The deceiving quality of the human body is an incredible ability to endure abuse. Just as eating fast food doesn't cause instant heart failure, failing to brush your teeth does not produce cavities overnight. Lighting up that first cigarette will not give someone lung cancer. But the delayed effects of the continued practice of such things? Such can prove costly.

This truth applies to your home as well. Ecologist Sandra Steingraber, in her book entitled "Living Downstream*", states that the majority of chemicals in use today have not been tested for carcinogenic (cancer causing) agents. What chemicals exist in your personal care and/or cleaning products? Do you have a toxin free, healthy home?

A trusted brand name on a product label doesn't mean it is the best choice for your family's well being. Chemicals linger in the air, do not decompose in the environment, and can be harmful even when absorbed through the skin. Read below and see what recognized sources such as the National Safety Council and the US Environmental Protection Agency are reporting:

Modern homes and building are built with tighter seals to be more energy efficient. Such new construction can lock in and recycle toxins in our indoor air, keeping us from having a healthy home. The EPA has even named indoor air quality a top concern for public health:

An Introduction to Indoor Air Quality | Toxins in the Home
Organic Gases (Volatile Organic Compounds - VOCs) | A report from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Washington DC

Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) are emitted as gases from certain solids or liquids. VOCs include a variety of chemicals, some of which may have short- and long-term adverse health effects. Concentrations of many VOCs are consistently higher indoors (up to ten times higher) than outdoors. VOCs are emitted by a wide array of products numbering in the thousands. Examples include: paints and lacquers, paint strippers, cleaning supplies, pesticides, building materials and furnishings, office equipment such as copiers and printers, correction fluids and carbonless copy paper, graphics and craft materials including glues and adhesives, permanent markers, and photographic solutions.

Organic chemicals are widely used as ingredients in household products. Paints, varnishes, and wax all contain organic solvents, as do many cleaning, disinfecting, cosmetic, degreasing, and hobby products. Fuels are made up of organic chemicals. All of these products can release organic compounds while you are using them, and, to some degree, when they are stored.

EPA's Total Exposure Assessment Methodology (TEAM) studies found levels of about a dozen common organic pollutants to be 2 to 5 times higher inside homes than outside, regardless of whether the homes were located in rural or highly industrial areas. Additional TEAM studies indicate that while people are using products containing organic chemicals, they can expose themselves and others to very high pollutant levels, and elevated concentrations can persist in the air long after the activity is completed.

For additional information from the EPA on this topic visit the EPA site: Indoor Air Quality

"As consumers, we buy more than a quarter of a million different household products that are used in and around the home...Each year more than 6,000 people die and an estimated 300,000 suffer disabling illnesses as a result of unintentional poisoning by solid and liquid substances. Children’s exposure to poison most often involves common at-home substances, like drugs, pesticides and cleaning products."

Each year more than 6,000 people die and an estimated 300,000 suffer disabling illnesses as a result of unintentional poisoning by solid and liquid substances. Unintentional poisonings can happen to anyone, at any time, in any situation.

Home unintentional poisonings, however, can be prevented. While child-resistant packaging has greatly reduced the number of fatalities among children under five years of age, parents, grandparents, and other caregivers must still be cautious. Following label directions for all products, including medication dosages, and proper storage of potentially toxic products are important precautions to heed.
Poisonings from solids and liquids such as drugs, medicines, poisonous houseplants, cleaning products, and pesticides caused 6,300 deaths in the home in 1998 alone. An additional 500 deaths in the home in 1998 were due to poisonings from gases and vapors such as carbon monoxide. These deaths are not all among children. Another age group at risk is adults age 25 through 44. Many adults are unintentionally poisoned when they do not follow label directions on medications or household chemicals.

Poisons in the home

"...this category contains dozens of products used around the home including toilet bowl cleaners, bleach, detergents, caustics (e.g., Drano™, Ajax™), pine oils and others. Although intended to keep our lives safe and healthy by maintaining a clean environment... these cleaners can destroy tissue on contact by acid or alkaline burns, by dissolving through tissue membranes, by absorbing through to the animal's bloodstream and causing generalized illness and a variety of other mechanisms."

Poisonous Household Products