AIR FRESHENERS: Most air fresheners interfere with your ability to smell by coating your nasal passages with an oil film, or by releasing a nerve deadening agent. Known toxic chemicals found in an air freshener: Formaldehyde: Highly toxic, known carcinogen. Phenol: When phenol touches your skin it can cause it to swell, burn, peel, and break out in hives. Can cause cold sweats,convulsions, circulatory collapse, coma and even death.
AMMONIA: It is a very volatile chemical, it is very damaging to your eyes, respiratory tract and skin.
BLEACH: It is a strong corrosive. It will irritate or burn the skin, eyes and respiratory tract. It may cause pulmonary edema or vomiting and coma if ingested. WARNING: never mix bleach with ammonia it may cause fumes which can be DEADLY.
CARPET AND UPHOLSTERY SHAMPOO: Most formulas are designed to over power the stain itself, they accomplish the task but not without using highly toxic substances. Some include: Perchlorethylene: Known carcinogen damages liver, kidney and nervous system damage. Ammonium Hydroxide: Corrosive, extremely irritable to eyes, skin and respiratory passages.
DISHWASHER DETERGENTS: Most products contain chlorine in a dry form that is highly concentrated.# 1 cause of child poisonings, according to poison control centers.
DRAIN CLEANER: Most drain cleaners contain lye, hydrochloric acid or trichloroethane. Lye: Caustic, burns skin and eyes, if ingested will damage esophagus and stomach. Hydrochloric acid: Corrosive, eye and skin irritant, damages kidneys, liver and digestive tract. Trichloroethane: Eye and skin irritant, nervous system depressant; damages liver and kidneys.
FURNITURE POLISH: Petroleum Distillates: Highly flammable, can cause skin and lung cancer. Phenol: (see Air fresheners, Phenol.) Nitrobenzene: Easily absorbed through the skin, extremely toxic.
MOLD AND MILDEW CLEANERS: Chemicals contained are: Sodium hypochlorite: Corrosive, irritates or burns skin and eyes, causes fluid in the lungs which can lead to coma or death. Formaldehyde: Highly toxic, known carcinogen. Irritant to eyes, nose, throat, and skin. May cause nausea, headaches, nosebleeds, dizziness, memory loss and shortness of breath.
OVEN CLEANER: Sodium Hydroxide (Lye): Caustic, strong irritant, burns to both skin and eyes. Inhibits reflexes, will cause severe tissue damage if swallowed.
ANTIBACTERIAL CLEANERS: may contain: Triclosan: Absorption through the skin can be tied to liver damage.
LAUNDRY ROOM PRODUCTS: Sodium or calcium hypocrite: Highly corrosive, irritates or burns skin, eyes or respiratory tract. Linear alkylate sulfonate: Absorbed through the skin. Known liver damaging agent. Sodium Tripolyphosphate: Irritates skin and mucous membranes, causes vomiting. Easily absorbed through the skin from clothes.
TOILET BOWL CLEANERS: Hydrochloric acid: Highly corrosive, irritant to both skin and eyes. Damages kidneys and liver. Hypochlorite Bleach: Corrosive, irritates or burns eyes, skin and respiratory tract. May cause pulmonary edema, vomiting or coma if ingested. Contact with other chemicals may cause chlorine fumes which may be fatal.
The Toxicity of Laundry Detergents
Laundry detergent contains up to eight poisonous chemicals which erode our immune system - some of which are the following:
It takes three washes with a nontoxic detergent to remove the toxins put in from store-brand's toxic detergents. If you do not have a nontoxic detergent, it takes 16 rinses to remove most of the poisons. How can people hope to escape when they sleep between sheets which have been dipped in eight toxic chemicals and then wear clothes all day which have also been dipped in eight toxic chemicals?
Many areas of the US are requiring laundry detergents to be low-phosphate. As a result, manufacturers replaced phosphates with caustics which are 100 times more caustic than phosphate detergents. Examples are:
These caustics clean by a chemical reaction that burns or eats away other
substances which wear out clothes faster and dull the fabric's colors.
[David Kullberg, "Housework May Be Hazardous to Your Health"]
Since 1950, over 70,000 new chemical compounds have been invented and
dispersed into our environment with only a fraction of these tested for human
safety. What a horror to think that this overwhelming flood of chemicals is
abusing our children and their children by using them as experimental “guinea
pigs” in this massive clinical toxic trial which sweeps our country.
[Herbert L. Needleman, M.D., Philip J. Landrigan, M.D., Raising Children
Toxic Free]
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