What Lurks in Your Laundry?
Laundry Pure vs. Laundry Chemicals
By Lisa Turner
"Mountain fresh," "Spring rain," "Ocean breeze." These names of laundry detergents and fabric softeners sound gentle, safe, even comforting. But in spite of the clean-and-natural terminology, mainstream laundry products actually saturate your clothes in a wash of harsh, irritating and possibly toxic chemicals.
"What are the short- and long-term health consequences of exposure to these chemicals?" asks Jeffrey Hollander, author of Naturally Clean: The Seventh Generation Guide to Safe and Healthy, Non-Toxic Cleaning (New Society Publishers, 2005). "What happens inside our bodies when we come into contact with multiple chemicals from multiple sources at the same time? The fact is, we really don't know, since no government agency requires research to determine the safety of household chemicals."
Conventional laundry products contain a range of chemicals that irritate skin and eyes, trigger allergic reactions and asthma, damage the environment and may have harmful long-term effects. Scientists suspect that some of these chemicals cause cancer; others disrupt the endocrine system and interfere with the reproductive health of both humans and wildlife. But most of these chemicals haven't been tested for their long-term effects on humans. The reason is potentially harmful ingredients in laundry products enter the body primarily via inhalation or skin contact, not ingestion.
"Chemicals are generally tested for safety by feeding them to animals," says Theo Colborn, PhD, a leading researcher on environmental toxins and co-author of Our Stolen Future (Penguin USA, 1997). "So the dermal and inhalation effect of many chemicals has never been studied. Safety tests don't address the way we're usually exposed to chemicals: not by drinking them, and not in large quantities, but by touching them or inhaling the fumes in small quantities, in repeated doses, and over a long period of time."
We also come into contact with some of these harsh chemicals through residues left in clothing, towels, sheets and other washables. "Clothing is up against your skin all day, you lie under your sheets all night, you rub towels all over your body," says Karyn Siegel-Maier, author of The Naturally Clean Home (Storey, 1999). "There's a lot of exposure-and a lot of opportunity for irritation and harmful effects."
Dirty laundry
Experts suspect many ingredients in laundry products of causing long-term harm, as well as immediate and direct reactions, especially allergies and skin, lung, and eye irritation. Here are some dirty cleaning products to watch out for:
· Surfactants. These compounds, which create bubbles and suds in laundry detergents, carry such potential for harm that many European countries have banned them. The most commonly used surfactants, alkyl phenol ethoxylates (APEs), classify as endocrine disruptors. Scientists have linked endocrine disruptors with many adverse health effects, including decreased sperm counts and increased risk of testicular cancer. Especially dangerous to the developing foetus, these substances also may affect the urogenital tract and nervous system. What's more, experts suspect endocrine disruptors of "programming" the function of the uterus in the developing foetus, which can lead to infertility and cancer later in life.
Green alternative: LAUNDRY PURE which compliments the environment and human health.
· Chlorine. Found in laundry bleach and some detergents, chlorine irritates the lungs, eyes and mucous membranes. We inhale chlorine when we use bleach in a washing machine with hot water, because the vapor it forms is dispersed into the air and then into our noses; we also inhale a certain amount just by opening the bottle or box. Even at very low concentrations, bleach can trigger respiratory disorders, asthma attacks and even neurological and behavioural effects.
Green alternative: LAUNDRY PURE which makes hydrogen peroxide, which breaks down into water and oxygen, or sodium percarbonate, made by combining hydrogen peroxide with the non-toxic mineral silver, which brighten your whites as effectively as chlorine.
· Fragrances. The chemicals that give mainstream laundry detergents, fabric softeners and dryer sheets their fresh scent can irritate skin, cause allergic reactions, trigger asthma and harm the nervous system. Some ingredients used in fragrances are also known carcinogens. What's more, studies link the phthalates in some fragrances with malformations of the penis and testes in male infants. Phthalates quickly build up in indoor air, and exposure via inhalation can have serious health effects.
Green alternative: LAUNDRY PURE leave cloths with a natural clean fresh smell.
· Dryer sheets. Some of the chemicals that saturate dryer sheets (chloroform, camphor, and ethyl acetate, for instance) appear on the EPA's Hazardous Waste list and can cause nervous system disorders. And because dryer sheets enter the scene after the rinse cycle, the chemicals permeate clothing, sheets and towels, meaning we're exposed to them for long periods of time.
Green alternative: LAUNDRY PURE which make clothes soft and naturally fragrant.
· Optical brighteners. Chemicals that brighten or whiten fabrics coat the surface of fabrics with fluorescent particles that act like mirrors and reflect visible light. Many come from benzene, a highly toxic compound and carcinogen that harms wildlife and the environment and can cause allergic reactions when it comes into contact with the skin.
Green alternative: Our product, eco-H remove stains safely and effectively, (as a pre soak) and LAUNDRY PURE with hydrogen peroxide brightens clothes without harmful chlorine.
Cost Savings: if you do one load of laundry a day, and you're currently using conventional detergent, bleach, stain remover and dryer sheets, you're probably spending about $15 a month on laundry products. You are spending about $15 a month on hot water. Total hard dollars: $30 a month. When you factor in combining your regular whites and color cloths (reds & whites not recommended on first washing) in Laundry Pure vs. two separate washings there is both money and time savings. Perhaps the greatest savings may be the reduction of wear and tear of your clothes (as lint collected in the drier). Laundry Pure - based on your frequency of washing, the investment payback can be realized in as little as one or two years.
The best advice for healthier washing and drying is toss out the toxic surfactants, chlorine, perfume and brighteners and get a Laundry Pure. When you do your next load of laundry, it may be the first time your clothes, sheets, and towels will ever truly be clean.
Green alternative: LAUNDRY PURE which compliments the environment and human health.
If more information is needed or you would like to start experiencing the all natural benefits of your new Laundry Pure, Click the banner on the top right or you can call or email us and we would be more than happy to extend a 30 day money back guarantee to you and your family.
Next Page (Nutrition)