Your clients may be happily about to settle into their new home. You did a great job helping them get there. Howeever, you can do one more thing for them. Help them get the toxins out of their homes. You wouldn't expose your family to toxic products but your clients may be doing just that!
Did you see the article in USA Today that talked about toxic chemicals in baby products? Most people are generally pretty trusting by nature. Even those of us that consider ourselves to be "skeptical" often go along our daily lives and routines without questioning that which we think we know.
A perfect and normal example of this is shopping at the grocery store. Over the years consumers have started to notice that just because something can be purchased off the grocery store shelf does not necessarily mean it is good for us. As we have slowly started to read labels, we have learned that things like excess sodium, sugar, chemicals and trans fats are not healthy choices. As a result, we are demanding different selections. Manufacturers know that and have started making some changes by providing items that are labeled "Healthy", "Light", "Low-Fat", etc. Of course, things are still not always as they seem so educating ourselves and continuing to read the actual ingredients is crucial.
Scrutinizing what we ingest is important but what about the items that we consume through other senses like touch and smell? The skin is our largest organ yet few of us give any consideration to what we actually put ON our bodies. It takes on average 26 SECONDS for something to be absorbed through the skin and enter the blood stream. That is a faster route in some cases that what we eat! Did you know that many shampoos, body washes, and body lotions contain things like formaldehyde and 1,4-Dioxane? According to the EPA, formaldehyde (a.k.a. embalming fluid) is a known carcinogen. 1,4-Dioxane has been shown to cause cancerous tumors. To answer the question that you are probably asking right now...NO, the government does not regulate these items. Manufacturers have limited requirements regarding what they have to report or reveal in labeling.
What about the things we smell? Have you ever wondered why you can smell the laundry and detergent aisle in the grocery store two rows away? All of those boxes and bottles are sealed tightly. Yet we can smell them. It is called out-gassing. The chemicals leech out of the package and linger in the air. Because of the density of the chemicals, most settle closer to the floor where our kids and pets play. Consider also that things like dishwasher detergents containing ingredients such as bleach and phosphates are introduced into our atmosphere via the steam that escapes during the wash cycle. Any lingering residue remains on our dishes, glasses and silverware and we then eat and drink from those items. The list continues with air fresheners, deodorizers, and even candles.
The EPA reports that the air quality inside most homes is many times worse than outdoor air pollution due to the amount of chemicals we live with locked inside our air tight homes! Especially those clients that have children, pets or have health issues of their own are in need of making safer choices.
This may all sound "alarmists" but many people thought the same thing when they were first told that cigarettes cause cancer or that trans fats contribute to heart disease.
WANT MORE INFORMATION?
Visit these links for additional information:
http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/2009-03-12-formaldehyde_N.htm#table
http://www.pbs.org/tradesecrets/
http://www.epa.gov/NCEA/iris/subst/0326.htm
For a free online seminar about how to remove the toxins from your home and make your family safer and healthier, visit www.healthierhabitat.com
Comments(0)