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OVEN CLEANERS
Head in oven, holding our breath, squinting because
of the fumes, we spray a toxic film where we cook supper. Holding our
breath is no solution since the toxic vapors will linger in the house
for over three months. And how about that roast beef, marinated in Easy
Off?
Until recently, there has been little choice in
improving the air quality of the home. There are now companies that
produce safe, environmentally friendly consumable products. If you are
interested in learning more, please refer to the Resource Center in the
back of the book.
The air inside your home is an extension of your
lungs. You eat approximately two to three pounds of food per day, drink
about three pounds of liquid, and breathe 15 pounds of air. You can live
40 days without food, three days without water, but only three minutes
without air.
Whatever you eat goes through a digestive system
enabling your body to separate nutrients and waste material. Lungs have
no such defensive system. What you breathe goes directly into the
bloodstream. It is then carried via the blood to every cell in the body.
The poor air quality in our homes is so serious, that officials at the
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) have stated that indoor air
quality is the most significant environmental issue which we have to
face now and into the next decade.
In 1989, the EPA submitted a report on indoor air
quality to the United States Congress. The report concluded that North
America's worst air pollution is found inside our homes. A five-year
study, done by the EPA, showed that many homes had chemical levels that
were 70 times higher than that of the air outside. In fact, they
reported that cleaning and personal care products, commonly found in
every home are three times more likely to cause cancer than air-born
pollutants. It is estimated that 1,500 hazardous substances find their
way into a typical North American home. The EPA estimates that 6,000
cancer deaths are caused every year by indoor air pollutants. In 1990, a
scientific paper was presented by a Vancouver consulting firm in Toronto
at the Indoor Air Conference. The study revealed that because of
household consumables, housewives have a 55% higher risk of cancer than
women working outside the home. The tragedy is that children are the
most susceptible to this toxic environment. Children's respiratory rates
are three times higher than adults, therefore they inhale and absorb
three times the amount of contaminants. Our home, which ought to be a
haven of safety for our children, has become a health-destroying
environment. Since 1960, there has been an 80% increase in respiratory
problems amongst children. For many of these children, puffers
have become a permanent part of their lives. A temporary protection
against inevitable disaster!
Mom goes off to the grocery store to do her shopping.
She purchases her laundry soap, shampoos, and dish soap, believing them
to be safe; trusting that her government would not allow products to be
sold on the market that would harm her precious child walking beside
her. After a long tiring day at the grocery store, she is finally home.
Loading her shelves with brightly-colored containers, oblivious to the
fact that she is filling her home with deadly toxic poisons. Strangers
in white gowns bent over test tubes, had determined what would be
present in every cell of her child's body.
Formaldehyde is in almost everything you use in your
home, from toothpaste to laundry soap. It is used as a preservative.
Nine billion pounds are produced every year in the USA. The Board of
Health recently issued a statement that there is such a high degree of
formaldehyde in our bodies that, when we die, we no longer decay. The
National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health warns that
formaldehyde should be handled with caution. It is a human carcinogen
suspected of causing birth defects and genetic damage. It also causes
headaches, joint pain, chest pains, depression, ear infections, chronic
fatigue, dizziness, and loss of sleep. Here are some examples of
cleaners commonly found in homes.
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