It’s so easy to fall into the marketing trap surrounding us as Americans. Everything is about convenience, deals, and flashy buzzwords. Unfortunately, most products and foods in stores are made in a lab or contain very dangerous or unhealthy ingredients that we overlook or just assume they’re safe because they’re widely used.
As more and more of these products have become available over the years, allergies, asthma, reproductive complications, terminal illness, and disease rates have climbed.
WHAT DANGERS MIGHT BE LURKING IN YOUR OWN HOME?
In today’s world, some of the most dangerous things that affect our health are things we willingly expose ourselves to on a daily basis, and some of these things might not be what you expect! In fact, you might be completely oblivious to the fact that the products we use on ourselves, in our home, on our children, and in our everyday lives, could be the very things that are contributing to why we’re sick, why we have health problems, why we struggle emotionally, and why we are not living a life full of wellness, purpose, and abundance.
8 years ago we didn’t think twice about the yummy smelling lotion we were slathering on our baby, our favorite perfumes, plug-ins, candles, laundry soap, dish detergent, what we were cleaning our house with, what make-up was used, what we washed our face and hair with, what quality of foods we put in our bodies. We thought babies with runny noses, people who had allergies, headaches, fatigue, cancer, and boatloads of other issues were just part of life. But once we learned the impact of what we were exposing our family to had, everything changed. Knowledge is power! And once we knew what we knew, there was no turning back. We couldn’t change the past, but we could impact our future.
Did you know that the air quality inside the average home is 5-7 times more toxic than the air outside!? That’s right! The four biggest pollutants in homes are scented candles, plug-ins, dryer sheets, and fabric softener. Exposure to scented plug-ins even just once a week is enough to have health implications and immediate symptoms such as rashes, allergies, wheezing, headaches, etc. 75% of American households have some type of air-freshner in them.
Here are some facts about everyday products that you probably have in your own home that can pose the largest health risks:
- The main ingredient in candles and home sprays is formaldehyde, which is the number one cancer causing chemical, and is what we get embalmed with at the morgue. INHALING SCENTS FROM CANDLES OR SPRAYS IS THE EQUIVALENT TO INHALING SECOND HAND SMOKE, WHICH IS EVEN MORE DANGEROUS THAN ACTUALLY SMOKING THE CIGARETTE ITSELF. How eye-opening is that?!
- Store bought laundry detergents and dryer sheets contain alpha-terpineol, benzyl alcohol, and camphor, which are all toxic ingredients that cause central nervous system disorders, loss of muscular coordination, central nervous system depression, headaches, nausea, and vomiting.
- Store bought soaps contain sodium laureth sulfate, a toxic chemical used to remove car grease off of garage floors. This can be damaging to the skin, as well as disruptive to immune health and hormonal health.
- Both adult and kid shampoos contain phthalates, a toxic chemical that has been banned in children’s toys, but is still found in body cleansing products. It is known to be an endocrine disruptor, and very hard for the body to break down when used consistently during bath time.
- Here are the 3 most common toxins in household cleaners, the types of product you can find them in, and the risks associated with them:
1. 2-Butoxyethanol (window & multipurpose cleaners) Risks: sore throat when inhaled, at high levels can also contribute to narcosis, pulmonary edema, and severe liver and kidney damage
2. Ammonia (bathroom & window cleaners, jewelry cleaner) Risks: can trigger asthma, chronic bronchitis with regular to frequent exposure
3. Bleach & Chlorine (scouring powders, toilet bowl cleaners, mildew removers, laundry whiteners) Risks: respiratory and skin irritant (acute), can be hormone disrupter (chronic)
- The "F" word! Look at a scented household or skin and body product in your home. I bet the ingredient “fragrance” is in it. Even many baby products list the ingredient “fragrance,” which is simply a broad category that hides hundreds of toxic chemicals behind it. There is almost no authority to regulate what ingredients are in this blanket term, fragrance. Companies are allowed to put nearly any chemicals into their products, even known carcinogens. As parents, this makes us extremely upset. Babies skin is at least three times thinner than ours, and fragrance is introduced in products that claim to be natural immediately after birth. Short-term toxicity of fragrance includes: coughing, skin irritation, rash, wheezing, headaches, nausea, vomiting, irritability. Long-term toxicity includes: cancer, lung disease, heart disease, reproductive complications. Up to 95% of fragrance is derived from petroleum.
- Women apply over 300 chemicals to their face and skin per day on average, including talc, bismuth, parabens, lead, mercury, and mineral oil. These chemicals are all found in store bought skin care and makeup products, which can disrupt the endocrine system, are highly carcinogenic, and have even been found in tumors.
When we use these products on ourselves, our children, our pets, and in our air on a daily basis, the toxins build up and accumulate within our bodies – a process called “bioaccumulation.” This means that the more we expose ourselves to these toxins, the harder it is for our bodies to break them down. Because of this build up, it causes both minor and major health issues, that otherwise could be prevented if we simply quit using those toxins. Even if these issues aren’t apparent right now, they will be apparent later on down the road.
How many of us know someone with Cancer? Probably everyone because it's the number 2 cause of death in the United States. From Sarah Harnisch's Gameplan book.....1,620 people a day die of cancer. 1 in 3 cases in the US are directly linked to poor diet, physical inactivity, weight, or chemical exposure. The American Cancer Society says only 5 to 10% of all cancer cases are from gene defects. 5%! That means 95% of cancer cases are within our control. It's what we allow into our homes and into/onto our bodies. What happens when your body is chemically overloaded? You may see it in something as catastrophic as cancer. But most feel it in other ways: lethargy, inability to focus, sleep trouble, chronic information, unexplained pain, skin issues, adult acne, hot flashes, stress and fear. You control what you allow in your home, and in and on your body.
READ YOUR LABELS! Some products don't have to list their ingredients or even disclose them if you ask. You can quickly look up ingredients that you do see listed on products on EWG.org. Companies are quick to tell you what’s NOT in their products, but if you take a closer look at what IS in them you may be surprised. They use buzzwords like “handmade”, “natural”, “pure”, and “free of synthetics” but list highly toxic ingredients in them. If you see the word “fragrance”, not good! And if you call to ask what the ingredients are and they won't disclose them or they say their fragrance is 100% pure essential oils...if they do not invite you to visit one of their farms, be very careful. We saw a bottle labeled 100% pure and natural and "no synthetic fragrance" at a department store and found lots of ingredients on the back including ethanol, aka alcohol!
What’s even scarier to know, is some of the most popular “organic” products can still contain some the ingredients above. Even if you think you’re making a better decision about going organic instead of conventional, there is still a probability that your organic product is still highly toxic for yourself or your little ones. Do your research and don't be afraid to throw the bad stuff in the trash. Your body will thank you for it!
Now that you may be feeling guilty, let us say there is NO JUDGEMENT HERE! We used to use those products ourselves all the time…our family of 5, but once we educated ourselves on the toxicity of what we are using in our home, and once we ditched and switched over to plant-based products, our lives changed forever, and our family has started experiencing the perfect wellness that God always intended for us to have. And because we’ve seen such amazing changes, we feel its necessary to educate others on these invisible toxins in their homes too!
As more and more of these products have become available over the years, allergies, asthma, reproductive complications, terminal illness, and disease rates have climbed.
WHAT DANGERS MIGHT BE LURKING IN YOUR OWN HOME?
In today’s world, some of the most dangerous things that affect our health are things we willingly expose ourselves to on a daily basis, and some of these things might not be what you expect! In fact, you might be completely oblivious to the fact that the products we use on ourselves, in our home, on our children, and in our everyday lives, could be the very things that are contributing to why we’re sick, why we have health problems, why we struggle emotionally, and why we are not living a life full of wellness, purpose, and abundance.
8 years ago we didn’t think twice about the yummy smelling lotion we were slathering on our baby, our favorite perfumes, plug-ins, candles, laundry soap, dish detergent, what we were cleaning our house with, what make-up was used, what we washed our face and hair with, what quality of foods we put in our bodies. We thought babies with runny noses, people who had allergies, headaches, fatigue, cancer, and boatloads of other issues were just part of life. But once we learned the impact of what we were exposing our family to had, everything changed. Knowledge is power! And once we knew what we knew, there was no turning back. We couldn’t change the past, but we could impact our future.
Did you know that the air quality inside the average home is 5-7 times more toxic than the air outside!? That’s right! The four biggest pollutants in homes are scented candles, plug-ins, dryer sheets, and fabric softener. Exposure to scented plug-ins even just once a week is enough to have health implications and immediate symptoms such as rashes, allergies, wheezing, headaches, etc. 75% of American households have some type of air-freshner in them.
Here are some facts about everyday products that you probably have in your own home that can pose the largest health risks:
- The main ingredient in candles and home sprays is formaldehyde, which is the number one cancer causing chemical, and is what we get embalmed with at the morgue. INHALING SCENTS FROM CANDLES OR SPRAYS IS THE EQUIVALENT TO INHALING SECOND HAND SMOKE, WHICH IS EVEN MORE DANGEROUS THAN ACTUALLY SMOKING THE CIGARETTE ITSELF. How eye-opening is that?!
- Store bought laundry detergents and dryer sheets contain alpha-terpineol, benzyl alcohol, and camphor, which are all toxic ingredients that cause central nervous system disorders, loss of muscular coordination, central nervous system depression, headaches, nausea, and vomiting.
- Store bought soaps contain sodium laureth sulfate, a toxic chemical used to remove car grease off of garage floors. This can be damaging to the skin, as well as disruptive to immune health and hormonal health.
- Both adult and kid shampoos contain phthalates, a toxic chemical that has been banned in children’s toys, but is still found in body cleansing products. It is known to be an endocrine disruptor, and very hard for the body to break down when used consistently during bath time.
- Here are the 3 most common toxins in household cleaners, the types of product you can find them in, and the risks associated with them:
1. 2-Butoxyethanol (window & multipurpose cleaners) Risks: sore throat when inhaled, at high levels can also contribute to narcosis, pulmonary edema, and severe liver and kidney damage
2. Ammonia (bathroom & window cleaners, jewelry cleaner) Risks: can trigger asthma, chronic bronchitis with regular to frequent exposure
3. Bleach & Chlorine (scouring powders, toilet bowl cleaners, mildew removers, laundry whiteners) Risks: respiratory and skin irritant (acute), can be hormone disrupter (chronic)
- The "F" word! Look at a scented household or skin and body product in your home. I bet the ingredient “fragrance” is in it. Even many baby products list the ingredient “fragrance,” which is simply a broad category that hides hundreds of toxic chemicals behind it. There is almost no authority to regulate what ingredients are in this blanket term, fragrance. Companies are allowed to put nearly any chemicals into their products, even known carcinogens. As parents, this makes us extremely upset. Babies skin is at least three times thinner than ours, and fragrance is introduced in products that claim to be natural immediately after birth. Short-term toxicity of fragrance includes: coughing, skin irritation, rash, wheezing, headaches, nausea, vomiting, irritability. Long-term toxicity includes: cancer, lung disease, heart disease, reproductive complications. Up to 95% of fragrance is derived from petroleum.
- Women apply over 300 chemicals to their face and skin per day on average, including talc, bismuth, parabens, lead, mercury, and mineral oil. These chemicals are all found in store bought skin care and makeup products, which can disrupt the endocrine system, are highly carcinogenic, and have even been found in tumors.
When we use these products on ourselves, our children, our pets, and in our air on a daily basis, the toxins build up and accumulate within our bodies – a process called “bioaccumulation.” This means that the more we expose ourselves to these toxins, the harder it is for our bodies to break them down. Because of this build up, it causes both minor and major health issues, that otherwise could be prevented if we simply quit using those toxins. Even if these issues aren’t apparent right now, they will be apparent later on down the road.
How many of us know someone with Cancer? Probably everyone because it's the number 2 cause of death in the United States. From Sarah Harnisch's Gameplan book.....1,620 people a day die of cancer. 1 in 3 cases in the US are directly linked to poor diet, physical inactivity, weight, or chemical exposure. The American Cancer Society says only 5 to 10% of all cancer cases are from gene defects. 5%! That means 95% of cancer cases are within our control. It's what we allow into our homes and into/onto our bodies. What happens when your body is chemically overloaded? You may see it in something as catastrophic as cancer. But most feel it in other ways: lethargy, inability to focus, sleep trouble, chronic information, unexplained pain, skin issues, adult acne, hot flashes, stress and fear. You control what you allow in your home, and in and on your body.
READ YOUR LABELS! Some products don't have to list their ingredients or even disclose them if you ask. You can quickly look up ingredients that you do see listed on products on EWG.org. Companies are quick to tell you what’s NOT in their products, but if you take a closer look at what IS in them you may be surprised. They use buzzwords like “handmade”, “natural”, “pure”, and “free of synthetics” but list highly toxic ingredients in them. If you see the word “fragrance”, not good! And if you call to ask what the ingredients are and they won't disclose them or they say their fragrance is 100% pure essential oils...if they do not invite you to visit one of their farms, be very careful. We saw a bottle labeled 100% pure and natural and "no synthetic fragrance" at a department store and found lots of ingredients on the back including ethanol, aka alcohol!
What’s even scarier to know, is some of the most popular “organic” products can still contain some the ingredients above. Even if you think you’re making a better decision about going organic instead of conventional, there is still a probability that your organic product is still highly toxic for yourself or your little ones. Do your research and don't be afraid to throw the bad stuff in the trash. Your body will thank you for it!
Now that you may be feeling guilty, let us say there is NO JUDGEMENT HERE! We used to use those products ourselves all the time…our family of 5, but once we educated ourselves on the toxicity of what we are using in our home, and once we ditched and switched over to plant-based products, our lives changed forever, and our family has started experiencing the perfect wellness that God always intended for us to have. And because we’ve seen such amazing changes, we feel its necessary to educate others on these invisible toxins in their homes too!