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WHY NATURAL? Cleaning products can be among the most hazardous of chemical products found around the home. You can readily see the tremendous variety of cleaners on the local supermarket shelves or hardware store. There are cleaners for aluminium, glass, ovens, copper, chrome, floors, tiles, wood, bathrooms, carpeting and general purpose. Polishes are available for shoes, metal and furniture. We have deodorizers, air fresheners, disinfectants, dish soaps, laundry detergents, bleach, fabric softeners, and stain removers. These cleaners can cause eye skin, lung and nervous system damage and are usually poisonous when ingested. When we use these products we are breathing in the chemicals in the indoor air as the ingredients evaporate. We are also contacting these various chemicals from their residue on various surfaces. Children and adults are injured or poisoned by contact with these products. When we dispose of the chemicals contained in the cleaning products during use or when no longer needed, we create a threat to the health of the air, soil, water and beneficial micro organisms in the ground. Conventional laundry products for example are petroleum intensive. They contain artificial dyes such as optical brighteners which are fluorescent to capture and reflect light and make clothes appear brighter. Their main ingredients are derived from petroleum and they contain perfumes. When you use that chemical toilet bowl cleaner, sink cleanser or laundry product you end up flushing those chemicals down the drain. It is estimated we pour millions of pounds of household cleaning products down the drain each day and over 12 billion pounds of household cleaning products down the drain each year. Now, the drain is connected to the town water treatment plant or to a septic system for your home. The town water treatment plant most likely can not remove these toxic chemicals from the waste supply and now you have contaminated effluent that will re-enter our environment. If you have a septic system, your waste contains chemicals that are killing beneficial micro organism that break down the biodegradable products into harmless substances. Your septic system does not function properly to remove and convert raw wastes and is now allowing these pollutants and chemicals to filter down into the ground where they can contaminate drinking water supplies. When you multiply this single event by millions of households across the country you can understand how the cleaning process with toxic cleaners can have a direct health impact on you, your family and the environment. Most chemical cleaners are petroleum based. This means their ingredients are primarily derived from petroleum and petroleum by-products. Extensive energy is required to explore, acquire, refine, manufacture, and distribute petroleum and their by-products used by these chemical cleaners. All of this required energy to provide the petroleum products creates pollution and environmental damage. Also, petroleum is a non-renewable resource which means we can not use it sustain ably and at some point we will use up this resource. We can only produce so much petroleum and we should conserve and reserve the use of it only when no other alternatives exist. The opportunity is available to use less toxic, safer Household Cleaners. These products provide a safer indoor and outdoor environment and their purchase supports responsible manufacturing and retail businesses. What are you waiting for, go GREEN, NOW ! Multiple Chemical Sensitivity A trend noted by many people has been an increase in what seems to be allergic reactions in the general population. Ranging from congestion to sneezing to more severe reactions such as rashes, breathing problems and worse, these reactions are often non-specific to natural allergens. Some activists and researchers have identified chemicals as potential factors in these reactions. Multiple Chemical Sensitivity (MCS) is the name given to the broad issue of reactions to specific or cumulative chemicals in the environment. This fact sheet will present a definition of MCS and the related Environmental Illness; explore factors of and criticisms to MCS; and examine the individual's role in reducing potential sensitivity. What is MCS? In theory, MCS is an adverse physical reaction to low levels of many common chemicals. Chemical sensitivity is generally accepted as a reaction by certain individuals to chemicals but debate rages on whether MCS is classifiable as an illness. One of the difficulties in classifying MCS as an illness has been the complex nature of chemicals in the environment and the interaction effects with and within the human body. The length of exposure, the concentration of the chemical(s), and the individual's threshold of resistance are also factors complicating a simple definition. In the relatively few but growing documented cases of severe reactions to chemicals, there seems to be no single stimuli or predictor of reactions. The most severe cases, often called either Environmental Illness or 20th Century Disease, sometimes result in individuals isolating themselves from society, synthetic products, and any type of chemical product. What makes MCS so hard to identify? Few products in our society do not include some synthetic or natural chemicals. While most people are generally unaffected by them, many of us have experienced some type of reaction, stimulated by synthetic chemicals at some time in a particular situation. Headaches, dizziness, and shortness of breath are sometimes symptoms of reactions to chemicals. These same symptoms, however, are also common to many other illnesses, diseases, stress, and stimuli. A related illness caused by environmental stimuli is that of Sick Building Syndrome. This condition has, over the last twenty years, gained credibility in scientific circles and there are well-documented cases of large percentages of building inhabitants or workers reacting to chemicals in the closed environment of the building. Exposure to specific chemicals or any combination of chemicals has an impact on the human body. The interaction may be positive, negative, or neutral. Most synthetic chemicals imitate natural chemicals normally found in the human body, without many of which we would die. In great concentration, these same chemicals can be toxic. The variables of concentration and time are central to how the chemicals affect an individual. The amount of time exposed, the type of chemical, and the concentration of chemicals may contribute to the individual's reaction. Various chemicals flow through the human body unless the level of chemical exceeds the body's ability to cleanse itself. Some chemicals may accumulate in the body, however, other chemicals have an additive effect in that the toxicity of one can add to the toxicity of another. Additively and body burden are very different, but are not mutually exclusive. There are also chemicals that stimulate the breakdown of other chemicals. This is called an antagonistic effect. Antagonism is an outcome of the process; in the breakdown, a chemical might exacerbate the toxicity of another, or become more toxic in a synergistic relationship. These interactions of chemicals can be isolated in laboratories, but the human body, and the unique ability of each body to respond to different chemicals in different ways, makes it difficult to understand the effects of any one chemical in a particular concentration on any person. Just as some people are allergic to certain medications while others are not, the way one person reacts to a chemical in the environment may be entirely different than another person. Should we be concerned about children? As with many illnesses, children seem to be more sensitive to non-specific chemical reactions than adults. Although some of the documented cases suggest the individual developed MCS later in life, most of the case studies indicate that there were significant exposures to chemicals during childhood. There are several reasons that children seem more susceptible to chemical sensitivity than adults. Children's bodies do not have as many detoxifying enzymes as do adult bodies. Children spend more time outdoors which may expose them to a variety of chemicals in different media such as air, water, or soil. Children breathe more air per pound of body weight than do adults. Additionally, children eat and drink more than do adults per pound of body weight. Daily contact with dangerous chemicals. Whether indoors or out, in the city or in the country, the mountains or the desert, all of us are continually exposed to chemicals. Both natural and synthetic, chemicals are a part of our lives. Most of us are unaware of our dependence upon chemicals and how much we often use them to make our lives easier. Whether or not MCS is a "real illness," the discussion about MCS suggests there may be a concern in our society. We use and depend on chemicals; often we overuse chemicals and ignore the impacts from using these chemicals. At home, at work, in recreation, or wherever, it is important to be aware of the chemicals that are likely to be present and to take appropriate precautions to minimize the use of the chemicals we control.
Just think about it. We wish you a healthy future. The Greenteam of Green Island Products.
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