Home Safety For Children

Natural Healthy Home Cleaning Tips

Home Safety For Children

All things are connected. Whatever befalls the earth, befalls the children of the earth." .......-Chief Sealth

Of course, a safe home is important for adults, too. Making your childrens home safety a top priority protects everyone. And, there are special reasons to think about our precious little ones:

Their bodies are still growing so their organs are more likely to be harmed. If they get sick, getting well may be harder. Their immune systems, which fight illness, are still developing.

For their size, kids eat more food, drink more water and breathe more air than adults. When they get lead in their bodies or breathe in harmful gases, they get a bigger dose than adults would.

Babies and toddlers play and crawl on the ground. This means they are closer to things that might cause health problems, like dust and some chemicals. And babies and toddlers put most everything in their mouths--things that might have chemicals or lead dust on them.

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Clean Your House Green for your Children’s Sake

By Dave Zielski

My thirteen-year-old daughter recently called me up to say she had cleaned the whole kitchen and bathroom herself. So many emotions ran through me at that moment. First, I was shocked by the fact that no one asked her to do so. I was also happy that she had done this but anxious at the same time because this was a Thursday afternoon and knowing that during the next 24 hours would come my payback, a ride home from a party or a couple of her friends sleeping over for the weekend. But the one thing I was not feeling was worried that my little girl was exposed to toxic chemicals that most of us use in our homes. Two years ago we made the switch to all natural non-toxic cleaning products.

until a few years ago, most household and commercially purchased cleaning products were "petro-chemically" derived or "synthetic". These types of products are literally made from crude petroleum oil. As our use of these cleaners in our homes, schools, and workplaces has grown over the last 60 years, the incidence of diseases like cancer and asthma has grown dramatically as well, and many experts see a clear connection between the two. It’s a picture vividly painted by the numbers: From 1973 to 1998, the overall incidence of cancer increased by almost 25%. In the last 20 years, asthma rates have skyrocketed almost 50%. Americans now spend billions every year to deal with allergic diseases including a brand new one called multiple chemical sensitivity whose symptom is currently reported by 15-30% of the U.S. population.

Children are more vulnerable to environmentally caused diseases than adults. This is of course becausechildren are smaller, and their systems are still developing.

A child's ability to flush out environmental toxins is not developed until they are around seven years old so they absorb and retain more toxins than adults. For example, children absorb about 50% of the lead they are exposed to, while adults absorb only 10-15%.

Here are some shocking facts compiled by the City of Boulder, Colorado:

Indoor air is often two to five times more contaminated than outdoor air.

Childhood asthma has nearly doubled in the last 20 years (American Lung Assoc.) and some cleaners may be triggers to asthma attacks.

The average home contains 25 gallons of hazardous chemicals – a major portion of these can be found in household cleaning products.

In 1999, 92% of all poisonings occurred in the home.

Cleaning products are involved in 11% of poisoning exposure in children less than 6 years of age.

70,000 synthetic chemicals are in production today. Many are suspected to cause cancer or other health effects, but only 600 have been adequately tested.

Many people who are exposed to a variety of petrochemicals in our environment do not reach acute toxic exposure, which leads to cancer or death. However, they may experience an array of subtle symptoms, including headaches, rashes, or breathing difficulties, which, while less dramatic, can be extremely debilitating. These effects are even more devastating in young children. Compounding this problem is the difficulty of isolating which chemicals present in homes, schools, offices or even cars is causing the problem.

The manufacturers of the traditional cleaning products are protected by trade secret labeling laws, which do not require them to list all ingredients. Although chemical information is required by law on products used in the workplace, this toxic information is not currently required on the products we use daily in our homes. Kathy Cooper, Sr. Environmental Law Researcher states: “Most consumers assume that if it’s on the store shelf, it has been tested and it is safe. That is far from the truth. The Government and manufacturers are currently under no obligation to tell us about long-term toxicity of common household cleaners”.

Children’s developing bodies are more vulnerable to toxins than those of adults, says Susan JunFish, who used to work for the Environmental Protection Agency. And they’re more likely to get toxins into their bodies. Their hands are on everything and then go in their mouths—an average of ten times an hour, according to one study.

These toxic cleaning products are slowly gaining attention, not only by environmentalist groups but on a City and State level as well. The Commonwealth of Massachusetts and the city of Seattle have taken the first step towards recognizing the importance’s of Environmentally preferable cleaning products and has awarded contracts to companies that meet certain criteria. These products will have less of an impact on the environment than their traditional counterparts because they are generally less toxic and contain lower concentrations of volatile organic compounds (VOCs), ozone depleting chemicals (ODCs), and carcinogens. Environmentally preferable cleaning products must also be offered in recycled-content, recyclable and/or reduced packaging.

Our children are what we live for. We go to great lengths to shelter and protect them from all that is bad in the world. Why subject them to harsh toxic chemicals when there are alternatives available that are both safe and effective. By switching to all natural non toxic cleaners, you will not only be helping your children, you will be helping yourself, your pets and the precious environment we inhabit.

David Zielski started Seaside Naturals with his wife Linda. Seaside Naturals, a leading manufacturer of all natural first aid kits and natural cleaning and personal care products, provides all natural living solutions for health-conscious people. Seaside Naturals markets and distributes through natural food stores, supermarkets, on-line and in mail-order catalogs in the United States. For more information, visit seasidenaturals.com.

Article Source: EzineArticles.com/

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Toxic Chemicals, Are Your Children Being Exposed?

By Shelly Platt

You do what you can to keep your little ones safe and healthy in this world we live in. You put your household cleaners out of reach and make sure the front door is securely locked. You tuck them in at night with a story and a kiss, wishing them sweet dreams. Unfortunately, your children are not safe! While they sleep, they are being exposed to toxic chemicals found in that crib or bed you so lovingly tucked them into.

Liver poisoning, thyroid problems and altered learning, memory and behavior may be caused by Polybrominated diphenyl ethers or PBDEs. These chemicals are used as fire retardants and are found in mattresses and other furniture. PBDE levels in people and the environment have been rising rapidly in recent years, particularly in North America, where the use of PBDEs is highest. In Europe, foods, especially fish, are thought to be a major source of exposure. But in North America PBDEs are much more prevalent in consumer products than they are in Europe. In Sweden, PBDEs have been banned.

You might be thinking that if these PBDEs were so dangerous, the EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) would know about them and do something. The fact is, they do know. Last year the EPA announced no new manufacture or import of these chemicals can occur without first being subject to EPA evaluation. No systematic monitoring of PBDEs in the bodies of US residents is underway, and no plans have been made to assess the risk posed by the millions of pounds of PBDEs that are already found in furniture and other consumer products in people’s homes. To be fair, the EPA has stated that they have not concluded that PBDEs pose an unreasonable risk to human health or the environment. Of course, they have also acknowledged there is evidence that these chemicals may cause liver toxicity, thyroid toxicity, and neurodevelopmental toxicity.

What can we do to protect ourselves and our children from these chemicals?

Get as much information as you can about how your household furniture is made and what chemicals are used in the process. You might consider using organic products that are naturally made with no harmful chemicals. We can never be completely safe from the many chemicals we’re exposed to on a daily basis, but we can reduce them significantly. We can look into the faces of our children and know that we are doing our part to keep them safe in an unsafe world.

Resources:

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency – Office of Pollution Prevention and Toxics; http://www.epa.gov

Northwest Environment Watch; northwestwatch.org

Author:

Shelly Platt

naturallygood.net

Article Source: EzineArticles.com/