So what exactly are these chemicals I'm talking about getting out of our house when I'm talking about going clean? So many of the products we use have ingredients that we just really don't want in our bodies, or at least not in the concentrations that end up accumulating in our bodies after days/weeks/months/years of use.
The top 7 ingredients to look out for are:
Formaldehyde - This is a preservative that is often seen in lotions, cosmetics, and baby wipes. It’s a known carcinogen and can cause skin and respiratory irritations.
Phthalates - These are a group of chemicals found in personal care products and many plastics and vinyls. They can affect your endocrine system, reproductive health, and even potentially cause cancer.
VOCs - Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) are gases that are emitted into the air. They’re found in some building materials, home and personal products, gasoline, and even things like glue and permanent markers. Breathing VOCs can cause eye, nose and throat irritation as well as difficulty breathing and nausea, even damage to the central nervous system and other organs. Some VOCs can even cause cancer.
Sodium Lauryl Sulfate (SLS) and Sodium Laureth Sulfate (SLES) - These are surfactants commonly used as an emulsifying cleaning agent in household cleaning products (laundry detergents, spray cleaners, and dishwasher detergents). In other words they keep things mixed up and help them create lather. Oftentimes they are synthetically derived and have the potential to cause skin irritation.
Ethanolamines (MEA, DEA, and TEA) - These are found in many household and personal care products and have been linked to organ system toxicity, bioaccumulation, and even cancer.
Triclosan - This is found in many antibacterial soaps, hand sanitizers, and detergents as well as some toothpastes, deodorants, cosmetics, plastics, and more. It can affect the thyroid and endocrine system and was recently banned by the FDA to be used in “antiseptic washes” but can still be found in some other products like toothpaste, cosmetics, and even clothing, kitchenware, furniture, and toys.
Fragrance - The word “fragrance” can appear on a label and contain an enormous list of ingredients that a company is not required to disclose, as it is considered a ‘trade secret.’ That means a product could contain some awful ingredients and the consumer wouldn’t even know! These chemicals could be linked to cancer, reproductive and developmental toxicity, allergies and sensitivities. Why take the risk?
These are just a FEW of the ingredients we want to avoid in all of our products. I was so disheartened to find a lot (in some cases all) of these ingredients in products we used everyday (sometimes multiple times a day). For me it wasn't a hard decision to want to stop using all of these products immediately, but we had to be logical, we couldn't throw everything we owned out and just buy new. But over time I have slowly replaced almost everything. I mix my own shampoo and hand soap, we've switched out the laundry soap, dish soap, all of our household cleaners.
Recently I've begun to clean out our food too. Next week I will look at the top ingredients to look out for in our food.
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