You've Just Gotta Watch This!!!

I posted the link for this video several months and a few hundred subscribers ago. It is called Toxic Brew, and I consider it a MUST SEE for every woman. I was reminded of it yesterday, but when I went to rewatch it, I noticed that the previous link is broken... so I'm posting it again.


Like I said, this is a MUST SEE. Do not clean your house again before you take the time to watch it!

If, after watching this short news segment, you wonder what non-toxic cleaning products I use, follow this link. I love them so much, I sell them!


To your health,

Top Five Household Toxins

If you knew what the top five household toxins were, would you get them out of your home? Would it seem like too much of an overhaul to change five big life habits?

If you could just change two or three, you would be making a difference! Our children's detox systems are going into hyperspeed. If we can reduce some of their toxin exposure, especially in the home where they eat and sleep, we will be doing something VERY valuable.

If this is your first time to think about how our children are effected by household toxins, please read my previous posts on the topic. Today I am going to suggest an informative video from EWG.

I have blogged about the Environmental Working Group before. You can read that post here. They often have very useful guides for parents who are concerned about how toxins effect their children's health. Right now they have a very useful guide to buying sunscreen. Check it out here.

And, right now they have a very insightful video for parents about the top five household toxins. Watch it here. It is actually posted on a news website, but it is a EWG scientist in the interview.

Please don't let getting rid of household toxins overwhelm you. It is impossible to prevent our children from exposure to all toxins. We simply do what we can to reduce their Body Burden. And, it just so happens that home is the best and easiest place to start!

While you're at the EWG website, take a look around. They have so much great information. Also, click here to sign up for EWG's monthly Healthy Home tip for parents via email.

Non-Toxic Oven Cleaning... For Your Health!

Did you know that commercial oven cleaners contain Sodium Hydroxide? This hazardous ingredient can burn skin or eyes on contact. More importantly, fumes can burn lung tissue and mucus membranes. Sound scary? Given that chemicals can stay suspended in our indoor air for as long as a week -- long after their odor dissipates -- this should raise serious concern. Take a look at this site by the National Institute of Health.

This is what the Material Safety Data Sheet says about a leading brand of Oven Cleaner:

• Inhalation: Causes burns on contact.
• Eye Contact: Causes burns to eyes on contact.
• Skin Contact: Causes burns to skin on contact.
• Ingestion: Harmful if swallowed. May cause burns to mouth, throat and stomach.

Yikes! Doesn't sound like stuff I want wafting around our home... So, I figured I would try a non-toxic oven cleaner. I was a little intimidated. You see, I will have lived in this home for four years this summer. AND I HAVE NEVER CLEANED MY OVEN! I use it nearly every day. Like I said, YIKES.

I used Shaklee's Scour Off Paste, one of the safe cleaning products in their Get Clean line. These are totally chic... and they work. The label says "It even cleans burnt-on food in your oven. And doesn’t burn off your nose hairs in the process." It smells like cherries... how pleasant.

So, here are my pictures. Keep in mind, I'm not a perfectionist. When my husband and Spiderman came home, and my mother called on the phone, and I brushed Spiderman's teeth, and Witzy got up for a bathroom break, and I stopped to read an important email, and I got distracted by six other things, and I had rinsed my hands and dried them too many times, I was ready to be done... even if things weren't spotless. I hope the pictures show that non-toxic oven cleaning is possible... more so for those who clean with uninterrupted vigor!

This door was speckled blue. What is all that burnt orange anyway?

Who knows what cooking disasters these were...

This is a close up of something that once was edible...

So, it can be done. If you are interested in reading more about Healthy Clean... click my "Household Toxin Exposure" Label. Lots of interesting thoughts and resources there...

St. Patrick's Day: Be Green, Be Healthy!

I try to keep the scope of this blog rather narrow. I want everything published here to encourage moms toward helping their families be healthier. So, this is not the place to discuss Global Warming or Saving the Rainforests. But, there is one aspect of "being green" that is inseparable from our family health.

Think about this with me. The same toxins that pollute our environments pollute our bodies too! Did you know that one out of every three cleaning products is KNOWN to cause human health or environmental problems? (Source: EPA) Keep in mind that only about 20% of chemicals developed in the last three decades have been tested for effects on our health. (Source: EPA)

The EPA also states that

Traditional cleaning products can contain harmful chemicals that can cause
cancer, reproductive disorders, major organ damage, and permanent eye damage. Other common health problems associated with cleaning chemicals include asthma
and other respiratory ailments, headaches, dizziness, and fatigue.

Making the switch to "green" products has been a very simple step for our family. And I'm all about simple steps! We use Shaklee's full line of Get Clean products. Shaklee has a fifty year environmental heritage and was the nation's first Certified Climate Neutral company. In two and a half years of cleaning with these products, there hasn't been anything I couldn't clean greenly. I'm about to tackle my oven... that I've NEVER cleaned... stay tuned for before and after pictures of this feat!

For previous posts about the effects of Cleaning Chemicals on our health, read:

• Part One of Children and Cleaning Chemicals; a personal story.
• Part Two of Children and Cleaning Chemicals; the amazing facts.
• Part Three of Children and Cleaning Chemicals; a safe AND economically feasible, yet still powerful, green cleaning product line.

Have Asthma?

I've blogged several times about the hazards of household cleaning chemicals. This topic is always fresh on my mind for two reasons. First, I face a constant barrage of news articles publicizing the growing knowledge that our new-fangled chemicals pose long term health threats. Second, I clean my home regularly... I am one of those who follows a cleaning schedule. In my frequent cleaning episodes, I am consistently thankful that I have found safe cleaning products.

Here are my thoughts on one interesting article that crossed my desk yesterday:

The article described a 12-week study published in the in the January issue of Annals of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology. Researchers determined that women with asthma exhibited a higher number of respiratory tract symptoms when exposed to commercial cleaning products. In case this is the first time you've heard about the associated risks of cleaning products, consider this a red flag for women who struggle with asthma and use toxic spray cleaning products.

Dr. Jonathon A. Bernstein, of the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine, and colleagues found that "women in both groups exhibited increased upper and lower respiratory tract symptoms in response to cleaning agents rated mild in toxicity, suggesting a subtle but potentially clinically relevant health effect of long-term, low-level chemical exposures."

Translation: You don't have to have asthma to experience respiratory symptoms when you clean with a toxic cleaning product. Even products rated mild in toxicity still affect your lungs and airways. However, if you have asthma, you are more likely to experience greater symptoms. As an extension, we must take into account long-term, cumulative effects of toxic chemicals in addition to the respiratory effects we notice as we are using them.

I like to read scientific articles. You may or may not... but does a review of a health-pertinent article help you out? Comment to let me know if you'd like more posts like this.

From a Concerned Greenie

I'm seeing more and more commercials for Clorox Green Works products. They are advertised as 99% natural and biodegradable. Hmmm. Am I the only one concerned here? Do we want to be buying "green" products from a company that produces mega tons of hazardous household chemicals each year? Wouldn't it make more sense to buy green cleaning products from a company known to be environmentally friendly for the entire fifty years of their existence? Or, think about this... Even if the Green Works products were safe for our health and the environment, wouldn't the sheer volume of plastic bottles going to landfills be a bit contradictory? Wouldn't "green clean" include minimal packaging and concentrated products?

Ten Simple Steps to Reduce Body Burden: Step Ten

The grand finale...

Step number ten in reducing the accumulation of toxins in your body:

10. When buying new stuff for your home, focus on green products, especially mattresses and carpets.

I could put a link list here containing sources for green products. But, Sloan Barnett already compiled them all into a handy dandy appendix in her book. It is quite long... and quite worth the cost of the book. If you are purchasing new things for your home, for a baby's nursery or for your children's rooms, please consider patronizing the businesses in Sloan's book. They'll thank you, Sloan will thank you for purchasing her book... and your body will thank you for choosing something green over something that adds to your body burden.

Now that we have covered ten ideas for reducing your body burden, make sure to mesh a few into your life. It doesn't help just reading about it : ) What things will you change for your future health AND for your children's future health. Comment and let me know your thoughts!

Ten Simple Steps to Reduce Body Burden: Step Nine

Did you know that the EPA ranks indoor air pollution in their top five environmental risks to public health?

Did you know that in our modern culture, the average American spends 90% of a 24 hour day indoors?

Did you know that organic pollutants (like those found in household cleaning products, air fresheners, plastics, carpet and upholstery) are often 2 to 5 times higher inside your home than out?

It's true. We're poisoning ourselves. I don't mean to be that dramatic. But, in looking at how to reduce our Body Burden, we should consider the air we breathe. Here's tip number nine...

9. For cleaner and healthier air, open your windows when the outside temperature is comfortable.

It may be a little cold where you are, but spring is coming. And when it does, let your home "air out!" Our homes are built so air tight these days. We really let the stale, chemical-laden air out.

Here are two more ideas to keep your air clean:

Buy houseplants. Not only do they brighten up your home, they filter your air and provide good,
pure oxygen. The rule of thumb is "the bigger the leaves, the better equipped for filtration a plant is." There are a few exceptions. Check out this website for specific plants to buy.

Consider purchasing an air purifier. You want one that gets particulate matter, microbes AND chemicals out of the air. This is the system we use. And we totally love it. We have noticed a huge difference in our home. I have had people with chronic sinus congestion come over and say, "Wow, I can breathe in your house."

It's Video Day!

This is a must see. I would put this video directly into my blog, but it has a copyright, so you need to follow the link directly to the hosting website. I know, it's a click away... but it is SO worth it. You'll be glad to saw this information on the ramifications of "our clean freak streak."

Ten Simple Steps to Reduce Body Burden: Step Seven

Have these steps to reduce Body Burden been helpful? I hope so. I know that no one can do it all... at least right away... but even making a few changes is ever-so-beneficial. If you haven't made any changes yet, today's the day! Review the previous six steps and choose at least one to implement in your family life.

Without further ado, here is Step Seven:

Try to get the plastic containers out of your kitchen and replace them with glass containers.

What's so bad about plastic? Did you know that plastic continuously gasses off toxic fumes? Not good. These chemical fumes have been shown to disrupt the endocrine system and increase risk of cancer. We can't stop the world's plastic dependency, but we can reduce the amount of plastic that we use in our kitchens (and the amount of plastic our children play with -- see Melissa and Doug's options). When we store food in plastic, the toxic fumes from our containers, plastic bags or plastic wrap soak into the food we will later ingest. Yes, these are small amounts. But, they do add up. And, over time, they become part of our total Body Burden, which can have a huge effect on our health.

What can you do? You can start by using old baby food jars, peanut butter jars and spaghetti sauce jars for keeping leftovers. You can also purchase a glass storage container set for food that doesn't easily store in jars. I found a pyrex storage set at a kitchenware outlet for an amazing deal. I have been very pleased with it. If you take a lunch to work or send a lunch with your kids to school, consider purchasing stainless steel containers for food and for water.

Bottom line. If you can't do an overhaul and replace all your plastic containers, you can at least stop heating food in plastic containers. This is a must. When plastic is heated, the chemicals leach out at a greater rate. Use pyrex or corningware for heating instead.

There is so much more to say about plastic. I encourage you to take five minutes to learn more. Read this exceptional quick-reference at LifeWithoutPlastic to learn what types of plastic to stay away from and to see more tips for living plastic-free in the kitchen.

Ten Simple Steps to Reduce Body Burden: Step Five

I'm getting back to the subject of reducing Body Burden today. Remember, Body Burden is the total amount of chemicals and pollutants present in our body at any given time. Our goal here is to try to reduce the toxins we have control over... without becoming obsessive about all the ones we don't. We need to think about our children's futures. They will come into contact with all sorts of toxins. But we can reduce the cumulative effect of these toxins by making smart choices now. If you haven't yet, I recommend taking the Body Burden Quiz and reading the first four steps in reducing Body Burden.

Here's step Five:

Pay attention (without freaking out) to the toys you buy for your kids. Avoid lead paint and soft plastics that contain phthalates.

Didn't this one fall in a timely manner? Read here about one way to look at the CPSIA. I totally agree that children need to be protected from the proliferation of toxins in their toys, clothing, high chairs, and so on. But, I do see some faults in the proposed government regulation.

That being said, what should we parents be doing? Well, my favorite idea is to reduce the amount of toys the children have... plastic or otherwise : ) I see my children greatly benefit from an afternoon outside, totally free from toys of any kind. Given enough practice, children will come up will all sorts of pretend games. And, they'll even find the props they need to enliven their games. Creativity takes practice, but it breeds bright, content children as well. And, then there are books! My favorite job as a parent is reading aloud from exciting and stimulating children's literature.

A second idea is to search for locally-made or hand-made toys. The internet is replete with small eco-friendly toy businesses. Or, you could shop your local craft fairs.

In looking for toys, check to see what is made in the USA. We really enjoy Melissa and Doug products. (See our faves in my Amazon Store.) They make everything from Tool Sets to Puzzles, Dollhouses to Jewelry Kits. Really, you could keep your children entertained for their entire childhood just with M&D toys! Even when Thomas the Train was recalled for lead paint, M&D had a safe option. Read their Toy Safety Statement.

What's so bad about phthalates? Read about it on EWG's enviroblog.

Ten Simple Steps to Reduce Body Burden: Steps One and Two

I posted early in my blogging life about Sloan Barnett and her book, Green Goes with Everything. (I re-uploaded the video in this link because it was not playing properly. So if you weren’t able to watch it the first time around, give it another go.) In her book, Sloan discusses our Body Burden, the "total amount of chemicals and pollutants that are present in our body at any given time." If you haven't taken her Body Burden Quiz yet, take a moment to do that.

In thinking about health for families, we need to address this excess baggage. Over time, our body burden can deal devastating blows to our wellness. Everything from Alzheimer's to cancer to chronic fatigue has been connected to our chemically burdened bodies. And, we need to pay close attention for our little girls’ sake, because all of these chemicals interfere with their own hormone signals and wreak havoc on their developing femininity.

In Green Goes With Everything, Sloan gives Ten Simple Steps for a Greener and Healthier Home. Over the next week, I’d like to present those steps and add in my humble comments. As moms, we play a huge role in creating healthy home environments. Creating health can be an overwhelming duty when we look at the our toxic world, but I think Sloan ten steps will give us each a doable action plan. And, the new year is coming up… perfect time for change!

Sloan's first two steps have to do with switching to safe, green cleaning products. Several of my posts this month have been on the same subject, so I'm going to group her first two steps together. Here they are:

1. Start by replacing a bunch of your cleaners (your general spray cleaner, glass cleaner, counter-top cleaner, floor and bathroom cleaners) with a natural, nontoxic all-purpose cleaner.

I don't want to be redundant, but eliminating cleaning product chemicals is one of the easiest things we can do. You will only need one product to replace almost all the standard cleaning products in your home. Really!

2. Replace your laundry detergent with a natural nontoxic one so the clothes you wear and the sheets you sleep on have no fumes for you to breathe.

Have you ever thought about why drug patches work? Your skin absorbs what is put on the surface. A portion of everything you put on your skin, including your clothes, will migrate into your blood stream. Scary thought. Like switching your cleaning products, making a laundry product change doesn't have to be scary. I've found something that works even better than my previous laundry products AND is safe for my kids' bodies. Here's what I use.

The next 8 steps steer away from replacing household toxins, so you have something new to look forward to! But I had to go ahead and mention these two, even though I've had a series of posts on Household Toxin Exposure, because this is such a simple and effective way to do something monumental for our family's health.

Part three of Children and Cleaning Chemicals

I have been so eager to post this part because it contains some really good news... as opposed to the scary facts about toxin dangers I have been posting. If you're new, read Part One, Part Two and Part Two and a Half first...

So I know everyone remembers the song, "I'd like to buy the world a Coke." Well, I would like to buy the world one of these. Or, at least everyone who fills the housekeeping role in a home. But, alas, I cannot afford such a gift. So, I'll just try to tell everyone about it instead! This is my solution to the problem of how to effectively, economically, and healthfully keep a clean house.

My kids have always cleaned right along side of me. I think it is important for life skills and character development. So, I care what we clean with. When I first started looking into "green clean" I was trying to mix up stuff from common household ingredients like baking soda, vinegar and stuff. It was time consuming. It didn't really work. And, I was haunted by the lingering vinegar smell. So I tried the "green clean" products at the health food store. They were pricey. But, they didn't work like I needed them to. I wanted my cleaning to be quick and efficient. I didn't want to have to redo things just because they didn't get quite clean enough the first time. And, I'll admit it, I really like things looking clean. With my four little ones, the house can look lived in. But, under all the books, legos and toys, I want things to be safely clean.

So, check out my solution. You'll be impressed as I was. You'll have dishes that are clean enough to eat off of (sans toxic residue). You'll have clothes clean enough to touch your baby's skin (sans toxic residue). You'll have a floor clean enough to crawl on (sans toxic residue). And, you'll have bathrooms that are just plain ol' good and clean (sans toxic residue).

This kit contains everything you need to keep your house healthy clean. And, believe it or not, it contains the equivalent of more than 5,000 bottles of window cleaner! Or, over 400 bottles of all purpose cleaner like 409 or Fantastik (sans toxic residue, of course). And, this is what I love: it is cost efficient since all of the products are concentrated. Less to buy, less to throw away.

So that's my solution. I am glad I found it. And, I'd like to share it with the world... so there you go, world.

Part Two and a Half of Children and Cleaning Chemicals

I am working on Part Three for this series, but I thought of something that had to come first. Thanks for your patience! This is an eye-opening resource:

Ever wonder what ingredients could be in our cleaning products that are all that bad?
Ever wonder what health hazards those ingredients actually pose?
It's time to take a look! So take an inventory of what you have under your sinks and stashed out of your children's reach... and then visit the National Institute for Health's household product database.

Click one of the tabs to search for dangers listed by Product Name, Ingredient, Manufacturer or Health Effect. Explore this site... and get ready for Part Three!

By the way, Witzy has a cough. She woke up feeling crummy two days ago. I am taking several measures to boost her immune system and help it win the battle. I'll be blogging about this soon.

As long as we're talking about scientific studies!

In watching a DVD presentation by Healthy Child Healthy World two years ago, I heard the most significant, most critical clinical finding I have heard reported. As parents, we just have to stop and think about the implications of this:

Dr Alan Greene of Stanford University School of Medicine took samples of umbilical cord blood from babies at the time of birth to see what they had been exposed to before birth. He found an average of 200 modern industrial and commercial chemicals coursing through the newborns' blood.

Remember my previous post in which I said only 20% of the chemicals introduced in the last 30 years have been tested for their effects on our health! And, remember that none of them have been tested in conjunction with one another as they were found in the newborns' blood!

I know that sentence had two exclamation points in it. And, I can get pretty excited about how chemicals are totally disrupting our children's endocrine systems... AND, I also know that we can't live in bubbles. However, we owe it to our children to do what we can. Which is why the Blue Butterfly Program is so useful... and which is why I will soon be posting Part Three of Children and Cleaning Chemicals so that you can see what I do here in our home.

Healthy Child Healthy World

Here is a great resource to pass along to anyone interested in creating a safe environment for their kids. (As well as passing along the link to my blog!)

Healthy Child Healthy World is a non-profit organization dedicated to educating people about environmental hazards in our children's worlds. They have initiated the Blue Butterfly Program, a simple five-step plan for parents, preschools, and other child care providers to follow. It's worth looking at.

Part Two of Children and Cleaning Chemicals

Did you know that by the year 2006, over 80,000 new chemicals had been registered with the EPA? And did you know that less than 20% of these have been tested for toxicity even now? Amazing, huh? And, this is what really gets my attention: hardly any of these have been tested in conjunction with one another. (Sources: U.S. EPA, New Chemicals Program; Landrigan, P.J., et al, (2006).)

What will the cumulative effect of all of these toxins be? Our children are at great risk here. They are more likely to have earlier and more prolonged exposure to these new-fangled chemicals than adults. Pediatrician Herbert L. Needleman said, "We are conducting a vast toxicologic experiment in our society, in which our children and our children's children are the experimental subjects."

"Children are highly vulnerable to chemical toxicants. Pound for pound of body weight children drink more water, eat more food and breathe more air than adults. The implication of this is that children will have substantially heavier exposures than adults to any toxicants that are present in water, food or air." (Source: Landrigan, P.J. & Garg, A. (2002). Chronic effects of toxic environmental exposures on children’s health. Journal of Toxicology: Clinical Toxicology, 40(4), 449-456.) Children have more immature metabolic pathways for detoxifying and excreting toxins, while they also have an increased metabolic rate which speeds up the absorption of chemicals. This puts them at increased long-term risk.

Infants and toddlers are even more vulnerable because they have a greater percentage of fatty tissue in which to store these toxins, they crawl on the floor where pesticides and other chemicals are tracked in from outside, and they put their toys in their mouths.

And this isn't even the tip of the iceberg! I enjoy science and research, but many of you may not. I want to keep this blog light yet thought-provoking reading. So, if you are interested in reading more about the science behind our children's exposure, email me:

ae at healthbeginswithmom dot com

I will send you a 12 page pdf file that is chock-full of all the nitty-gritty facts. Just put "12 Page PDF" in the subject line...

And, lest you think I am going to leave you hanging, I will post a Part Three to this series so that I can tell you a simple, cost-effective way to replace ALL the hazardous chemicals in your home. Part three will not be the end, though... I will revisit this topic often as it is a hot-button for me. The way I see it, we can't really do a lot about how much toxic exposure our kids are getting from outdoor air pollution or hazardous cleaning products in their schools and preschools. BUT, we can create a safe, clean home for them where their bodies can rest from the toxic overload they experience.

Until then, take a tour of your home to see what toxins may lurk in your cabinets.

Part One of Children and Cleaning Chemicals

Here is the first installment in "Children and Cleaning Chemicals." This is a huge topic, so I thought I would just start with the story of how I first became aware of the possible hazards.

Being a concerned mother of four, I do care about the wellness of my family and the toxins in my home. But this concern has taken different action over the past years. When I had Rainbow, I gave cleaning products a great deal of thought and tried to make as many as I could using earth friendly ingredients and recipes I found online. Then, after the arrival Spiderman, I needed convenience and so I tried some of the green cleaners found at health food stores. This was expensive so at times I had to just use the chemicals that choke you in the cleaning aisles of grocery stores. And finally, after Witzy joined the famliy, I needed maximum convenience and minimum price. So I started to use Clorox wipes, among other things.

Unfortunately, I was doing more harm than good. A friend of mine suggested I watch Toxic Brew, a news segment produced by a Canadian news station. After watching this, the reality of what I was bringing into my home began to dawn on me. Particularly eye opening to me was how long chemicals stay suspended in the air.

Only a month or so later, I heard of the work of Dr. Doris Rapp, who researches the effects of harmful chemicals on children’s health. In one of her studies, she tested the effect of bleach fumes on six-year-olds’ handwriting. I looked at the printed results, and was amazed at the evidence. Before a bottle of bleach was opened, students wrote their names fairly well. Then, with just an opened bottle of bleach in the room and the fumes wafting through the air, the children wrote their names dramatically different. Some wrote messy, some too small to read, and one even wrote backwards.

Being the devil’s advocate that I am, I thought: "Well, they just printed up the worst case scenarios. Certainly it wouldn’t effect my kids this way." So, I determined to do the same test at home. I didn’t tell my kids what I was doing. I only told them to write as neatly as they could. They printed their names on a sheet of paper. Then, I told them to hold up their papers while I wiped the table off with a Clorox wipe. As soon as it was dry enough, I had them put their papers down and write their names again. I was shocked! Rainbow's writing was visibly messier; instead of letters being tight and connected, they were loopy and crooked. Spiderman was completely distracted by something while he was writing his name! This is uncharacteristic of him. He has no attention difficulties. When he realized that he was talking about something else, he stopped mid-sentence and said: "Wait, I’m supposed to be writing my name!" The next letter he wrote was upside-down, which my son had never done before.

I took it to the next level and had my children move to another room where there were no Clorox fumes. They wrote their names again and proved that without being "under the influence" they could write just as neat as the first time. I could clearly see that the chemicals were affecting both writing ability and focus.

There is more to come on this topic! Take the time to watch Toxic Brew and I will post the more thought-provoking evidence soon.