The human spirit needs places where nature has not been rearranged by the hand of man. ~Author Unknown
UPDATE ON PERSONAL CARE PRODUCTS
The personal care products challenge I gave myself last week continues. I have tried egg yolk facemasks, made a moisturizer out of beeswax and olive oil, used baking soda to wash my hair, apple cider vinegar as a conditioner and lemon as a deodorant. The baking soda is quite drying and the vinegar doesn’t really help with that, so I’ll keep experimenting with hair stuff! The moisturiser is lovely but maybe not for everyone, great for dry skin. What was interesting was the facemask. The eggs came from my own free-range chooks and the mask was literally just egg 2 egg yolks mixed up with a fork, applied to the face and left for ½ an hour. Pretty simple and effective, left my skin feeling soft and moisturized but I did, however, find the smell a bit weird! The lemon seems to work fine, mind you I haven’t been running or anything and its not the exactly the height of summer! I’m going to try some lemongrass essential oil; apparently you can mix a few drops with water in a spray bottle and use that as a deodorant. My theory is that if I start with basic recipes as I progress, ill try some of the more complicated ones. As for soap and hand wash I have been using up what’s left in the house, but I have tried soap nuts. You boil a handful in 2 cups of water and simmer for 10 minutes, then use the liquid for almost everything. I have used an old liquid honey bottle (yay for re-using!) and tried it as shampoo and hand/body wash. The results have been OK but I think I need to add some lavender essential oil for its natural antibacterial qualities and the lavender scent and find some way of thickening it up. The soap nut shop (1) suggests you add 1 to 2 teaspoon of either Guar Guar Gum or Xanthum Gum to thicken it but I don’t yet know what either of these are or where to get them so will have to look into it.
HOUSEHOLD CLEANING PRODUCTS
Week two’s ‘little green step’ is to do with household cleaning products. I was talking to my grandmother about this and she said when she was younger all that was really used for cleaning was a bar of soap. This was used for washing clothes, dishes, homes and bodies! But today we have a different cleaner for everything! Floor cleaner, glass cleaner, dish liquid or dishwasher power, toilet cleaner, disinfectant, bleach, oven cleaner, carpet cleaner, carpet deodoriser, spray cleaners of all kinds, furniture polish, not to mention odour removing, bacteria reducing, air sanitizers! Marked as antibacterial, whitening, streak free, hospital grade etc these products are going to help us achieve germ free, dirt free, sparkling, gleaming and sterile homes. Well great, but what else are they going to do??
So just like the chemicals from personal care products the chemicals from our cleaning products are entering our waterways. Chemicals from detergents such as alkylphenol ethoxylates or APEs have been found to persist in the environment. “APEs, which include nonylphenol ethoxylates and octylphenol ethoxylates, are surfactants, or "surface active agents" that are key to detergents' effectiveness. They are added to some laundry detergents, disinfectants, laundry stain removers, and citrus cleaner/degreasers. When discharged in municipal waste water, nonylphenol ethoxylates and octylphenol ethoxylates break down into nonylphenol and octylphenol, which are more toxic and do not readily biodegrade in soil and water. APEs have been shown to mimic the hormone estrogen, and their presence in water may be harming the reproduction and survival of salmon and other fish. For example, in Britain, researcher John Sumpter discovered that male fish exposed to APEs in rivers were producing female egg-yolk proteins. APE pollution may be threatening fish in the U.S. as well, for octylphenol and nonylphenol were the detergent metabolites that the USGS detected in 69% of streams tested…Such ubiquity may not bode well for humans, either: the APE p-nonylphenol has also caused estrogen-sensitive breast cancer cells to proliferate in test tubes” (3). And then there are phosphates. Phosphates are commonly used in cleaning products and detergents. Phosphates are naturally occurring mineral compounds and are mined from the earth. They are also in our bodies and are considered “nutrients…essential to human, animal and plant life” (4). Unfortunately not unlike the way we have misused and overused other naturally occurring earthly resources, the prolific use of phosphates has some terrible consequences for our environment. Phosphates in cleaning products are one source (although arguably small compared with farm run off) contributing to algae blooms, which kill water life and significantly degrade water quality. And “municipal sewage facilities not practicing phosphate removal can be a significant source of phosphates entering the environment.”(5).
One of the biggest differences between people today using all these products and the people of my grandmother’s mother’s generation is the amount of chemicals in our bodies. Greenpeace states “Everybody now carries as many as 300 industrial chemicals in their bodies that their great grandparents would not have had in theirs” (6). Other sources show, “Scientists estimate that everyone alive today carries within her or his body at least 700 contaminants, most of which have not been well studied (Onstot and others). This is true whether we live in a rural or isolated area, in the middle of a large city, or near an industrialized area. Because many chemicals have the ability to attach to dust particles and/or catch air and water currents and travel far from where they are produced or used, the globe is bathed in a chemical soup. Our bodies have no alternative but to absorb these chemicals and sometimes store them for long periods of time. Whether we live in Samoa or San Diego, Juneau, or Johannesburg, all our bodies are receptacles for a multitude of industrial chemicals. Wherever we live, we all live in a chemically contaminated neighbourhood” (7). So what impact is this having on health?
“Aerosol products- Aerosol propellants may contain propane, formaldehyde, a carcinogen, neurotoxin and central nervous system depressant, methylene chloride, a carcinogen, neurotoxin and reproductive toxin, and nitrous oxide . Products applied with aerosol sprays are broken into minute particles, which can be more deeply inhaled than larger particles, which may increase their toxic effect.
Ammonia - Undiluted, ammonia is a severe eye and respiratory irritant that can cause severe burning pain, and corrosive damage including chemical burns, cataracts and corneal damage. It can also cause kidney and liver damage. Repeated or prolonged exposure to vapours can result in bronchitis and pneumonia. Found in a wide range of cleaning products. Ammonia will react with bleach to form poisonous chlorine gas that can cause burning and watering of eyes, as well as burning of the nose and mouth.
Sodium hypochlorite (bleach) - A corrosive chemical, sodium hypochlorite is an eye, skin and respiratory irritant, as well as a sensitizer. It is especially hazardous to people with heart conditions or asthma, and can be fatal if swallowed. It may be a neurotoxin and toxic to the liver. Found in a wide range of household cleaners.
Sodium Lauryl Sulfate - Sodium lauryl sulfate (SLS) is used as a lathering agent. This chemical is a known skin irritant. It also enhances the allergic response to other toxins and allergens. The U.S. government has warned manufacturers of unacceptable levels of dioxin formation in some products containing this ingredient. SLS can react with other ingredients to form cancer-causing nitrosamines.” (8)
Chemical cleaning products have also been linked to asthma and other allergies. “Research has already proven that a young child's risk of acquiring asthma increases if their early life lacks viruses, bacteria and endotoxins (pathogen products)… This research, contained in the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC) of the University of Bristol of the United Kingdom, takes this theory one step further by suggesting that it is not merely the lack of bacteria and their products that lead to asthma and allergies, but in fact, the chemicals within household cleaning products.” So its both the lack of natural bacteria’s etc from children environments due to the use of chemical cleaning products and the chemicals themselves that are causing allergies. Commercial cleaning staff are also over-represented when it comes to allergies, especially asthma.
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