November 2, 2015 by Ryan
What do nontoxic cleaning solutions have to do with Ninja Turtles and clowns? Bear with me…
When I was younger, like most kids, I had silly fears about bad guys and monsters in the closet or under the bed. For me, I was most terrified of Shredder from Ninja Turtles and then later on, after catching a glimpse of the horror movie, “IT” at a friend’s house, I became most afraid of that homicidal clown.
As a young man, I was probably really influenced by the media. Whether we were under a dark orange terror alert or it seemed every commercial airplane was falling out of the sky, I shared the irrational fears that many Americans have. If you listen to the headlines, a new study is coming out daily condemning some unexpected food or beverage as detrimental to our health (I mean really, is wine good for us or not?).
I’ve gotten older, I’ve realized that, statistically speaking, the greatest threats to my safety are probably heart disease, cancer, and car accidents in that order. So what can I do? Well I have always driven defensively and I always will. But what about the other two?
The truth is, we are all making choices everyday that add or subtract from our risk factors which may or may not lead to a major illness later on. Wow, that was a bold statement wasn’t it? I know, I know, but the truth is, it’s unscientific to say that any one behavior or lifestyle choice will lead to cancer or heart disease. Scientists can’t even say with certainty that cigarettes cause cancer!
That said we have bodies of research that show strong correlations between certain lifestyle choices and diseases later in life. Heavy drinkers are more likely to get liver disease and liver cancer and smokers are more likely to get lung disease (COPD) or lung cancer. Eating a diet full of animal fats, saturated fats and sugar has been linked to obesity and heart disease.
This is all information well known to the public. We hear about it all the time from our doctors and in the media. But there are other pieces to this puzzle that haven’t quite made their way into public conscious — Chemicals.
In our society today, it’s likely we are paying a price for our modern conveniences. Industrial chemicals are used in many of our household and consumer products and many of those chemicals have been researched and shown to be a risk factor. In other words, they are known carcinogens that increase our risk for cancers. This is one reason why it’s so important to use nontoxic chemicals whenever possible.
One well researched example is a compound known as Alkeylphenols which are industrial chemicals found commonly is household detergents and cleaning products. These chemicals are not the only dangerous compounds found in household products by any stretch, but they specifically have been linked with greater risk for breast cancer.
Researchers have found high levels of these chemicals in our homes, and even in our urine. The pleasant odor we associate with a newly cleaned home could be dangerous to our bodies, depending on the cleaning products we use.
This is just one example of many. How to do we know if these chemicals are found in the cleaning products we have at home? The simplest way to tell is by looking at the back label listing the ingredients. If you see several, long, chemical names that you’ve never heard of, you’re likely using a toxic cleaning solution.
What’s the answer? Using nontoxic chemicals! Luckily there are more nontoxic products available today than every before! But do your research. Many brands, such as Clorox, have cleverly rebranded themselves as “green” or “all-natural” while still containing bleach and other dangerous chemicals.
You can also make your own cleaning products at home. We will providing recipes on our blog in the coming months and we will also be experimenting with home-made nontoxic cleaning solutions in our home cleaning business – simplycleanoxford.com .