Is Your Home a Healthy Home?

Most people think the chemicals in consumer products are thoroughly tested for human safety,  However, the majority of applications to the EPA for new chemical productions are submitted without any data on toxicity whatsoever. 

 Under the Toxic Substances Control Act, companies are companies are permitted to develop and manufacture new and existing chemicals without performing any studies to determine their effects on people or the environment.

 These improved, new chemicals are being developed at a fantastic rate. On average, seven new chemicals are approved every day.  It seems surprisingly simple to put a new chemical on the market. 

The U.S. government approves 80% of applications for a new chemicals, and eight of every ten new chemicals were approved in less than three weeks.  How are chemicals approved for use without any data pertaining to safety?  In these cases, the government utilizes computer models that estimate whether a chemical will be harmful to humans or to the environment.

A variety of potentially dangerous ingredients are probably lurking in products you use every day.  According to Dr. Samuel Epstein, Founder and Chairman of the Cancer Prevention Coalition, mainstream cosmetics and personal care products contain about 80 known carcinogenic ingredients. 

The U.S. General Accounting Office (GAO) has identified more than 125 cosmetics ingredients suspected of causing cancer.  In addition, the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health found that 884 of the chemicals available for use in cosmetics have been reported to the government as toxic substances.

They wouldn't sell it if it wasn't safe .... would they? 

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Did You Know ...... Disturbing Facts

Why aren't manufacturers required to test these chemicals?

The U.S. government has very limited power to regulate manufacturers or require testing of their products.  The reason has to do with economics and politics.  It takes dozens of years and hundreds of thousands of dollars to fully test one chemical.  If the government were to require every manufacturer to test every product and prove that it is safe, many manufacturers would be forced to go out of business, and our products would cost about twice as much as they currently do.  Besides, who do you think they would test these chemicals on anyway?  That's right ..... animals.

All this would cause a lose-lose situation for politicians,  Manufacturers would be angry at them for imposing the expensive testing.  And the public would be angry at them for requiring manufacturers to torture and kill all those animals, and for driving the prices of household products through the roof!

Even if a chemical has been tested and found to be harmful, you still may not get the truth from a manufacturer.  Just look how long it took the tobacco industry to finally admit cigarettes are addictive and cause cancer.  Do not wait for any company to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars to confirm that their product definitely causes cancer.  Let's exercise our rights as informed consumers and choose manufacturers who make products with safe, more natural ingredients.

Which products?  Which Chemicals?

Chemicals that can cause death, cancer, central nervous system (CNS) disorders, learning disorders, birth defects, respiratory illness, and many other health problems appear in most of the cleaning and personal care products in your home.  It may be difficult, however, to tell which health risks a particular product poses.  Since manufacturers do not list long-term health effects on the packages and are not required to list the ingredients, it's impossible to learn all the health risks by reading the label.

Chemicals in Cosmetics - A Source of Controversy

Is hair spray bad for your health?  Could that body lotion, perfume, nail polish, or deodorant you've been using lead to liver, lung, and kidney damage or cause birth defects?  A Washington D.C. environmental advocacy group says yes.

According to "Not Too Pretty," a report released by Health Care Without Harm, a number of everyday cosmetics contain toxic chemicals called phthalates.  Phthalates are used to make plastics more flexible and are commonly found in beauty products.  In a 1999 sample study of 290 people of all ages, the CDC found that some women between the ages of 20 and 40 had 20 times more dibutyl phthalate - a phthalate used in beauty products - in their system than the average person.

You will find a short list of product types and general comments about possible health risks below.  Of course, every product is different.  Even the same product's ingredients can vary from batch to batch depending on the cost and availability of certain chemicals.  The following lists of cleaning supplies and personal care products are by no means exhaustive.  The possible health effects do not apply to every single brand.  However, based on examination of many grocery store brands, chemicals in the following products cause the listed health problems: