| You know that good, healthy feeling you get when you | | | | * Sulfamic acid |
| are cleaning your home? Sorry to spoil it, but you may | | | | * Petroleum distillates |
| have just made your home dirtier. | | | | * Sulfuric acid |
| Think of it this way. You wouldn't let your kids play with | | | | * Lye (potassium hydroxide) |
| toxic chemicals, so why would you let the baby crawl | | | | * Morpholine |
| over a floor that has just been wiped with them? | | | | Here is how to keep your home impeccably clean, and |
| That's much more dangerous than the orange juice | | | | safe. Get the dirt, educate yourself about what you |
| that was just there. How dangerous? Just take a look | | | | bring into your home. Have a clean-for-all. Put on the |
| at these statistics. Over 90% of poison exposures | | | | gloves and get rid of the nasty stuff in your home. |
| happen at home. Common chlorine bleach is the #1 | | | | Responsibly, of course. |
| household chemical involved in poisoning. | | | | Your local waste collection service has guidelines for |
| Organic pollutants, found in many common cleaners | | | | proper household hazardous waste disposal, as well |
| and even air fresheners, are found at levels 2 to 5 | | | | as collection sites for things like paint, batteries, and |
| times higher inside your home than out. A person who | | | | cleaners. Whatever you do, please don't toss this stuff |
| spends 15 minutes cleaning scale off shower walls | | | | in the garbage. |
| could inhale three times the "acute one-hour exposure | | | | Welcome healthy into your home. Commit to carefully |
| limit" for glycol ether-containing products set by the | | | | considering everything that crosses your doorstep. |
| California Office of Environmental Health Hazard | | | | Here are some safe, healthy things to have in your |
| Assessment. | | | | home: |
| Common cleaners give off fumes that can potentially | | | | * Cleaners that are truly cleaner because they are |
| increase the risk of kids developing asthma, the most | | | | nontoxic, natural, biodegradable, concentrated, and |
| common chronic childhood disease. One in 13 | | | | hypoallergenic. |
| school-aged children has asthma. Rates in children | | | | * Fresh air. Open your windows to reduce indoor air |
| under five have increased more than 160% from | | | | pollution. |
| 1980-2004. Children are highly vulnerable to chemical | | | | * Essential oils. Use these instead of air fresheners. |
| toxicants. | | | | * Plants. Besides being nice to look at, they can absorb |
| Pound for pound of body weight, children drink more | | | | harmful gases and help clean the air. |
| water, eat more food, and breathe more air than | | | | * Organic cotton bedding. Avoid standard bedding |
| adults. The implication of this is that children will have | | | | treated with chemicals. |
| substantially heavier exposures than adults to any | | | | * Floors made of recycled and renewable resources. |
| toxicants that are present in water, food, or air. | | | | * Healthier paint. That new paint smell can be as nasty |
| If your home is anything like the average U.S. home, | | | | as it smells. Choose low VOC paint instead. |
| you generate more than 20 pounds of household | | | | Clean up our collective home. Make the earth healthier |
| hazardous waste each year (the EPA designates | | | | for all of us who call it home by using these things in |
| toilet cleaners, tub and tile cleaners, oven cleaners, and | | | | yours: Compact fluorescent lighting. They last a whole |
| bleach as hazardous waste). To find out what's lurking | | | | lot longer. Energy Star-rated appliances. Save money |
| on your shelves, go to the National Institutes of Health | | | | and energy. |
| Library of Medicine Household Products Database. | | | | A low-flush toilet. Replace the largest user of water in |
| You can search almost any brand of cleaner you use, | | | | your house. Ultra low flushers cut water use by |
| find out what's in it, and uncover its links to health | | | | one-fifth. Low-flow showerheads. Same pressure. |
| effects. Or search by chemical ingredients (see list | | | | Less water. |
| below for some examples) and discover what brands | | | | Your flicker finger. Turn off lights and appliances when |
| contain it. The information may shock you. | | | | you're not using them. Gray water system. Install one |
| Chemical ingredients to look out for: | | | | to recycle used household water for your lawn. |
| * Sodium hydroxide | | | | Tankless water heater. Save money, energy, and |
| * Hydrochloric acid | | | | space in the broom closet. |
| * Butyl cello solve (2-Butoxyethanol) | | | | Do your research and take action. Get your home as |
| * Formaldehyde | | | | clean and as safe as possible for you, your family, and |
| * Bleach (sodium hypochlorite) | | | | your planet. |
| * Ammonia | | | | |