIC
INCREDIENTS |
||||||||||
|
|
||||||||||
|
|
||||||||||
|
||||||||||
|
|
TRANSITION: What
are some of the ingredients in these products?
|
PRODUCTS
CONTAINING CARCINOGENS |
|
Ø
Johnson & Johnson
Baby Powder w/talc Ø
Crest and Colgate
Tarter Control Toothpastes Ø
Ajax Cleanser Ø
VO5 Hair Conditioner Ø
Lysol Disinfectant
(all scents) Ø
Clairol Nice N’Easy
Hair Color Ø
Tilex Cleaner &
Disinfectant Ø
Gillette Foamy Skin
Conditioning Shave Gel Ø
Old English Lemon
Furniture Polish Ø
Listerine, Listermint,
Cepacol and Scope Mouthwashes Ø
Murphy’s Oil Soap Ø
Citra-Solv All-purpose
Cleaner Ø
Neutrogena Therapeutic
Shampoo Ø
Black Flag and Raid
Ant & Roach Killers Ø
10/13 brands of Cat
Litter |
Source: The Safe Shopper’s Bible by David Steinman
& Samuel S. Epstein, M.D., 1995
TRANSITION: We routinely
trust companies who manufacture household and personal care products, even when
many of them are using TOXIC INGREDIENTS.
|
OUT OF 2,983 CHEMICALS IN
PERSONAL CARE PRODUCTS: |
|
Ø
884 were toxic Ø
314 caused biological
mutation Ø
218 caused
reproductive complications Ø
778 caused acute
toxicity Ø
148 caused tumors Ø
376 caused skin and
eye irritations Judith Berns, “The Cosmetic Cover-up” Human Ecologist 43 (Fall 1989) |
Why
are corporations not compelled to prove the safety of chemicals before they
distribute them?
ü There are 4.5 million chemicals known
ü 45,000 in commercial distribution
ü It takes a team of scientists, 300 mice, 2-3 years and
approximately $300,000 to determine whether one single suspect chemical causes
cancer.
Source: “Our Stolen Future” NY Times Book Review, as cited in Toxic Time Bombs audio cassette featuring Dr. John Buckler, World Solutions, Ltd., 1997
TRANSITION: Today,
children have chemical exposures from birth that their parents didn’t have
until they were adults
|
Are you innocently poisoning your family? |
|
Ø
More than 72,000
synthetic chemicals have been produced since WWII. Ø
<2% of synthetic
chemicals in wide spread use have even been tested for toxicity, birth
defects or their mutagenic or carcinogenic effects. Ø
The average home today
contains 62 toxic chemicals, more than a chemistry lab at the turn of the
century. “Create a Safe & Healthy Home” Dr. Joyce M. Woods, 1996 |
ü
Dr. Joyce Woods, in her
book Create a Safe & Healthy Home, supplies us with some
statistics about our greatest exposure to chemicals being right in our own
home.
ü
The majority of these
chemicals have never been tested for long-term effects.
ü
The EPA reports that
toxic chemicals in our home are 3 times more likely to cause cancer than
airborne pollutants.
|
EXPOSURE |
|
Ø
Ingestion Ø
Inhalation Ø
Dermal absorption |
|
|
ü
We swallow small amounts of chemicals when we gargle, or eat
foods from dishes cleaned with chemicals that still contain a thin residue.
ü
Ingestion also brings to
mind the image of a young child opening the cabinet under the sink and drinking
something deadly.
ü
Of the 5 – 10 million accidental poisonings
reported to the US Poison Control Centers each year, nearly 1.5 million of them are accidental ingestions; the majority of
the victims are under the age of 12 and
have swallowed a cleaning or personal care products.
ü
After all, they can’t
read warning labels and to them, ammonia looks like apple juice and a mothball
looks like a piece of candy.
ü
In fact, more children
under the age of 4 die of accidental poisonings in the home than are
accidentally killed with guns at home [“Accident Facts” National Safety
Council, 1]
|
EXPOSURE |
|
Ø
Ingestion Ø
Inhalation Ø
Dermal absorption |
|
|
We
breathe chemical vapors from the “off-gassing” of household products in the
air.
ü
Houses today are being
built more “energy efficient” to keep in the heat and AC (a.k.a. “tight homes”)
but according to the EPA, most homes
have airborne concentrations of hazardous and toxic chemicals that are 2 – 5
times higher indoors than outdoors, so clearly, the fumes from these
products are staying trapped inside as well.
ü
It may surprise you to
learn that poisoning by inhalation is more
common, and can be much more harmful than ingestion. When something harmful is swallowed, the
stomach actually begins breaking down and neutralizing the poison before it is
absorbed into the bloodstream.
|
EXPOSURE |
|
Ø
Ingestion Ø
Inhalation Ø
Dermal absorption |
|
|
ü
However, when you inhale
toxic fumes, the poisons go directly into the bloodstream and quickly travel to
organs like the brain, heart, liver and kidneys.
ü
Toxic chemical exposure
has been implicated as a possible contributing factor for SIDS (Sudden Infant
Death Syndrome). It’s interesting to
note that there’s a documented higher incidence of SIDS in the wintertime when
windows are closed and the heat is on, compounding the effects of chemicals.
TRANSITION: Our homes are
not the only place where we are at risk.
Doris Rapp, M.D., in her book Is This Your Child’s World?
Shows us the effects on Environmental
Illness on children in schools.
|
ALLERGIES |
|
Ø
Each year more than 50 million Americans suffer from
allergic diseases. Ø
Allergies are the 6th leading cause of
chronic disease in the U.S., costing $18
billion annually. Ø
Approximately 16.7
million office visits to health care providers each year are attributed to
allergies. National Institute of Allergy & Infectious Diseases January 2002 |
|
ASTHMA |
|
Ø
Has increased 75% since 1980. Ø
In 2001, an estimated 30 million people had been diagnosed
with asthma by a health professional; 12
million had an asthma attack. Ø
For the past five
years, 5 – 17 year olds suffered
the most attacks. Ø
In 2,000, 4,487 people died of asthma;
approximately 65% of these deaths were women. “Trends in Asthma Morbidity & Mortality” American Lung Assoc. Epidemiology & Statistics Unit, March 2003. |
|
ATTENTION DEFICIT DISORDER |
|
Ø
In 1997 alone, nearly five million people in the United
States were prescribed Ritalin –
most of them young children diagnosed with attention deficit disorder. Ø
Use of Ritalin has
increased 700% since 1990. Ø
90% of the
world’s Ritalin is used in the U.S. Running on Ritalin by Lawrence H. Diller, M.D. |
|
CANCER |
|
Ø
In 1901, 1 out of
8,000 were afflicted. Ø
By the end of 2005, 1 in 2 will have cancer. Ø
1.3 million
people are expected to be diagnosed with cancer in 2003. Ø
This year, more than 1,500 people a day are expected to
die of cancer. Ø
In the U.S., 1 of every 4 deaths is from cancer. “Cancer Facts & Figures 2003,” American Cancer Socity |
|
HEADACHES |
|
Ø
Over 45 million Americans get chronic,
recurring headaches. Ø
It is estimated that
industry loses $50 billion/yr. due
to absenteeism and medical expenses caused by headaches; workers lose more
than 157 million workdays each
year. Ø
Over $4 billion/yr. are spent on over-the-counter
pain relievers for headaches. Ø
70% of all
migraine sufferers are women. National Headache Foundation www.headaches, org. |
|
Are you innocently poisoning your family? |
|
“Chemicals that can
cause death, cancer, birth defects, respiratory illness and central nervous
system (CNS) disorders (like Alzheimer’s Disease, Multiple Sclerosis,
Parkinson’s Disease, Epilepsy and Schizophrenia) appear in most of the cleaning and personal care products in your
home.” National Institute of Allergy & Infectious Diseases January 2002 |
ü
Chemicals linked to all
of these health problems are under our sinks, in our showers, and all
throughout the house.
ü
“Humans are now
inescapably exposed to so many chemicals that it’s effectively impossible to
provide a cause and effect connection between a give compound and a
corresponding malady.” - Toxic Time Bombs audio cassette featuring Dr. John Buckler, World
Solutions, Ltd., 1997.
TRANSITION: The National
Institute of Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) analyzed just under 3,000
chemicals in personal care products.
Let’s take a look at the results . . .
|
|
|
Women who
work in the home are at a 54% higher risk of developing cancer than women who
work outside the home. National Cancer Association 15 year study |
Source: The Safe Shopper’s Bible by David
Steinman