Unlike food and drink that we ingest, items that are topical/external use or household cleaners aren't regulated by the FDA and the companies that produce them are left to regulate themselves.
Need I say Wall Street?
Anywho. Of course I had to look up the stuff we have around the house. Most of our items were benign or of very little risk. Our "major offenders" were my beloved Comet, our Kirkland Dishwashing Detergent, and our Arm & Hammer Free & Clear Detergent.
Browsing the site myself I found that the most concerning risk factor for each product was the risk of cancer or reproductive toxicity. They also rated the items based on respiratory/asthma and skin allergies/irritation as well as environmental hazard levels.
Thankfully nothing we use has high concern (except for the skin irritation potential of my Comet) so I don't feel a panic-urge to toss our all our product and replace it immediately with friendlier items, but I am considering replacing them with friendlier items once we use what we have up.
Dr. Bronner's and Seventh Generation brands have great ratings and are relatively easy to come by as opposed to some of the smaller, super-clean brands the site rates highest-so that'll do.
The hubster also browsed Google on carcinogens for himself after I asked him late last night what he thought of it all and reading a little bit more was reassuring. Yeah, there are tons of chemicals out there messing us up but luckily it takes a long time for most of these toxins to harm us and they don't directly give cancer but can make it easier for cancer to crop up.
I'm not in a state of panic but I'm glad to know about these potential risks lurking in my house and I'm excited to try healthier options. It couldn't hurt and I bet it'll smell a whole lot better!
No comments:
Post a Comment
Thank you for reading and commenting!
Be well, HBF