WARNING: Can You TRUST Warning Labels??

Do you read ingredient labels and warning labels? Want to know what exactly is in the product you're about to purchase? You read the label and all seems well with the world, huh? Did you know that manufacturers are not required to to list the exact ingredients on the label? Did you know that chemical names are often disguised by using harmless 'trade names'. That means if the chemical is on the label, you may not even recognize it for what it truly is!

Take a look at the label of the cleaning products you have in your home. You will find there are Active Ingredients and then there are Other Ingredients. When you think of 'Other Ingredients' one would probably assume that these ingredients are not toxic or hazardous. However, many of the 1,000 different chemicals listed as 'other' are more harmful than the 'Active Ingredients'. The EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) does not require manufacturers to identify most 'Other Ingredients', or reveal their potential harmful effects. This is especially disturbing because even the ingredients that are suspected to be cancer causing agents are used as 'Other Ingredients' in your household products.

With so many statistics letting us know that household and personal care products have toxins and are linked to a variety of sickness, diseases, and ailments, it is quite disheartening that what is supposed to help us make an educated decision on what products we should or should not buy is the very thing that is misleading us and keeping us blind to what is really the truth.

Do You Trust The Label?

Don't Ignore the Connection....

While alarming, the fact is that scientists and doctors have discovered that there is a connection between our health and the use of common everyday household chemicals. If yours is the 'typical' home, you more than likely use dozens of cleaning and personal care products, purchased at the local grocery store, which contain chemical ingredients that could be harmful to your health and the health of your loved ones.

There has been a dramatic rise the amount of man-made chemicals we use in our homes. They 'typical' home now contains over 63 hazardous products that together contain hundreds of different chemicals. At the same time there has been an equally dramatic rise in the incidence of certain chronic health problems.

Do you really KNOW what you have in your home AND the EFFECTS it has on you, your children, your quality of life and the environment? If ALL of these things do NOT matter to you, I am confident that at least ONE concerns you.

It is worth investing some time into looking around to see what changes you can make. Small changes Amount to Large Results. In the long run, you will lower the risks for your health.

This Will Shock You!

Since 1950, at least 70,000 new chemical compounds have been invented and dispersed into our environment. Only a fraction of these have been tested for human toxicity. We are, by default, conducting a massive clinical toxicology trial, and our children and their children are the experimental animals.

[Source: Herbert L. Needleman, M.D., Philip J. Landrigan, M.D., Raising Children Toxic Free]

150 chemicals found in the home are connected to allergies, birth defects, cancer and psychological disorders.

[Source: Consumer Protection Agency (CPA)]

3 groups of people are primarily affected by indoor chemical concentrations because they spend more time indoors and their immune systems are weaker. The 3 groups are: Infants and toddlers, Chronically ill, Elderly

[Source: 1988 EPA, 5-year study]

Liquid dish soap is the leading cause of poisonings in the home for children under the age of six (over 2.1 million accidental poisonings per year). Most brands of liquid dish soap contain Formaldehyde and ammonia.

Of the chemicals found in personal care products: 884 are toxic, 146 cause tumors, 218 cause reproductive complications, 778 cause acute toxicity, 314 cause biological mutations, 376 cause skin and eye irritations

[Source: United States House of Representatives Report, 1989]

Out of 2,435 pesticide poisonings in a one-year period, over 40% were due to exposure to disinfectants and similar cleaning products in the home.

[Source: State of California Study]

Most laundry detergent contains a form of NTA. NTA is a substance we may reasonably anticipate to be a carcinogen.

[Source: The Merck Index]

Household Chlorine bleaches which claim to disinfect are classified as pesticides under the Federal Hazardous Substances Act. Inadvertently mixing bleach with other cleaners that contain ammonia produces a toxic chloramines gas. These toxic gases can cause coughing, loss of voice, a feeling of burning or suffocation, and even death.

[Source: Guide to Hazardous Products Around the Home, Household Hazardous Waste Project, 1989]

Women who work in the home have a 54% higher death rate from cancer than women who work outside of the home.

[Source: 17- year EPA study]

As more toxic chemicals have been introduced to our everyday environment in greater amounts over the last 20 to 30 years, the level of toxins stored in dipose tissues (fat cells) of our bodies have risen. Bioaccumulation studies have shown that some toxins store in our bodies for life. Greater and greater amounts are being stored at younger ages. One study showed that in the fat of 100% of the people tested was 1,4-Dichlorobenzene, a chemical found in most household deodorizers and room fresheners. Some products release contaminants into the air right away, others do so gradually over a period of time. Some stay in the air up to a year. These contaminants, found in many household and personal care products can cause dizziness, nausea, allergic reactions, eye/skin/respiratory tract irritations and some cause cancer.

[American Lung Association]

Asthma was once a very rare disease. Now the condition is extremely common, the asthma rate has tripled in the last 20 years with nearly 30 million Americans currently afflicted.

[Source: Consumer Federation of America, 1997]

In one decade, there has been a 42% increase in asthma (29% for men, 82% for women). The higher rate for women is believed to be due to women's longer exposure times to household chemicals.

[Source: Center for Disease Control]

Childhood asthma has increased by more than 40% since 1980.

[Source: Environmental Health Perspectives, June 1997; 105 (6)]

Asthma death in children and young people increased by a dramatic 118% between 1980 and 1993.

[Source: Environmental Health Threats to Children, Environmental Protection Agency 175-F-96-001, September 1996]

The average child visits the doctor 23 times in the 1st 4 years of life, with the most common complaint being respiratory ailment.

[Source: National Center for Health Statistics, 1997]

Developing cells in children's bodies are more susceptible to damage than adult cells that have completed development, especially for the central nervous system. During the development of a child, from conception through adolescence, there are particular windows of vulnerability to environmental hazards. Most disturbing until a child is approximately 13 months of age, they are virtually no ability to fight the biological and neurological effects of toxic chemicals.

[Source: Herbert L. Needleman, M.D., Philip J. Landrigan, M.D., Raising Children Toxic Free]

Today, children have chemical exposures from birth that their parents didn't have until they were adults. Because children are exposed to toxins at an earlier age than adults, they have more time to develop environmentally triggered diseases, with long latency periods, such as cancer.

[Source: Environmental Policy and Children's Health, Future of Children, Summer/Fall 1995; 5(2): 34-52]

Formaldehyde is a highly toxic substance. It is a known cancer-causing agent. It damages the neurological connectors in the body. It is an irritant to the eyes, nose, throat and lungs and may cause: skin reactions, ear infections, headaches , depression, asthma, joint pain, dizziness, mental confusion, nausea, disorientation , phlebitis , fatigue, Vomiting, sleep disturbances, laryngitis

One in five people are sensitive to formaldehyde. Formaldehyde is commonly found in: drugs, mouthwash, hairspray, cosmetics, cleaning products , perfumes , waxes, hair setting lotions, shampoo, air fresheners, fungicides, fingernail polish, floor polishes, dry cleaning solvents, toothpaste, laundry spray starch, Anti-perspirants, just to name a few…

Due to the increase in toxic buildup in our bodies, including the toxic buildup of formaldehyde, dead bodies are not decomposing as fast as they used to. Bodies now start to decompose within 7 to 10 days after death. During the Vietnam War, Vietnamese bodies started to decompose within 24 to 48 hours. However, Americans didn't start to decompose for 4 to 5 days. Twice as much formaldehyde was needed to embalm a person 20 years ago compared to today.

How many of these names would you have recognized as formaldehyde? Formalin, Methanal, Methyl Aldehyde, Methylene Oxide, Oxymethylene, Bfv*, Fannoform*, Formol*, Fyde*, Karsan*, Methaldehyde, Formalith*, Methylene Glycol, Ivalon*, Oxomethane, Formalin 40, Formalin, Formic Aldehyde, Hoch, Paraform, Lysoform*, Morbocid, Trioxane, Polyoxmethylene, * denotes trade name

Warning labels on containers refer only to toxic hazards from ingestion; however, only 10% of health problems from chemicals are caused by ingestion. 90% are caused by the inhalation of vapors and absorption of particles.

Do you still want to use products in your home that contain formaldehyde?


Phenol is an extremely caustic chemical that burns the skin. Absorption of phenol through the lungs or skin can cause: central nervous system damage, pneumonia, respiratory tract infection, heart-rate irregularities, skin irritation, kidney and liver damage, numbness, vomiting, and can be fatal

Phenol is a very common chemical and is regularly found in the following common products: air fresheners, aftershave, bronchial mists, chloroseptic throat spray, deodorants, feminine powders & sprays, hair spray, decongestants, mouthwash, aspirin, solvents, acne medications, antiseptics, calamine lotions, cleaning products, detergents, furniture polish, hair setting lotions, lice shampoo, polishes, cold capsules, all-purpose cleaners, aerosol disinfectants, anti-itching lotions , carnex , cosmetics, disinfectant cleaners, hand lotions, lip balms, sunscreen and lotions, insecticides, cough syrups, just to name a few…

Why Should You Go Green?

A growing body of research shows how a living environment can have profound physical and mental health outcomes, especially for minority families and low-income communities (Environmental Health Perspectives (http://www.greencommunitiesonline.org/green/why/toc.html), May 2005 (http://www.greencommunitiesonline.org/green/why/toc.html)). Low-income people and minorities are more likely to live in worse environmental conditions and experience greater rates of disease, limited access to health care and other health disparities. Green development is a holistic approach that provides integrated solutions to housing, health and environmental challenges.

Run-down, Unhealthy Housing
Environmentally attributable childhood diseases, including asthma, lead poisoning and cancer, cost our nation nearly $55 billion annually. More than 2.5 million families live in substandard housing. More than 4 million children in the U.S. have asthma, and it is estimated that more than 40 percent of doctor-diagnosed asthma among U.S. children is due to residential exposures. Asthma prevalence is 40 to 50 percent higher among minority children living in urban areas. Additionally, more than 400,000 children have dangerously high blood lead levels.

Rising Transportation and Energy Costs
Families at the poverty level spend nearly 40 cents of every dollar they earn on transportation. And energy costs for poor families have increased much faster than their incomes in recent years. Low-income families will spend an average of $1,335 on energy this year—nearly 17 percent of their income—compared to 15 percent in 1997. Studies have shown that high energy bills force poor families to spend less for food and other essentials.

Sprawling, Unsustainable Development
The United States, home to only five percent of the world’s population, consumes 25 percent of the world’s energy and generates 25 percent of global warming pollution. In addition, sprawl drives good jobs farther from where many low-income people live and has been linked to increased traffic congestion, increased pollution and deteriorating health.