The theme of the National Poison Prevention Week is "Children Act Fast...So Do Poisons!" The Academy and the other members of the Poison Prevention Week Council urge parents to store harmful products out of their children's reach at all times or even better, avoid bringing them in their homes completely.  Young children's growing capacities are to explore and experiment. Thus, such natural curiosity can lead to poisonings when household cleaning chemicals or medications are within reach, and parents are not paying close attention.

We encourage you to use this month as an opportunity to make sure that children in your home are as safe as possible from poisonings and the harmful effects of breathing toxic household cleaners.

The air in most homes is filled with fumes from petrochemical solvents added to cleaners to dissolve dirt. Did you know that the average household contains anywhere from three to 25 gallons of toxic materials, most of which are in cleaners. No law requires manufacturers of cleaning products to list ingredients on their labels or to test their products for safety. It’s up to you to make sure your home is not only clean, but also nontoxic.

 

Unfortunately,when you shop at local stores, it isn’t easy to identify which products contain hazardous ingredients. While cleaners are the only household products regulated by the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission under the Federal Hazardous Substances Labeling Act, their sellers are NOT  required to reveal these products’ ingredients. These ingredients are considered “trade secrets,” so government regulations are actually designed to protect this proprietary information, not to protect human health or the environment.

When it comes to cleaners, the consumer has little to go on beyond the warning labels that manufacturers are required to put on their products and doing MSDS research on an internet search engine.  The labels DANGER, WARNING and POISON give only a very general idea about the seriousness of the unknown substances a product contains. In fact, a New York Poison Control Center study found that 85 percent of product warning labels are inadequate.   For example:

Typically, product label warnings apply only to a product’s immediate health effects; they don’t illuminate what happens when we use them over a long period of time. If you’re using common household cleaners, you’re likely to encounter the following chemicals (among many others), and the following effects, while cleaning:

• Chlorinated phenols found in toilet bowl cleaners are toxic to respiratory and circulatory systems.
• Diethylene glycol found in window cleaners depresses the nervous system.
• Phenols found in disinfectants are toxic to respiratory and circulatory systems.
• Nonylphenol ethoxylate, a common surfactant (detergent) found in laundry detergents and all-purpose cleaners, is banned in Europe; it has been shown to biodegrade slowly into even more toxic compounds.
• Formaldehyde found in spray and wick deodorizers is a respiratory irritant and suspected carcinogen.
• Petroleum solvents in floor cleaners damage mucous membranes.
• Perchloroethylene, a spot remover, causes liver and kidney damage.
• Butyl cellosolve, common in all-purpose, window and other types of cleaners, damages bone marrow, the nervous system, kidneys and the liver.
  
  The list could fill a book. And it’s a book that would include thousands of other chemicals — some so dangerous that they’re found on lists of chemicals associated with Superfund toxic waste sites and in the toxins section of the U.S. Clean Air and Water Acts.

To detoxify your mop closet for example, first rid it of cleaners that are toxic or that you suspect may be toxic.  Again, you can be sure of this by entering MSDS and PRODUCT NAME into any search engine.   IF the info says to wear neoprene gloves for any skin contact, or to use a respirator when breathing fumes, or that it must be disposed of following federal regulations if a spill occurs (because it's also toxic to the environment), you can be assured it's NOT the SAFEST Choice for your family OR the environment! 

More than 2 million poisonings are reported each year to the 61 Poison Control Centers (PCCs) across the country. More than 90 percent of these poisonings occur in the home. The majority of non-fatal poisonings occur in children younger than six years old. And, poisonings are one of the leading causes of death among adults.

National Poison Prevention Week, the third week in March each year, is a week nationally designated to highlight the dangers of poisonings and how to prevent them. However, every day people can and do prevent poisonings. We invite you to review the information on this site and become actively involved in helping ensure the safety of children and adults in your home and your community.

Remember we can choose to GO GREEN for our household necessity cleaners (saving money in the process), and we will be happy to help you do that or answer any questions.