HOUSEHOLD: 12 Facts About Chlorine / Chlorine in Household Cleaners (TIPS, HINTS, HEALTH, ACTION ALERT!)

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And Now For Something Really Big: 12 Facts About Chlorine

 

- Dioxin, a chemical by-product of the manufacturing of

chlorine-bleached paper, is believed to be the single most carcinogenic

chemical known to science.

 

- Cancer-causing dioxin residue from chlorine-bleaching may be found in

products like coffee filters, disposable diapers, paper towels, and

bathroom tissue.

 

- Dioxin has been linked to endometriosis, immune system impairment,

diabetes, neurotoxicity, birth defects (including fetal death),

decreased fertility, testicular atrophy, and reproductive dysfunction in

both women and men.

 

- In 1997, The American Public Health Association unanimously passed are

solution urging American industry to stop using the chemical chlorine.

 

- Chlorine vapors can irritate your lungs and pose a serious risk to

people who suffer from asthma and other lung problems.

 

- When you open the door of your dishwasher after washing, toxic

volatized chlorine from dish detergent and tap water is released into

the air.

 

- The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has found dioxin to be

300,000 times more potent as a carcinogen than DDT.

 

- Every year, between five and ten million poisonings are caused by

household cleaning products containing toxic ingredients like chlorine.

 

- Studies show that forty to seventy percent of the dioxin in bleached

coffee filters can leach into your coffee; dioxin found in paper milk

cartons also leaches into the milk you drink.

 

- Thanks to chlorine pollution, Americans ingest a daily amount of

dioxin that is already 300 to 600 times greater than the EPA's so-called

" safe " dose.

 

- Pregnant women in their first trimester who drink five or more glasses

of chlorinated tap water a day may be at a much higher risk of

miscarriage than women who drink non-chlorinated water.

 

- Cancer-causing chemicals like chlorine found in many household

products are readily absorbed through the skin.

 

 

http://www.seventhgen.com/making_difference/newsletter_article.php?issue=24 & arti\

cle=10

 

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Chlorine in Household Cleaners

Excerpted from Seventh Generation's Information Bulletin, " Facts about

Chlorine. "

 

Should I worry about chlorine in household cleaners? In a word: YES!

Whether found alone or in a mixture of other chemicals, household

products that contain chlorine pose a number of serious health risks.

Products of special concern include: automatic dishwashing detergents,

chlorine bleach, chlorinated disinfectant cleaners, mildew removers, and

toilet bowl cleaners.

 

Many household cleaners contain chlorine, though it often masquerades

behind aliases such as " sodium hypochlorite " or " hypochlorite. "

 

Breathing in the fumes of cleaners containing a high concentration of

chlorine can irritate the lungs. This is particularly dangerous for

people suffering from heart conditions or chronic respiratory problems

such as asthma or emphysema. And the risks are compounded when the

cleaners are used in small, poorly ventilated rooms, such as the

bathroom. Chlorine is also a highly corrosive substance, capable of

damaging skin, eyes, and other membranes. Chlorine was listed as a

hazardous air pollutant in the 1990 Clean Air Act, and exposure to

chlorine in the workplace is regulated by federal standards.

 

What Can I Do to Protect My Family from the Hazards of Chlorine? You can

do plenty.

 

One of the most important things you can do is buy paper products that

aren't bleached with chlorine. That's because chlorine bleached paper

can contain dioxin and organochlorine residues that can transfer to any

food or person they come in contact with. Choose instead unbleached

paper towels, napkins, facial tissue, and bathroom tissue.

 

How Does Paper Bleaching Affect Me?

 

The EPA says that using bleached coffee filters alone can result in a

lifetime exposure to dioxin that " exceeds acceptable levels " . Choose

instead unbleached coffee filters.

 

Once These Chemicals Are Inside My Body, What Can Happen?

 

* Using detergents that contain chlorine in the dishwasher or clothes

washer can pollute the air in your home. The water in the machines,

which contains chlorine from the detergents, transfers the chlorine to

the air through a process called " volatilization. " We then breathe the

contaminated air. Choose instead cleaning products made without chlorine.

 

* Dishwashers are the worst culprits, releasing chemicals in a steamy

mist when the door is opened after washing. In a clothes washer,

chlorine mixes with the dirt in clothes to generate airborne, toxic

chlorinated organic chemicals. Chlorine-free dishwashing detergents are

readily available.

 

Helpful Hints:

 

* Particularly dangerous are fragranced chlorine bleaches and products

made with chlorine bleach plus surfactants. Disguising the odor –

actually making the experience of inhaling chlorine bleach pleasant –

can lead to over-exposure, as we inhale the fumes unchecked.

 

* Another danger lies in mixing household products containing chlorine,

either intentionally or unintentionally. These mixtures can create

chlorine gas and chloramines, both of which are toxic gases that can

injure the deep tissues of the lungs. Although the number of reported

incidents is relatively small, the percentage of accidents with moderate

to serious outcomes is high.

 

 

Shop for Supplies:

 

Seventh Generation

Link to the full article on chlorine, and learn about chlorine-free

products, at Seventh Generation's web site. http://www.seventhgen.com/

 

Pandora's Poison: Chlorine, Health, and a New Environmental Strategy

by Joe Thornton, Joe Thorton (MIT Press, 2000).

This extremely well written book makes a powerful argument for a

fundamental but practical change in the way government and the chemical

industry do business. It is amazingly well referenced and makes a

powerful case that synthetic chemicals based on chlorine are harming

everyone's health -- not just people who live in polluted areas but the

general public, because hundreds of these chemicals can now be found all

across the planet.

 

 

Links to Resources and Articles:

 

Greenpeace International - Greenpeace International —Greenpeace

International’s Toxics Campaign aims to eliminate hazardous substances

focusing especially on persistant organic pollutants.

www.greenpeace.org

 

Reach for Unbleached - is a Grass roots organization monitoring pulp and

paper mill pollution of the environment and working to abandon

chlorine-based bleaching of paper.

http://www.rfu.org/

 

The Center for Health, Environment and Justice (CHEJ) - was founded in

1981, as the Citizens Clearinghouse for Hazardous Waste (CCHW), by Lois

Gibbs community leader at Love Canal. CHEJ believes in environmental

justice, the principle that people have the right to a clean and healthy

environment regardless of their race or economic standing.

http://www.chej.org/

 

 

http://www.care2.com/channels/solutions/home/101

 

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