Not all green is clean
This post is for my niece Jody. She and I spent a few days together at her parents house last week. We were there because her dad, my brother is in failing health. Jody is a wonderful, caring person. She knows how to walk in to a situation, size it up and take action. It was her action that has inspired this message. She cleaned the tile floors in the kitchen using a popular supermarket cleaner. First, we need a disclaimer; Jody did not know about the harm that certain cleaners can do. Harm to herself, her family and her environment. So, I won’t hold her responsible for past choices. Also, in her own home, she says that hot water by itself usually is all that she uses on her tile floors. So, please Jody forgive me if I carry on a bit about the cleaners that are found in some households.
When running a race we do not all arrive at the finish line at the same time, if we did, it wouldn’t be called a race. The human race runs a bit like a foot race, in that we don’t all cross the finish line at the same time. We arrive at or make choices based on information available to us at a given time. So, Jody you are forgiven for not having the facts about cleaning products that are harmful. However, going forward, you will have the information to make a better choice if your are willing to check out the site listed here on my blog. First I must confess that I was older than you before I arrived at the finish line and realized that there are better and safer products available. I was in ill health and that was the driving force that pushed me over the line to investigate clean and non toxic products.
Have you ever noticed how many of the offensive cleaning products are green or blue? You don’t suppose that it is subliminal do you? But of course, we think clean when we see green. The color of trees and grass. How about blue, the color of the ocean, lakes and rivers. The particular cleaner that started the interaction, is a degrease. If a degreaser contains petroleum distillates and butyl cellosolve, which most do, they can cause damage to the lung tissues and dissolve fatty tissue surrounding the nerve cells. If the cleaner contains ammonia, the fumes can irritate skin, eyes and respiratory system. Some products can cause cancer and liver damage. The EPA says that only a fraction of the more than 75,000 registered chemicals have gone through testing for human health concerns. More than 9 out of 10 suspected poison exposures occur at home with household products.For