Guest post by Kasey Ciesiensky
Did you know the air inside an average American home is more polluted than the air outdoors?!
This is just a bit disheartening, to say the least, seeing that our home is where our family spends the majority of their time. But why? What makes the air so polluted?!
Household cleaners are a big culprit of our homes’ polluted air. The average household cleaner contains about 62 toxic chemicals. A lot of these chemicals are released into the air when you use them. According to the American Lung Association, they contribute to chronic respiratory problems, allergic reactions, and headaches. Moreover, a recent study found that women responsible for cleaning at home or professionally suffered a more rapid decline in lung function than women who did not clean on a regular basis. In fact, cleaning only once a week had the same effects as smoking a pack of cigarettes a day!
3 Cleaner Ingredients to Avoid
1 Fragrance – When you see this word, it is usually referring to a synthetic fragrance, which can contain a mixture of hundreds of chemicals, which can cause a variety of respiratory, dermatological, and neurological problems. For a more in-depth look into the fragrance industry, there’s an excellent Netflix documentary called “Stink!”
2 Phenoxyethanol – Phenoxyethanol a synthetic preservative that is used to limit bacterial growth. Known risks associated with phenoxyethanol are allergic reactions; skin, lung and eye irritation; and neurotoxicity.
3 Methylisothiazolinone – Methylisothiazolinone is another synthetic preservative. It is a known toxicant and allergen. Lab studies on the brain cells of mammals also suggest that methylisothiazolinone may be neurotoxic.
So what’s a mama to do??
DETOX YOUR CLEANING CABINET: Start getting rid of the conventional cleaners you have in your cleaning cabinet. You can do a one-day purge or start more slowly by using up what you have, then throwing it away.
START USING ALL NATURAL CLEANERS
You can buy them or simply make your own. If you buy one, make sure you know every ingredient in that cleaner, so that you know what’s going into the air in your home every time you spray down your countertops. BE AWARE: Even so-called “green” cleaners can contain not-so-green ingredients, which is called “greenwashing.” Make sure to read the label on any store-bought cleaner. If there’s an ingredient you can’t pronounce or have never heard of, google it. Or visit the EWG’s Healthy Guide to Cleaning for more information on ingredients and cleaners.
Happy and Healthy Cleaning!
Kasey Ciesiensky, aka Red, is a homeschooling mom of four that has been researching “green” cleaning, lifestyle and essential oils for over 8 years. She loves learning and keeping up with the latest news and products that have to do with living a healthier and more natural lifestyle. She is the founder and CEO of Red’s Gone Green, a company that handcrafts deliciously fragrant all-natural cleaners.
