Safety Message to Parents, from
"Let's Stop Poisoning Our Children"
a booklet by Debra Lynn Dadd
As a parent, you do everything you can to protect your child's health and well being, don't you? Of course you do. You feed your children nutritious food, make sure they get fresh air and exercise, tell them to look both ways before crossing the street, and protect them from well-known hazards such as burns, electrical shocks, falls, and choking.
There is another hazard you may not be aware of: toxic chemicals that are present right in your own home. Scientists and doctors are discovering that there is a connection between our health and the use of common, everyday household chemicals. If yours is the typical home, you probably use dozens of cleaning and personal care products, purchased at the local grocery store, that contain chemical igredients that may be harmful to you and your children.
Since World War II, there has been a dramatic rise in the number of man-made chemicals we use in our homes. The typical home now contains over sixty-three hazardous products that together contain hundreds of different chemicals. At the same time, there has been an equally dramatic rise in the incidence of certain chronic health problems, expecially in children. More children are afflicted with asthma, learning problems, and cancer than ever before. I'll bet you personally know a child with one of these conditions. I certainly do. Research indicates that it is more than coincidence that the unprecedented rise in these various diseases has occurred in the same time period as the increased use of hazardous, man-made chemicals in our homes.
Your home is the #1 source of toxic chemicals
Because we spend 80% to 90% of our time indoors, and most of that at home, our own home is where we are most likely to be exposed to toxic chemicals. This is especially true for young children, who spend even more time indoors than adults and older children.
Why are our homes so toxic? In the last two decades - the same period during which childhood illnesses have increased - there has been an alarming increase of toxic chemicals in household products, and for the first time we have been sealing our homes for energy efficiency. Weatherstripping and caulking do an excellent job of keeping the air you have heated or cooled inside your home. But the lack of openings for air to escape also traps chemical air pollutants, resulting in a greater concentration of pollutatants indoors than out. EPA studies found that even in urban areas with high levels of industrial pollution the concentration of toxic chemicals was higher indoors than outdoors - in some cases ten, twenty, thirty, and even up to seventy times higher indoors!
Because we spend 80% to 90% of our time indoors, and most of that at home, our own home is where we are most likely to be exposed to toxic chemicals. This is especially true for young children, who spend even more time indoors than adults and older children.
Why are our homes so toxic? In the last two decades - the same period during which childhood illnesses have increased - there has been an alarming increase of toxic chemicals in household products, and for the first time we have been sealing our homes for energy efficiency. Weatherstripping and caulking do an excellent job of keeping the air you have heated or cooled inside your home. But the lack of openings for air to escape also traps chemical air pollutants, resulting in a greater concentration of pollutatants indoors than out. EPA studies found that even in urban areas with high levels of industrial pollution the concentration of toxic chemicals was higher indoors than outdoors - in some cases ten, twenty, thirty, and even up to seventy times higher indoors!
In 1987, the EPA undertook an ambitious program to identify and compare the urgency of environmental problems. The idea was that, with limited resources, the agency should be focusing on those pollutants that pose the greatest risk to society. Among the top hazards were those found indoors, including exposure to cleaning products.
Another study, conducted over a fifteen-year period, found that women who worked at home had a 54% higher death rate from cancer than women who had jobs away from home. The study concluded that the increased death rate was due to daily exposure to the hazardous chemicals found in ordinary household products. Obviously, the children in these homes were exposed to the same chemicals, with even greater risk for illness.
How Toxic Chemicals Affect the Health of Children
According to Philip Landrigan, M.D. of Mount Sinai Medical Center, the most pressing health issues for children today are:
- the rise of asthma
According to Philip Landrigan, M.D. of Mount Sinai Medical Center, the most pressing health issues for children today are:
- the rise of asthma
- the rise of childhood cancers
- the rise in central nervous disorders, Attention Deficit Disorder, and other learning disorders as the result of environmental neurotoxins
- the effects of endocrine disruptors.
All these are related to toxic chemical exposure in the home. Other common childhood problems that arise from exposure to toxic chemicals include birth defects and Suddent Infant Death Syndrome.
The Laws Don't Protect Us
Most of us believe that the government has laws that protect us from harmful products. Yes, there are laws, but they don't protect us very well.
Most of us believe that the government has laws that protect us from harmful products. Yes, there are laws, but they don't protect us very well.
Unfortunately, many products are assumed to be safe and are allowed to be sold in the marketplace without adequate testing. Of the 17,000 chemicals that appear in common household products, only 30% have been adequately tested for their negative effects on our health; less than 10% have been tested for their effect on the nervous system; and nothing is known about the combined effects of these chemcials when mixed within our bodies. It is only after the health of many consumers are affected that the government begins to look into possible health effects, and make regulations.
It would take a whole book to cover the safety and danger of every household product, so, for the purpose of this booklet, let's just focus on two of the most commonly used household products that are of particular danger to children: cleaning products and personal care products.
Toxic Ingredients in Personal Care Products
Personal care products are made to put on your skin, in your hair, or in your mouth. But many ingredients used in personal care products are also toxic and can be either ingested during use (like some ingredients in mouthwash and toothpaste), or can be easily absorbed through the skin into the bloodstream (like some ingredients in soaps, lotions, creams, cosmetics, shampoos, deodorants, etc.).
Personal care products are made to put on your skin, in your hair, or in your mouth. But many ingredients used in personal care products are also toxic and can be either ingested during use (like some ingredients in mouthwash and toothpaste), or can be easily absorbed through the skin into the bloodstream (like some ingredients in soaps, lotions, creams, cosmetics, shampoos, deodorants, etc.).
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