Eco Green Living Scary Statistics How Much Impact Do Toxic Chemicals Have on Society? Read these Statistics.
If you take a look at your cleaning solution you will note a warning “Harmful if swallowed”. Around 80% of the home poisoning is straight linked with the toxic chemicals. These are also harmful for environment. If sprayed in the house it also contaminates and pollutes the air in the house. These toxic chemicals and soaps kill the bacteria and they also get in the soil and later in our atmosphere, and pollute all of it. Therefore, you should buy cleaning agents that are non toxic and chemical free.
More than 7 million accidental poisonings occur each year, with more than 75% involving children under age 6! —The Columbia University College of Physicians & Surgeons
According to the U.S. Poison Control Centers, "A child is accidentally poisoned every 30 seconds at home..."
The Average American Uses about 25 Gallons of toxic, hazardous chemical products per year in their home... A major portion of these can be found in household cleaning products. —"Prosperity Without Pollution," by Joel S. Hirschorn and Kirsten V. Oldenburg, 1991
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Women who work at home have a 54% higher death rate from cancer than those who work away from home. The 15-year study concluded it was as a direct result of the much higher exposure rate to toxic chemicals in common household products! —Toronto Indoor Air Conference 1990
The toxic chemicals in household cleaners are three times more likely to cause cancer than air pollution. Environmental Protection Agency report in 1985 Cancer rates have increased since 1901 from only 1 in 8,000 Americans, to 1 in 3 today! By the year 2010, this disease will afflict 1 of every 2 individuals! —American Cancer Society
Of chemicals commonly found in homes, 150 have been linked to allergies, birth defects, cancer, and psychological abnormalities. —Consumer Product Safety Commission
Cancer rates have continued to increase every year since 1970. Brain cancer in children is up 40% in 20 years. Toxic chemicals are largely to blame. —NY Times, September 29, 1997
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When combined, chemicals are even more dangerous. Deadly fumes result from mixing ammonia with bleach (both found in many household products) creating lethal “chlorine gas”! MY COMMENT: Mind you, unless you're trapped this is easy to get away from... but it is dangerous. —U.S. Government, E.P.A.
According to the National Research Council, no toxic information is available for more than 80% of the chemicals in everyday-use products. Only 1% of toxins are required to be listed on labels, because companies classify their formulas as "trade secrets." —Lorie Dwornick, researcher, educator and activist, 2002
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In the past 50 years more than 75,000 chemicals have been introduced into the environment. Today 300 synthetic chemicals are found in the bodies of humans. Even newborn babies have synthetic chemicals passed on from their mothers. —REACH (Registration, Evaluation, and Authorization of Chemicals, a European Union program)
Unregulated air pollution has caused one in six children in the Central Valley of California to suffer from asthma. More than 5000 children in the San Joaquin Valley Air District are hospitalized each year for asthma. The death rate from respiratory diseases in the Imperial Valley -- at times more than double that of the rest of the state. Up to 2.2 million Californians suffer from asthma. —California's State Department of Health Services
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Nationwide, air pollution causes between 50,000 and 100,000 premature deaths per year – and soot accounts for a majority of these. Soot is the most deadly air pollutant, accounting for more deaths than homicides or automobile accidents. According to the California Air Resources Board, diesel soot accounts for 70 percent of the cancer risk from toxic air pollution statewide. —Earthjustice
The Washington (state) Department of Health discovered that one fourth of tested farm workers handling pesticides were overexposed to extremely hazardous chemicals. Carbamates or organophosphates can cause dizziness, breathing problems, muscle twitching, and paralysis. Scientists are discovering a whole universe of health effects associated with the products of our industrial age with profound implications for public health and regulatory policy. The continuous appearance of toxic effects at lower and lower levels of exposure is especially troubling since low-level exposure to some chemicals is practically universal. —The 2050 Project Newsletter, Fall 1994; State of the World 1994, Worldwatch Institute
More than 32 million pounds of household cleaning products are poured down the drain each day nationwide. The toxic substances found in many of these are not adequately removed by sewage treatment plants. Guess what happens when these are returned to the rivers from which cities draw their drinking water? —Spring 2002 Edition of CCA Newsletter Partners "Cleaning Without Toxic Chemicals"
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More than 75,000 chemicals are licensed for commercial use. More than 2,000 new synthetic chemicals are registered every year. The EPA tallied close to 10,000 chemical ingredients in cosmetics, food and consumer products. Very few of these chemicals were in our environment or our bodies just 75 years ago. In 1998, U.S. industries manufactured 6.5 trillion pounds of 9,000 different chemicals. In 2000, major American companies dumped 7.1 billion pounds of 650 different industrial chemicals into our air and water. Except in the case of foods, drugs or pesticides, companies are under no legal or regulatory obligation to concern themselves with how their products might harm human health. —Alexandra Rome, Co-director of the Sustainable Futures Group at Commonweal, a nonprofit health and environmental research institute, until 2000.
Within 26 seconds after exposure to chemicals such as cleaning products , traces of these chemicals can be found in every organ in the body. More than 1.4 million Americans exposed to household chemicals were referred to poison control centers in 2001. Of these, 824,000 were children under 6 years. A New York sanitation worker was killed in 1998 when a hazardous liquid in household trash sprayed his face and clothes. At any given time, there is 3.36 million tons of household hazardous waste to contend with in our country. —Chec's HealtheHouse, the resource for Environmental Health Risks Affecting Your Children
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In 1990, more than 4,000 toddlers under age four were admitted to hospital emergency rooms as a result of household cleaner-related injuries. That same year, three-fourths of the 18,000 pesticide-related hospital emergency room admissions were children. Over 80 percent of adults and 90 percent of children in the United States have residues of one or more harmful pesticides in their bodies. Petrochemical cleaning products in the home are easily absorbed into the skin. Once absorbed, the toxins travel to the blood stream and are deposited in the fatty tissues where they may exist indefinitely. —"In Harm's Way," a study by "The Clean Water Fund" and "Physicians for Social Responsibility" May 11, 2000
Moving Toward Eco Green Living
I have bad memories of cleaning the bathroom when my kids were small.
First I made sure they were a long way from the bathroom.
Then, I'd turn on the vent fan, hold my breath, close the doors and spray everything with those different noxious cleansers (at least three different ones), then get the hell out of the room.
I'd start to catch my breath, again, and wipe the streaming tears out of my eyes.
My nose hurt.
My eyes stung.
My lungs burned.
Then I'd go back inside that horror chamber, and spend 15 minutes cleaning all the sinks, counters, toilets, showers, tubs and floors. Along with all the other symptoms of chemical poisoning, my hands would be red and scaly for days. And rubber gloves were no use... I was allergic to the latex (ANOTHER TOXIN!). This was a long way from eco green living.
At least my kids didn't get subjected to ALL those poisons. However, they did get to wash in tubs and sinks that had residues of those toxins.
Why would I subject my family to all that?
I didn't know there were options. I thought I was just allergic. I might have sensed a deeper problem, but it never came forward into my consciousness until recently.
My first grandchild, Mateo, was born at the end of 2008. By then, I'd got clued in to the issues around toxic energies... and had found safer and healthier alternatives. I was determined that he wouldn't be subjected to any of those revolting household cleaners, personal care products, laundry products and medicine cabinet poisons.
His mother agreed. Both our households switched to the eco green living alternatives.
I want to tell you about those, plus the othe simple initiatives I have taken to live an eco green life.
I'm enthusiastic about eco green living, and am implementing strategies that will lead me closer to a truly eco-green home. Here's what I have done. Maybe this will inspire you to do more... or you can let me know what you are doing extra to this.
I call myself an Eco-Green Ambassador... a person who
advocates a greener lifestyle (this website and some Social Media initiatives)
takes action towards that (this page summarizes the actions I'm taking)
I hope I am moving closer to living Life-Substance, rather than lifestyle, and eco-green living is the "vehicle" I'm using.
I lived for 30 years in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada which has a world-class eco-green living philosophy and puts that into action in a BIG way. They collect
garbage, then recycle and compost
so the landfill volume is way down. I provide links to City of Edmonton sites in appropriate places.
I like the environmental mantra of reduce, reuse, recycle. To that I add one of my own, REJECT.
These are not really discrete categories... they blend and merge into one another.
REJECT
The need to reject a lot of our "lifestyle" became clear to me when my health started to seriously deteriorate about a decade ago.
It didn't take long for me to identify the chemical toxins in my home as the major cause, a real-life example of toxic energy.
I have rejected the use of traditional products in my house. things like
laundry products
household cleaners
personal care
first aid & medicines
In keeping with my overall toxic energy healing therapy strategy...
I got rid of the offending products, then
replaced them with new, benign, eco-friendly products that
functioned at least as well as the older chemicals
were safe to use, so my home was safer and healthier
were minimally impacting the environment, so I was helping heal our Earth
and, to my surprise, were saving me money on my household expenses
This was my first foray into eco green living.
I have a 25+ page report on the impact that toxic household chemicals have on your health, and some ways you can minimize those impacts. No-cost... see right column at top of page.
As I cleaned out all those noxious chemicals, I noticed that I had all kinds of household items that were of no use to me
pots and pans
food containers
linens
bedding
clothing
so I got rid of them by sending them to local charities who made good use of them. In a way, I was rejecting hoarding, but ALSO reusing and recycling... more strategies for eco green living.
Many of the cooking utensils I used were aluminum, and I rejected those. Luckily, they can be recycled in my city, so they don't go to landfill.
I am also rejecting items that are over-packaged... I buy concentrated items and things that are not wrapped in 14 layers of packaging.
Another step toward eco green living.
Which leads me into...
REDUCE
I am making a supreme effort to cut back on
my "toys"
my clothing
my use of private transportation
overly packaged products
I buy in bulk
I buy super concentrated products
I use my own shopping bags
I keep the house temperature lower during the winter and wear a sweater.
I have put in low energy light bulbs.
I buy energy efficient appliances... in the rare event where I need one.
I use the library far more and purchase fewer books.
I buy eco-green products, which I already mentioned in the "REJECT" section. This reduces the lethal impact on the environment, reduces toxins in my home, and reduces my household costs.
REUSE
The City of Edmonton has this to say about REUSE
... "Reuse means to use something again and again rather than only once. The goal of reuse is to keep using items as long as they have a function or value."
Here's what I've done...
cut up worn out clothing to use as cleaning rags
make used large envelopes into "file folders" for bills etc.
Fill in the form below to access The Household Dangerous Chemicals Report the first in the eco green living series of reports.
Why do I ask for your address information? Simple answer... Several of the "reports", brochures, and information packages I send (including a very detailed checklist) are in print form. I mail those to you.
When I took inventory on chemical sources in my house, I came up with 9 categories:
1. household cleaners 2. laundry products 3. personal care products 4. cosmetics 5. automotive products 6. gardening and lawn products 7. medicines 8. pet products 9. miscellaneous
My free report has an inventory checklist for each of those categories... so you can determine what potentially harmful products you are storing. It also includes some green living ideas for you to use.
