Global News – Cleaners Contain Toxins

This just in today from Global News Edmonton –

Many cleaners contain toxins and some ‘green’ cleaners hide ingredients: report

Victoria Revay, Global News : Monday, September 10, 2012 4:47 PM

This quote confirms what I’ve known since 2008:

‘Industry Canada doesn’t require manufacturers to disclose all ingredients or warn consumers about the long-term exposure and chronic health and environmental hazards associated with these ingredients,…’

If you continue reading in the article (link below), it lists products that failed the grade.

Well, I’m here to tell you that Norwex makes cleaning easy! Norwex saves you money, time, health, and the environment. It does all this by cleaning with our special high quality microfiber and water. Yes, just water. Our microfiber can easily pick up oily and greasy foods and cosmetics off of surfaces. We also have organic cleaners like a safe oven cleaner and safe drain cleaner! You can learn more by reading my previous posts and clicking the link to the digital online catalogue. Get yourself some Norwex today!

Read it on Global News: Global News | Many cleaners contain toxins and some ‘green’ cleaners hide ingredients: report

Headaches from Cleaning Chemicals

It makes me so sad whenever I do a Twitter search of “cleaning chemicals”. Every time I search, I read of people getting headaches, sometimes massive headaches, from the cleaning chemicals they use.

Every time I read their unhappy tweets of suffering I want to let them know that they can avoid getting headaches from cleaning chemicals by switching to Norwex Enviro Products and water. I want to let them know that it actually does a better job at cleaning their surfaces and is the ultimate in green cleaning!

Norwex is so liberating!

Do you know how liberating it is to walk by the cleaning chemicals aisle and know you’ll never have to go down it again (let alone smell it)? Do you know how great it is to know that not a cent of your hard earned money is ever going down the drain again (literally) because your Norwex envirocloth does so much?

Do you know how great it is to avoid the discouragement that the mess on the floor could possibly make you run out of mop solution before you were planning on buying another bottle because you have the fabulous reusable Norwex Mop System?

Do you know how great it is to look at the toothpaste on the mirror without the dread of remembering to add that chore to the list because all you have to do is reach over and grab your Norwex window cloth?

Do you know the peace of mind of knowing there isn’t a single toxic chemical in the house for your baby to get into?

Using Norwex has been a liberating experience and has improved my quality of life! I hope you will choose  to experience the liberation of Norwex too!

Clorox and Sunlight not so Green

Two in one day, sheesh!

Although claiming to be Green, or environmentally friendly, both Clorox GreenWorks and Sunlight Green Clean contain petrochemicals with the Sunlight brand containing ~38% petrochemicals according to this CBC article: Some ‘green’ detergents contain petrochemicals.

SC Johnson Settles over Green Seal logo

It appears that big cleaning chemical companies are trying to ride the environmental wave by being fakers and posers. In this case, creating a logo to fool the customers into thinking their product is environmentally friendly.

You’ve got to love the pun – window cleaner…. transparent. Chuckles.

SC Johnson settles legal dispute over Green Seal Logo stating that they need to be more “transparent about what the logo signified”

Read more here: SC Johnson Removes Windex Green Seal, Settles Suit

The Dangers of Cleaning Chemicals

I used to believe that if it was on the shelf for sale, then it was safe – that someone had done the due diligence and tested the product and that there were laws protecting us.

The truth is that our laws in this area are old and that they only test for first-aid type hazards, not long term use type safety. Even if they started to do testing, we’re so far behind that it would take a very long time to catch up. We’ve created over 80,000 man-made chemicals not to mention the yearly parade of “New and Improved”.

I wanted to show a few of the cleaning chemicals that are commonly marketed to us but aren’t as innocent as we thought.

The great information below is quoted directly from the website of The Environmental Health Association of Nova Scotia.

All-Purpose Cleaner

Cleaners may contain ammonia, a strong irritant which can also cause kidney and liver damage, butyl cellusolve which is neurotoxic and rapidly penetrates skin, and ortho phenylphenol which is a severe eye and skin irritant. Many all-purpose cleaners contain DEA and TEA which can react with nitrites (added as undisclosed preservatives or present as contaminants) to form carcinogenic nitrosomines which readily penetrate the skin.  Many coloured products are made with carcinogenic coal tar colours.  Hormone disrupting parabens may be used as preservatives. Many cleaners also include fragrances and detergents. Alternative brands may contain d-limonene, a sensitizer which can also cause respiratory distress as well as liver, kidney and nervous system damage. D-limonene is a hazardous substance, although it is derived from a natural source.  We do not recommend it for frequent use.

Glass Cleaners

Most glass cleaners are made of ammonia, a strong irritant, and coal tar dyes. Some contain butyl cellusolve, a neurotoxin, alchohol, naphtha, and glycol ethers.  Some contain wax.  Aerosol products create small particles which are more likely to be inhaled or irritate eyes.

Bleach

The main ingredient in chlorine bleach is sodium hypochlorite (chlorine added to lye.) Chlorine is toxic as a skin irritant, and by inhalation. Sodium hypochlorite can create poisonous chlorine gas if mixed with ammonia (which may be an unlabeled ingredient in some cleaning products) or with vinegar. Workplace safety data sheets warn that sodium hypochlorite may be a neurotoxin and cause liver damage. People with chemical sensitivies report adverse reactions to minute quantities of chlorine. Sodium hypochlorite readily combines with organic matter to form organochlorines which are highly toxic to aquatic life.

Sink, Tub and Tile

Sink, tub and tile cleaners can contain ammonia and dimethyl ethylbenzylamonium choride, both strong irritants, ethylene glycol, a neurotoxin and reproductive toxin which may also cause kidney and liver damage, sodium orth-phenylpenol, a carcinogen and irritant, and trisodium nitrilotriacetate, a carcinogen.  Some brands use highly caustic chemicals like sodium hydroxide, sodium hypochlorite (bleach) and phosphoric acid that can burn eyes and skin.  Breathing vapours can burn lungs.

Conclusion

I didn’t want to make this an incredibly long post but I hope I’ve put enough to get you thinking about what you use to clean your home, office, and schools. I’m happy to be able to offer you solutions that are green, environmentally friendly, natural, alternative and responsible.

Stop suffering with cleaning chemicals

I did a quick immersion into the twitter stream to see what people were saying about cleaning chemicals. Here’s some of what I found:

• Head hurts (from inhaling the fumes)
• allergic reaction
• asthmatic reaction (needing inhalers)
• skin crawling
• hands burning
• feeling “high” (from inhaling fumes)

Some of the proposed solutions on twitter were:

• make your own chemicals
• use (smelly) vinegar and (gritty) baking soda
• steam cleaners (costs you electricity and doesn’t work in a power outage or camping)

I am here to offer you a better solution than smelly vinegar and gritty baking soda. With Norwex, all you need is water. No chemicals yet amazing clean! No nasty physical reactions. Dirt, goop  and germs are literally LIFTED off surfaces with the amazing Norwex Microfiber and water!