What the Experts are saying

Are we going clean round the bend? With the typical household containing over 60 hazardous products the answer is: probably.

Global pollution is a well-worn topic these days, but the hidden menace of "indoor pollution" is not so well known. Journalist Pat Thomas has been scouring the supermarkets and investigating thousands of personal hygiene and household products. Her shocking findings have just been published in "Cleaning Yourself to Death: How Safe is Your Home?"

Thomas believes that advertising hype deceives us into buying thousands of products that contain dangerous toxic chemicals. She says: "Because of their association with good hygiene, cleaning agents are the most deceptive of indoor pollutants."

"They can contain substances that can cause Cancer and alter brain functions. The awful truth is that when we rub these noxious chemicals into our skin, or inhale them during steamy showers, when we rinse our mouth or wash our clothes, dishes and floors with them, we are using hazardous waste to wash away simple dirt."

The statistics are chilling: some 30% of the thousands of chemicals used in personal care products have been deemed toxic. Random tests on 7,000 people discovered traces of such chemicals in over 70% of those tested.

Women who work at home have a 54% higher death rate from Cancer than those who don't.

Although manufacturers of toiletries have to disclose the contents of their products, there is no such obligation for household cleaning products. Thomas believes this is a scandal: "There is no basic safety information on 43% of all the chemicals in use today. Full safety information is only available of 7% of these chemicals and only 25% have full safety data."

Even where contents are labelled, long, complicated names such as methylchloroisothiazolone, which is used in hair and skin care products and is linked to skin cancer, only means something to chemistry students.

Ironically, what attracts us to so many of these products - the fragrance - is often the most toxic part of the cocktail. "The fragrance portion of laundry products and cosmetics is also the number one cause of allergies," says Thomas.

Asthma, Migraine and Depression are among the long-term problems linked to these toxic products.

Thomas is campaigning for clear labelling that spells out the true nature of the contents.

She told The Mirror: "It's the same old story. All you have to do is follow the money. We are talking about Billion Dollar industries. And these products are so easy to market because we are all so insecure about out cleanliness."

Why doing Housework can be a real killer.

New Research by an Irish Author shows that thousands of dangerous chemicals are lurking in domestic cleaning products, leading to increased Cancer risks and other dangers. (Report by Catherine Troy)

How many times have you heard a housewife complain that the housework is a killer? Well, according to new research, she could be right. A new book claims that thousands of householders could suffer anything from chronic ill health to early death because of toxic chemicals used in domestic and cosmetic products.

The research points out that fewer than a quarter of the 70,000 chemicals used in toiletries and cleaning products have been tested to their full safety level. Meanwhile, other products, which are officially classed as hazardous waste, are often found it baby lotions, eye drops and cleaning fluids, according to the new book "Cleaning yourself to death" by Irish author Pat Thomas.

The book also claims that women who work at home have a 55% higher death rate from Cancer than those who work outside the home - a statistic that Thomas argues is closely related to the increase in household cleaning products and toiletries.

"We spent 90% of our time at home, but some of the most toxic chemicals we come in contact with are not blown in through the window from some factory or a passing car," says Ms Thomas.
"They are bought in good faith in stores and supermarkets and brought back into our homes by us, in the form of everyday cleaning products."

According to Thomas, toiletries and cleaning products regularly include ingredients which contain carcinogens, hormone - disrupting chemicals and central nervous system disrupters.

"Chronic diseases are on the rise, respiratory problems such as Asthma and Bronchitis have doubled in recent years and vague disorders such as Sinusitis and Allergic Rhinitis are becoming major problems. Heart disease, Diabetes and Thyroid problems are on the rise and infertility of both males and females is becoming more common, as are other hormonally linked disorders."

One of the most dangerous chemicals, Thomas found, was Nitrosamine, a carcinogenic commonly used in baby and body lotions. "In the 1970's, Nitrosamine contamination of bacon and other cured meat became a worldwide public health issue," she said.

The book claims that lack of legislation has meant that chemical banned in other, more tightly controlled areas are still used in thousands of household products. "The evidence is that many of these chemicals have the potential to make us and our children very ill."

To date, no governmental research is available in Ireland on such products, but a survey of the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health in America found that out of 2,983 chemicals found in personal care products more than 30% were toxic.

Doctor Elizabeth Cullen of the Irish Doctors Environment Association expresses the same concern on domestic and cosmetic household products. Last October, she represented Ireland at "Spotlight on Chemicals" an International conference on toxic chemicals in consumer goods.

"When I attended this conference on toxic chemicals, I was shocked to learn that there are 100,000 domestic and cosmetic chemical products on the EU Market. And, only 4 of these chemical products have been officially assessed and labelled," says Doctor Cullen.

"There are toxic chemicals in everything from washing up liquid to face creams to cleaning products. Even the water we drink has hidden chemical components. These products can be damaging to our health, yet, we the consumer are not informed of the risks of buying and using such products.

"As consumers we are very powerful. But, we have to exercise our power. We have to demand detailed and labelled information on all products. We have to be informed of the risks involved in using such products. Then, and only then, will we see change. It is our money and it is our health. We have a right to make an informed choice on the domestic and cosmetic products we bring into our homes."

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Dust may help children avoid asthma and allergies

Homes Now Too Clean
Exposure builds up Immune System for later Protection - by Mary Vallis

House dust might protect children from developing Asthma later in life according to research published tomorrow in The Lancet, a British medical journal.

Scientists at the National Jewish Medical and Research Centre in Denver, COL., Have found that exposure to endotoxin - a bacteria commonly found in humans, animals and soil that sticks to house dust may help children develop an immunity to asthma and allergies, said Dr. Andy Liu, a paediatric asthma specialist and the article's principle author.

The study was based on 61 infants aged nine to 24 months who had suffered at least three wheezing spells. The children were tested for common allergies.

The researchers used a vacuum cleaner to collect dust samples from the floors, beds and couches and the babies' homes and measured them for endotoxin. The 10 infants who had allergies lived in homes that had less than half the endotoxin than found in the homes of children without allergies.

The researchers found that the bacteria may inhibit certain processes in infants' bodies that could lead to asthma and allergies, said Dr Liu. "There seems to be this reciprocal relationship in the immune system, where certain chemicals produced by the immune system are important and gear it up to fight infection," he said.

"Those chemicals also have this inhibitory effect on those mediators that lead to asthma and allergies."

Previous clinical studies have looked at the negative effect of house dust who are already suffering from asthma and allergies. This is the first time a positive link has been found between dust and the prevention of the disease in children.

Dr. Mark Greenwald, Vice-President of the Canadian Asthma Society, said the findings reinforce the "hygiene hypothesis, " which says our immune systems do not have a chance to develop normal responses to naturally occurring bacteria during childhood.

In increasing sterile urban settings - filled with anti-bacterial soaps and heavy-duty detergents - rates of asthma and allergies are on the rise. Asthma affects at least 15% of Canadian children and is the number one cause of visits to hospital emergency rooms.

"That new born immune system used to come into contact with all kinds of certain bacteria, and they don't come into contact with that bacteria anymore. Our milk is more sterile, our food is more sterile, our homes are more sterile - everything's more cleaned up. We don't play in the dirt anymore," said Dr Greenwald.

"When you see your kid out in the mud, the kid should be turning to his mother and saying, 'Don't worry. I'm just building up my immune system'".
Dr Liu said children of farmers also have better protection against asthma and allergies because of their increased contact with animals, which carry the endotoxin bacteria.

"We are often looking for what is harmful with this change in the urban environment, but it could be there is an environmental exposure that's protective [in the farm setting]," he said.

In February, Italian researchers reporting in the British medical journal said there was a much higher rate of asthma among those who came from extra-clean households.

With a five-year-old and new born son of his own, and a long history of allergies in his family, Dr Liu said he is not rushing to tell his family to stop dusting yet, but he does let his son play in the garden dirt.

Written by Pat Thomas - Author of "Cleaning Yourself to Death"
Independent write-up appeared in Proof Magazine - London UK - February 2002

What does it claim to do?
Energy Wipe is a system of micro fibre cloths used for household cleaning. The manufacturer claims that you can eliminate up to 90 per cent of household cleaning chemicals by switching to these types of cloths. They are super absorbent and can be used to clean even greasy surfaces without the aid of detergents.

Has it been tested?
To our knowledge, no micro fibre cloth has ever been officially pitted against detergent to see if it can do the same job as chemical cleaners. This is a pity because subjective experience with micro fibre cloths suggests that what Energy Wipe says on its promotional material is true. The company supplied us with many testimonials, a number of which were from car dealerships, who use the cloths to keep their cars shining like new.

Comments
Most household jobs don't require detergents because most households aren't that dirty. Consumer reports show that mopping down surfaces, including mirrors, can be most efficiently done with water, preferably hot water. The purpose of detergents is to bring more water in contact with whatever surface you're cleaning. Micro fibre does the same thing. Micro fibres are finer than human hair and have a superior absorbency. This means that the cloth has a greatly increased surface area, bringing more water into contact with the surface to be cleaned. Used as directed, most surfaces will be left both clean and dry.

Many manufacturers have jumped on the micro fibre gravy train. Your supermarket probably carries micro fibre cleaning cloths, but these are usually budget products with a low fibre count, good only for the simplest of jobs. In our experience, the best cloths are denser and more costly, and generally sold by independent distributors, like this one.

The Energy Wipe all-purpose cloth is a good-quality, thick, luxurious cloth well adapted to different types of cleaning. The Window-Wipe cloth is similar and effective.

If this product interests you either for your own use or to become an agent or distributor, just contact us.