Hawaii Takes The First Step With Sun Screen Ban

I am sure everyone has always wondered if their sun screen is actually safe for them to use. For something to protect you from something as powerful as UV rays from the sun, it must come with its own set of risks. What most of society didn’t consider was how a product like sun screen could be so damaging to the ocean and its inhabitants.  This is why Hawaii has become the first state to put their foot down and ban the chemicals that have been directly linked to harming and killing the coral in their ocean: octinoxate and oxybenzone.

Oxybenzone is the primary culprit when it comes to damaging the colorful, living rocks. Not only is it very clear that it is killing coral but also mutating its DNA which can lead to infertility. One of the biggest issues is that the holes where coral release their seeds so they can reproduce often get clogged from the negative effects of this chemical. Once these pathways are closed off, the coral can no longer reproduce and it will even have trouble taking in new food. This starves the coral and leaves nothing but a skeleton behind since the seeds remain trapped inside until they wither away after death. What is clogging these vital pathways though if the oxybenzone is merely poisoning and altering the DNA of the coral?

This is where octinoxate comes in. This chemical when taken in by the coral creates “bleaching”. This is a process where the coral begins dumping all of its stored food and nutrients out from its openings. It is a similar process to when we throw up to remove whatever may be causing us to become ill. It is meant to be a way of purging it’s system, but with a constant supply of octinoxate, it has no chance to ever store food and nutrients. Instead, it just continues trying to flush its system of a toxin it has no chance of fighting off.

With this ban, it makes the statement that we care about what we put in our oceans and waters and that we don’t want to see sea life that we love disappear. An even better question to ask ourselves is that if this is what is happening to coral in the sea, then what is happening to us as we rub that same poison into our skins? A great way to avoid being poisoned by these chemicals is by searching for a mineral based sun-screen, just always check the label to make sure that what you are buying is safe for you and for the ocean!

From Liquid To Pods: Does Convenience Come At A Price?

We all know laundry pods are far more convenient than traditional bottled detergent; you just put one in your washing machine and go on about your day. However, parents all over the world are learning the hard way that convenience comes at a very high cost.

In the eyes of a child, they appear as if they might be a tasty treat. They are also more heavily concentrated than traditional detergent. The combination of these two factors has lead to the sickening and even deaths of thousands of children across the United States who end up eating them.

The study on the dangers of laundry pods, published in the journal Pediatrics, discovered that 17,230 children younger than 6 years old, an average of one child every hour, swallowed, inhaled or suffered skin or eye injuries from the pods between 2012 and 2013. Another study conducted by researchers at Nationwide Children’s Hospital in Ohio, found 769 children in the U.S. were hospitalized and one child died after ingesting a laundry detergent pod. Thirty of the children went into comas and 12 suffered seizures. Consumer safety groups started warning that laundry detergent packets could be easily eaten by children who might mistake them for candy.

In 2013, a 7 month old boy in Florida passed away after eating a packet of All detergent. More than 5,000 children have been sickened by the products since they appeared on the market, according to the American Association of Poison Control Centers. In response to the injuries, makers of laundry pods tried to make them safer in September 2015, the companies voluntarily agreed on a set of safety standards.

The pods now have a stronger film with an additive that makes them taste repulsive. The containers they come in are no longer see-through and require more skill to open. The product features warning labels and safety information about the dangers of ingesting the pods. The researchers say they’re keeping a close eye on how the new regulations affect the number of exposures.

What Does Bleach Clean Really Mean?

You may think that you’re keeping your child safe by cleaning the counters and floors with bleach so as to kill the germs that could harm your child, meanwhile you’re the one harming them without meaning to. It’s not your fault, most of us are raised to reach for the bleach when cleaning is involved, but do you know what actually resides in that small bottle? We’re not saying bleach doesn’t clean stains like nobody’s business, because it does, but that does not by any means make it safe. Bleach is considered a chlorine-based CORROSIVE substance, and the label doesn’t try to hide that. You would assume with a chemical powerful enough to kill bacteria in it that it would be seen as a danger to anyone exposed to it. WRONG. It is actually one of the most common and most relied on cleaners.

The most obvious danger can be found right on the label as we brought up earlier. It is a heavy corrosive material capable of irritating and potentially burning the eyes, skin, and sometimes even your respiratory tract simply by inhaling the gas when using. It is important to note that as of right now there is no organization like the FDA that regulates the cleaning products you are bringing into your homes. Even diluted bleach can still cause burns. Another common household ingredient found is Ammonia, when combined with bleach the effects could be devastating resulting in nosebleeds, neurological disorders, headaches, shortness of breath and chest pains. Basically every parent’s worst nightmare is sitting underneath your sinks right now.

As helpful as the safety tips can be when using these products, why don’t we just stop using it all together? We are in the 21st century where you can find plenty of healthy alternatives to not only chlorine bleach but many of the other toxic chemicals found in your home as well. Our personal favorite is SOL-U-MEL. Set a bottle of SOL-U-MEL where your old cleaners used to sit and you’ll be getting rid of a lot more than just stains! Here’s a list of things SOL-U-MEL does NOT have in it like other products; NO ammonia, NO chlorine bleach, and NO petroleum distillates. In other words, NO gloves, NO toxic ventilation, and NO toxic ingredients!

Does Talcum Powder Causes Cancer?

Just think, products we have used for years, even generations, may be dangerous. That’s what a California jury determined in a recent case against drug company Johnson & Johnson. The case was one of thousands of lawsuits brought nationwide alleging the company failed to warn consumers of the risk of cancer from talc in its products.

Eva Echeverria of East Los Angeles is one of thousands of women who have sued the consumer products giant claiming baby power caused her ovarian cancer. In fact, the jury awarded punitive damages of $417 million in this case. She had been using the product for decades.

Baby power is used not only for babies, but by women to prevent chafing and for its freshening effect. This is one of the most used and trusted products ever sold.

And this law suit is not the only one. Other legal claims have been made against Johnson & Johnson, such as those in Missouri and South Dakota. Most of the decisions have gone against the company, the Missouri one resulted in damages of $307 million. More than 1,000 other people have filed similar lawsuits. Some who won their lawsuits won much lower amounts, illustrating how juries have wide latitude in awarding monetary damages.

Of course, the company is appealing, but the number of lawsuits is piling up, with only some having gone to trail, so far. In fairness, several suits have been dismissed.

But the significant success of suits, to the tune of millions of dollars in damages, raises serious questions about the product.

Even more importantly, these cases undermine public confidence in well-known and popular consumer products. It begs the question, who is looking out for the safety of people who rely on honest companies and government oversight to put safe, reliable and healthy products on the shelves?

Ammonia-D Danger & Damage: 7 Side-Effects You Should Know

With our current ability to communicate quickly and openly online, there’s no longer any excuses to remain ignorant on all of these Ammonia-D side-effects.

“Ammonia-D” is actually Proctor & Gamble’s version of this public poison, which they put in Windex. What’s the “D” in “Ammonia-D” stand for?

Danger? Death? Dishonesty? Who knows? One thing is certain: the general public is still largely in the dark about Ammonia-D.

Imagine you’re an uncaring, greedy, big chemical company and one of your best-sellers suddenly stopped being ordered by all your big commercial buyers because of OSHA & EPA regulations. You would try to downplay the danger, maybe rename the poison, and recoup some of those losses by selling to an already-busy, over-worked, unsuspecting public.

Long-term exposure tests are still being conducted, but there’s a lot of studies on ammonia already published. I’ve gone ahead and sifted through pages and pages of reports for you.

In no particular order, here’s a quick rundown of 7 major side-effects of Ammonia-D.

  1. Contact can cause skin irritation (like dermatitis), and, with repeated exposure, possibly lead to severe skin damage
  2. Contact can severely burn your eyes, including potential eye damage.
  3. Inhaling Ammonia-D can irritate the nose and throat.
  4. Inhaling Ammonia-D can irritate the lungs.
  5. Higher exposures can severely damage the lungs, causing a build-up of fluid (also known as a pulmonary edema), a medical emergency
  6. Repeated exposure can also cause an asthma-like allergy and permanent airway damage.
  7. Contact with liquid ammonia can cause frostbite(!)

Does this sound like a substance you would want near your pets, friends and family?  Of course not! We wouldn’t wish these Ammonia-D side-effects onto our worst enemies.  And we’re bringing this poison into our homes, spraying it and allowing it to work its way through our air vents, while our children are sleeping.

There’s no longer any reason to keep our head in the sand. Take a stand with me, please, and avoid using these horrible products—at all costs.  Myrna, Green Clean Life Champion!

What Does Green Really Mean?

The Environmental Working Group, or EWG, has come out with a “Hall of Shame” list and what it contains will shock and educate you. Many of the products you use in your home contain carcinogens, asthma inhibitors, and toxins. Are you paying more for that name brand cleaner for unregulated product? According to research shown, a staggering 93% of cleaning products in this independent study did not accurately state the contents nor the quantity of contents properly! The EWG research also showed that 53% of the solutions contained chemicals that are hazardous to the lungs and can cause serious damage. To add insult to injury, many of these cleaners also contained common carcinogens like formaldehyde and chlorine, but something even worse lurks around the corner

Being green is one way to combat these pesky, poisonous materials, but that “green” label you see on most products in the store also doesn’t has hidden meanings! Companies have made mild changes to their formula to qualify for these new “green” labels, but it is an attempt to take advantage of a rising market. These cleaning products might as well be toxic moltov-cocktail filled with phthalates, benzene, and phenols. This is why the movement is making so much cash though, because the manufacturer and middle-man are taking advantage of your trust.

You can’t judge a book by its cover, and you can’t trust a label jus because it says green. If you really want a green product that won’t be filled with chemicals, look to natural anti-bacterial replacements like tea tree oil and baking soda. Real Simple Magazine suggests. Lemon juice, cooking oil, and vinegar are some that you can find around the house and start using right away, so what are you waiting for? Time to join the Green Clean Life Movement.

What’s In Your Pet’s Food & Treats?

Just because you bought a bag of dog food from the veterinarian’s office claiming it is a higher quality than supermarket options does not make it nutritional.  One look at the order of the ingredients list will show that the protein comes from grains, or grain by-products such as cornmeal, wheat, & brewers rice rather than from premium meat sources

There are hundreds of brands across the country in grocery stores that mostly contain poultry by-product.  These leftovers consist of feet, beaks, undeveloped eggs, and intestines. Most formulas contain a couple of specialized ingredients to make them appear as a specialized health diet for limitless reasons. The truth is a healthy diet can help keep your dog healthy and happy for much longer, but it must consist of a proper protein source and appropriate nutrition supplementation.

When you’re looking for the best high quality food, look for ingredients like chicken meal or lamb meal to be listed before any grains are. Our family pets are designed by nature to eat protein from meat sources, so the high grain content many pet foods contain is one of the leading contributors to the growing obesity issues in pets. This being said, it isn’t recommended to completely remove grains from your animals diet.

Most people will tell you that “human food” is not good for your pets, while most holistically trained veterinarians encourage the practice of feeding fresh food to our pets. If you do feed them non formulated food, keep it to healthy items such as meat, steamed and finely chopped veggies & fruits, baked sweet potato, rice, oatmeal (and no junk food!) If you feed them this way, remember to lessen the portion of their own food so that they don’t put on extra pounds.

Remember, not all healthy foods for us are good for them. Onions, grapes and raisins can all be toxic to our cats and dogs. If you’re not positive it’s safe for them, don’t feed them it!  And, don’t forget to supplement for things like hip and joint problems.  The correct supplementation can add years to your pet’s life and life to your pet’s years.

Your Sunscreen May Be Cancer Causing

The FDA may not have banned spray-on sunscreens as of yet, but one thing is for sure, they are doing more harm than good. We can at least thank the FDA for recently shedding some light on the potential health risks, especially regarding young children. This information feels like a 911 alert as most of the country slathers it on as if it’s a health food.

Let’s be very clear, inhaling aerosol sunscreen is dangerous and causes injury to the lungs. Especially, when it is being applied to the face, sunscreen is just plain toxic. At the very least, spray it into your hands first, then apply to your face. If there were no other options, maybe, but the truth is that there are a few, trusted alternatives on the market. Green Clean Life can help you make better choices.

Spraying sunscreen into the air also allows the spray to drift off into the air instead of adhering to the skin. This causes you to use much more than you would if it were a cream. The safest alternatives are cream and lotion formulas designed with no toxic chemicals and are safe for the whole family. The last thing you want to do is poison your family while you think you are keeping them safe.

One of the ingredients you should be looking out for is the chemical “oxybenzone”. This is predominant in almost every sunscreen you will find at your local drugstore. Unfortunately, oxybenzone penetrates the skin, promoting indirect DNA damage which causes the most lethal form of skin cancer: malignant melanoma. You read that correctly, your sunscreen is potentially causing cancer! Instead, use a mineral sunscreen (think zinc) to keep the sun protection on the surface of the skin.

Do you want to learn more about how you can eliminate toxins in your home? Click on the contact us form and let us know. Our Green Clean Life champion would love to help.