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JENNIFER MARTINÉ threw a party Thursday night, and her guests brought food, wine
-- and empty spray bottles. Using vinegar, baking soda, essential oils and
castile soap, they spent the evening making batches of natural household
cleaners. Martiné, 28, is one of more than 100 women who've signed up to host
so-called green cleaning parties across the country this spring, part of a
nationwide campaign led by
Women’s
Voices for the Earth, a nonprofit group based in Missoula, Mont.
Martiné's interest in green cleaning stemmed from reading that mopping agents
might harm her new puppy -- and coming home one day to find that her husband had
passed out while cleaning their unventilated bathroom. He had been using a
combination of products and had hit his head as he fell to the floor. He was
just coming to when Martiné, a food photographer, returned home to San
Francisco.
"It was really scary," she said. Her husband, Tyler, suffered no other problems,
but the incident had at least one lasting effect. "I definitely don't buy those
strong cleaners anymore," Martiné said.
Like her, a growing number of Americans are seeking so-called green cleaners --
products made with natural, nontoxic, biodegradable ingredients. Few consumers
may be going the straight DIY route, but sales of natural cleaning products
totaled $105 million during the last 12 months, up 23% over the previous 12
months, according to SPINS, a Schaumburg, Ill.-based market research and
consulting firm for the natural products industry.
Such cleaners make a variety of claims. Some promise that they contain natural
(instead of synthetic) agents, break down quickly in the environment or pose
less of a toxic threat to humans and ecosystems than do traditional cleaners.
Others say they're concentrated, packaged in recycled or recyclable materials,
have never been tested on animals or are free of specific chemicals, such as
petroleum distillates, phthalates, phosphates or CFCs. (Never mind that CFCs,
proved to deplete the Earth's ozone layer, have been banned for decades.)
Many of them also typically eschew known asthma triggers, common in many
household cleaners, such as chlorine bleach and ammonia. Studies of people who
work with cleaning products for a living have indeed suggested a link between
conventional cleaners and an increased risk of asthma and skin irritation.
So-called green cleaners rely on ingredients such as hydrogen peroxide to kill
germs and remove stains, as well as citric acid and alkyl polyglucoside, a
coconut-based detergent, to break down grease and dirt.
But critics caution that just because the ingredients in green cleaners are
plant-based or natural doesn't necessarily mean they're safe. They too can cause
skin irritation or trigger allergic reactions -- and in a large enough dose, any
ingredient can be toxic.
And though green cleaners may purport to list all ingredients, the market is
largely unregulated -- which means consumers still must be wary of what's in the
bottle. Even cleaning products labeled "natural" may contain some fraction of
synthetic chemicals. Or they may contain natural ingredients consumers would
rather avoid, such as petroleum distillates, some of which (namely, benzene) can
cause cancer, and all of which come from oil, a nonrenewable (read:
environmentally unfriendly) resource.
"This is not a regulated space," said Matt Kohler, brand manager for Green
Works, the brand of green cleaners launched by Clorox in January. "Any
fly-by-night company can take a drizzle of lemon oil, pour it over a vat of
chemicals and call it a natural cleaner."
Focus on risks to humans
To most shoppers, going green is as much about their own and their family's
health as about the health of ecosystems.
It hasn't taken scientific studies to prove that chlorine-based cleaners can
irritate the eyes, nose and throat and harm living things. (Chlorine is, after
all, employed for its ability to kill germs.) But concern about other
ingredients' effects has grown.
In the 1970s, several states, beginning with Illinois, enacted bans on
phosphates in laundry detergents. The chemicals, which help produce spot-free
glasses and dishes, cause algae to proliferate in lakes, streams, rivers and
other bodies of water, eventually depleting the water of oxygen and choking out
other marine life. Some states are now passing bans on phosphates in dishwashing
detergents too.
In 2006, Wal-Mart announced that it would avoid stocking products that contain
nonylphenol ethoxylates, or NPEs. The surfactants, or foaming agents, often
found in detergents and other cleaning products, have been found to cause
reproductive defects, liver and kidney damage, and death in fish and shellfish.
In Canada and the European Union, but not in the U.S., regulations limit the
chemicals' use in cleaning products.
A variety of other chemicals are now drawing attention for their potential to
harm not just ecosystems but human health too. Environmental activists have
singled out such common cleaning ingredients as phthalates, volatile organic
compounds (VOCs), glycol ethers, quaternary ammonium compounds and ethanolamines.
For most of these chemicals, solid evidence of human health effects is only just
emerging.
In the case of phthalates, evidence has been strong enough for lawmakers to take
action. The class of chemicals, widely used in the plastics industry to make
plastics soft, are added to conventional household cleaners (as well as
cosmetics, bath soaps and shampoos) to help the products retain fragrance.
Researchers at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have demonstrated
that most Americans have detectable levels of phthalates in their blood and
urine, and preliminary findings have linked high bodily levels of phthalates to
sperm damage in men and reproductive defects in newborn boys. The evidence
persuaded California legislators to ban the chemicals from children's toys,
beginning next year.
The health effects of VOCs, volatile gases emitted by many cleaning products (as
well as paints, markers, building materials and other products), have also come
under scientific scrutiny. The solvents can irritate the nose and throat and
cause dizziness, and long-term exposure may have more lasting effects. A handful
of well-designed studies suggests a correlation between exposure to VOCs and an
increased risk of asthma or other respiratory problems. In one, a study of more
than 950 U.S. adults, published in Environmental Health Perspectives in 2006,
high blood levels of 1,4-dichlorobenzene, a VOC found in air fresheners and
deodorizers, were associated with measurable decreases in lung function.
But other chemicals targeted by environmental advocates -- solvents called
glycol ethers, the disinfecting quarternary ammonia compounds and detergents
called ethanolamines -- have been shown to pose risks only to people who work
with high doses of the chemicals for long periods.
Cleaning for a living
In fact, most of the evidence suggesting that cleaning products may pose harm
comes from studies of people who clean for a living.
Researchers at the National University of Singapore published results in the
American Journal of Industrial Medicine in 1994 showing that people employed as
cleaners had nearly twice the risk of asthma as people in other professions. A
study of more than 15,000 working adults in Europe, published in the Lancet in
1999, found a similar increase in asthma risk among professional cleaners. A
study by researchers at the Finnish Institute of Occupational Health, published
in the European Respiratory Journal in 2002, found that professional cleaners
were 50% more likely to develop asthma than administrative professionals.
Such studies included people who cleaned streets, chimneys and factories --
admittedly dirty, hazardous environments. Professional cleaners working in
factories or institutional settings also tend to use industrial cleaners, which
are more highly concentrated and stronger acting than household cleaners.
Nonetheless, researchers at Barcelona's Municipal Institute of Medical Research
have produced evidence suggesting asthma rates are increased among people who
clean homes for a living too.
In a paper published in the Scandinavian Journal of Work, Environment and Health
in 2001, the Barcelona researchers reported that housecleaners were roughly
three times as likely to have asthma, compared with office workers. In 2003,
they reported that women who had been employed as domestic cleaners were twice
as likely to have asthma, compared with ones who had never been employed as
cleaners.
In a 2005 report, the researchers showed that frequency and severity of asthma
symptoms in housecleaners was directly correlated with how much bleach they
used, though they could not rule out whether other chemicals in cleaning
products they used contributed to their symptoms.
People who clean for a living are exposed to such a variety of combinations of
chemicals (not to mention dust) over such a long period of time that's it's
nearly impossible for studies to pinpoint the cause of symptoms -- or to link
them to individual chemicals.
That challenge is precisely what has some critics of the cleaning products
industry concerned.
Figuring out which chemicals are safe, and at what levels, is a "highly
imprecise science," said Arthur Weissman, president and chief executive of Green
Seal, an independent organization that certifies environmentally responsible
products and has helped Los Angeles County and the state of California draft
green purchasing policies. "We just don't know that much about how chemicals act
in the environment and in our bodies," he said.
Long-term concerns
The gap in scientific understanding stems from the fact that chemicals included
in consumer products are studied for their immediate toxic effects, and they're
often studied in isolation. In reality, however, chemicals -- such as those in
cleaning products -- are used in a variety of combinations, and people are often
exposed to low doses over long periods.
"We're not saying these cleaning products are going to kill you tomorrow," said
Alexandra Gorman Scranton, director of science and research for Women's Voices
for the Earth. "We're concerned about the long-term and cumulative effects, what
happens when you add all these chemicals together over a lifetime."
Others are concerned that even limited evidence of toxicity suggests some
chemicals in cleaning products may be particularly dangerous for kids, who spend
a lot of time crawling on floors and placing hands and toys in their mouths.
But industry representatives are quick to point out that health problems occur
only when cleaning products aren't used or stored properly -- and that the
toxicity of any chemical is determined by its dose.
"This stuff isn't meant to be eaten, or drank, in any case," said Brian Sansoni,
vice president of communications for the Soap and Detergent Assn.
Still, said Deborah Moore, executive director of the Berkeley-based Green
Schools Initiative, "if you have kids, why expose them to a chemical that might
be toxic if you don't need to?"
Heeding such consumer concerns, makers of natural cleaning products have swapped
out petroleum-based foaming agents for plant-based ones, traded chlorine for
hydrogen peroxide and opted for citric acid, tea tree oil and pine oil instead
of synthetic disinfectants.
Mrs. Meyer's Clean Day products, for example, contain ingredients derived from
corn, sugar cane and coconut in place of synthetic solvents , petroleum
distillates, bleach and phosphates. Seventh Generation makes a bathroom cleaner
that relies on hydrogen peroxide instead of chlorine for stain removal, and
Method's all-purpose cleaner relies on soda ash to break down grease and oil.
No standards set
But just because a cleaning product is biodegradable and made from plant-based
sources doesn't mean it's without its own potential adverse effects on health.
"Certainly many natural chemicals are toxic too," Weissman said. Plant-based
ingredients included in some green cleaners include limonene (a citrus-based oil
that helps prevent residue build-up), pine oil and the foaming agent coconut
diethanolamide -- all of which can cause allergic dermatitis.
And in March, a study of natural and nontoxic consumer products, commissioned by
the watchdog group Organic Consumers Assn., found the suspected cancer-causing
chemical 1,4-dioxane in roughly half of 100 tested products -- including several
dishwashing liquids with words such as "Earth friendly" and "eco" in their brand
names. The chemical is a byproduct of a process that uses petroleum-based
chemicals to make detergents less harsh.
"It's really confusing for consumers to try to understand the claims of these
products," said Moore, whose Green Schools Initiative has helped several
California schools buy greener cleaning products. "You need a PhD to go to the
supermarket and understand the labels on products."
The problem, critics say, is that labeling in the cleaning products industry is
highly unregulated. The use of terms such as "green" and "natural" is monitored
by the Federal Trade Commission, which aims to ensure that such terms are not
misleading to consumers. But neither the commission nor any other agency sets
standards that products must meet before they can call themselves green.
" 'Green' and 'natural' are marketing terms -- they're not terms of science,"
Sansoni said.
Cleaning product manufacturers -- green or otherwise -- are also not required by
law to disclose all of their ingredients on their labels. Some green cleaner
makers say they have disclosed all ingredients -- but there's no way for
consumers to be certain that they have.
Consumer advocates therefore have pressed for stricter labeling rules, but the
industry has resisted, arguing that long lists of ingredients would create a
potentially hazardous distraction on product labels. "The safety and usage
information is the most important information on a product label," Sansoni said.
"If you try to turn the label into an encyclopedia, you obscure the most
important information on there."
Proponents of greener cleaners, such as Weissman, say that if cleaning products
didn't include potentially dangerous ingredients, such warnings wouldn't be
necessary.
For now, green cleaning product manufacturers can opt to be certified by a third
party, such as Green Seal or the Environmental Protection Agency's Design for
the Environment program.
Some say these certifiers don't do enough to protect consumers. "There are
different shades of green," said Deirdre Imus, wife of radio jock Don Imus, who
has created a line of cleaners. She said that some certifiers will give their
approval to products containing chlorine or petroleum-based chemicals, with
labels that don't disclose all ingredients.
That pitfall isn't lost on Martiné, who's now cleaning her kitchen sink with a
homemade baking soda scrub.
"It worries me that companies are doing the green thing just to make money," she
said. "I'm excited to make my own cleaners, because then I'll know exactly
what's in them."
Comments:
Easy Substitutions For Healthier Living
These suggestions are listed from most healthy to acceptable. Don’t try to change foods all at once. For instance I changed from regular spaghetti noodles to rice noodles and then months later to spaghetti squash. This way you don’t have any family revolts. If your current selection is not listed, you shouldn’t be using it! It should go without saying get organic if you can. NOTE: USDA organic is not really organic! Make sure your foods are certified by QAI or Oregon Tilth. They are the most reliable. If you have any questions please call 1-800-592-8121
I am often told "eating healthy is to expensive". With adjustments it is the same or less expensive. You save a lot of money not using chemicals to clean. Also Walmart, Sam's and Costco now carry some organic products like Muir Glen and Cascadian Farm. Look around at your favorite stores each time you are there, stock changes almost daily.
Important Note: Consider Whole Foods brands and 356 as last resorts, even if marked organic. They buy alot from China or other places that cannot be marked organic. The value is very poor.
Cooking Utensils:
Pots: ceramic (corning ware) , ceramic coated, glass (Pyrex) , cast iron, steel
Food Storage: glass, ceramic
Plates: ceramic, glass
Cups: glass, ceramic
DON’T USE PLASTIC OR STYROFOAM SILVERWARE, CUPS, OR PLATES
Foods:
White Sugar: Stevia, 100% pure Grade B Maple Syrup, Raw Local Honey, Succanat
DO NOT USE ARTIFICIAL SWEETENERS: SPLENDA (Sucralose) NUTRASWEET (aspartame) ASULFAME-K etc
Bread: Don’t eat any! Sprouted grain (Ezekiel), rice crackers, gluten free breads, wraps
Pasta: spaghetti squash, You can serve alfredo or spaghetti sauce with extra broccoli! rice noodles
Cereal: Don’t eat it! Make smoothies, eggs, leftovers, Rice based if you must have it
Potatoes: Make Fauxtatoes, sweet potatoes/ yams
Brown Sugar, molasses, Succanat
Soda/Kool-Aid etc..: Fruit flavored tea and stevia, Celestial Seasons instant Tea Zingers, Juice raw fruits like lemons and use stevia or grade b maple syrup. If you must drink Kool-Aid get the new clear kind and sweeten with stevia. Tip: Buy Sparkling water and add 2 packets of Celestial Seasons instant Tea Zingers for a great tasting natural soda or add organic juice concentrate or flavored stevia
Tap Water: distilled, reverse osmosis, filtered
Milk: raw organic goats or cow milk, almond milk (Don’t drink grain based or soy) rice, Pasteurized organic.
Oil: Coconut, Olive, Safflower, almond, walnut, truffle, sesame Do not use canola or Enova (vegetable oil is soy)
Condiments: Braggs Amino's, organic versions of your favorites, Safflower Mayo (If you can’t make home made olive),
Spices: Fresh Grown Organic, Spike, Organic versions, essential oils, fresh non-organic,
Coffee: Tea, Organic fully caffeinated, Organic Decaf , Fair Trade
Tea: Fresh and Dried organic, bulk organic, Organic, celestial seasonings, Tazo or other natural brand
Juice: Avoid as much as possible unless freshly juiced organic, 100 % organic juice, organic juice concentrate
Cookies: Macaroons, dried fruit, or Gluten Free organic, gluten free, homemade with natural ingredients
Cake: (for special occasions) Namaste mixes, Better yet, make homemade cheesecake using Ezekiel cereal crushed and stevia to sweeten the cheesecake you won't believe how good this is. Organic Mixes, Homemade with natural ingredients
Syrup: grade b Maple syrup, raw local honey, 100% fruit juice sweetened organic jelly, Non GMO jelly, other fruit juice sweetened
Salt: Flour de Sal, Celtic sea salt, sea salt not iodized
Meat: grass fed buffalo; natural buffalo, Free range grass fed organic beef, natural beef, free range organic chicken or turkey, organic chicken, smart chicken, natural chicken, organic lunch meat, Hormel Natural Turkey ( No Pork)
Hot Cocoa: Make your own with Stevia and cocoa powder, or honey or organic mix, natural mix
Starch: Yucca starch, kudzu root, tapioca starch
Baking Powder: Rumford or Featherweight, other aluminum free
Baking Soda: Get aluminum free
Jelly/Jam: 100% fruit juice sweetened organic jelly, Polaner
Canned Fruits or Vegetables: Organic Fresh, organic frozen, organic canned, farmers market
Chips: Fresh veggies, nuts, rice chips, nana banana dehydrated snacks
Nuts: Organic raw walnuts, almonds, pecans, hazel nuts, other organic nuts, natural brands
Seeds: Organic raw flax, sesame, sunflower, pumpkin, lightly toast and Sprinkle with Spike, natural types
Body Care:
Toothpaste: Coral White or other all natural fluoride free
Deodorant: Bella Mira Essential Oils, other natural no aluminum or propylene glycol, deodorant (no antiperspirant)
Shampoo: Bella Mira Magnetic, Giovanni Magnetic, Dessert Essence, Answers From Nature,
Conditioner: Bella Mira Magnetic,, Giovanni Magnetic, Dessert Essence, Answers From Nature, other natural check all ingredients
Feminine Products: glad rags or other organic reusable, Natracare, Seventh Generation, Organic, Deodorant Free
Hand Soap Liquid: Castile and FCO add your favorite essential oils, Mrs. Meyers, other natural check all ingredients, Non Antibacterial Tip: Save Money by using our foaming pump!
Bar Soap: Blue Cloth, Dr Bronners, Natural, Non Antibacterial
Mouthwash: Make your own with 1/3 peroxide, 1/3 water and Peppermint, Cinnamon, Clove, or other Essential Oil
Hairspray: Giovanni, other natural
Facial Wash: Blue Cloth, Castile, Jason, Other natural,
Moisturizer: Bella Mira, Aged Spot Free, Fractionated Coconut oil, other natural
Toner: Bella Mira, Add Vial to distilled water and add a few drops of lavender, rose, cherub or your favorite essential oil and mist face after cleaning, rosewater,
Makeup: Larenim, Bare Escentuals (Bare Minerals), Eco Bella, Gabriel,
Hair Dye: Henna, Naturcolor, Clairol Hydrience, Natural Brands
Shaving Cream: Use Bella Mira Magnetic Moisturizing Conditioner, or other chemical free product
Baby Bottles: Glass with rubber or vinyl (clear) nipples
Diapers: Cloth using laundry ball and peroxide bleach (sun oxy or non toxic green brand) and borax, never use chlorine bleach, seventh generation or other bleach free bio-degradeable disposable.
Baby Wipes: Make your own or seventh generation, other biodegradable perfume free chemical free brand
Baby Formula: breastfeeding, make your own, or organic non- soy or non grain gluten free
Baby Food: Make you own organic, store bought organic, homemade non -organic,
Cleaning:
A Good Quality Steamer cleans everything! And Miracle Cloths often clean with just water!
Dish Soap: Seventh Generation, Other Chemical Free or organic
Laundry Soap: Laundry Ball, Organic Excellence, other natural, Quixstar sa8
Softener: You won’t need it with the laundry ball, Seventh Generation, other Natural
Carpet Shampoo: Organic Excellence, Citrasolve, Woolite Oxy
Mopping: Steamer, Organic Excellence, Citrasolve, other natural, Murphy’s oil soap
All Purpose Spray: Miracle Cloths, Organic Excellence, Citraspot, Home made
Window Cleaner: Miracle Cloths, Chem. Free Window Cleaner, Steamer, Vinegar and Water
Disinfectant/ Deodorizing Spray: Vinegar and water (50% each) with 20 drops Purifying, Marauder, Nightingale, or other disinfecting Bella Mira Essential Oil, Natural Brands, Oxy clean,
Bleach: DON’T USE
Mold Cleaner: Baking Soda with vinegar, water and Bella Mira Essential Oils, Woolite Oxyclean Spray