Stinky Laundry: Toxic Detergent

Yesterday when I opened my back door I almost got knocked out by the most overwhelming detergent smell I've ever confronted! My very kind & lovable landlady hang dries her clothes on a line just like me, only she uses regular store bought detergent rather then a natural alternative. Not only does regular detergent out gas the most noxious smell even when used in small amounts, but this was like half the box had been dumped in for a one load of clothes. Just trying to walk past the eco savvy drying line of pretty colors was like swimming through a bottle of perfume designed to make you pass out.

What really worries me about products like this being sold to the public is that they are being sold without an ingredients list and under the false pretence that they are regulated and safe. These companies have no one watching over them, chemical additives in detergents and dryer sheets include hazardous substances that are known carcinogens as described by the EPA. The main problem is lack of government regulation on selling toxic chemical based products- and worse the lack of public education about what products we use in our daily lives. This lack of education is compounded by the "trust" consumers put into companies because of the marketing tactics used in advertising & the cheap prices. (Since my BFF is an important guy in an advertising firm, I have learned first hand many of their tactics to get the public to trust and therefore buy- it always will just be hype.)

Still think they wouldn't sell us "rainforest" scented detergent unless it was OK? Think again...check out how the EPA has set up the Safer Detergents Stewardship Initiative (SDSI) in order to try and recognize and catalogue the detergents that are safest for you and the environment. "Safer surfactants are surfactants that break down quickly to non-polluting compounds and help protect aquatic life in both fresh and salt water. Nonylphenol ethoxylates, commonly referred to as NPEs, are an example of a surfactant class that does not meet the definition of a safer surfactant." What poisons aquatic life poisons all life, but since most brands won't list their ingredients you would never know you "clean" your clothes in poison.

Unsafe detergents not only literally stink causing asthma and allergy reactions, but they also are seeping into your skin - so you might not get a rash or blemishes but as the toxic load builds up these types of chems can later cause other chronic illnesses. Many fragrances are also known neurotoxins and I am convinced that the reason my landlady calls me lisa, laura, lindsey, lizza, and every 'L' name but Leslie when she sees me is because she lives in a foggy cloud of detergent & perfume poison that has chems known to funk out our critical thinking skills, fog our thoughts, and some are even engineered to trigger brain functions that make us want to buy things!

Clothes actually need very little if any soap to get them clean, the washer (machine, wonder wash or hands) do most of the real work. A washer repair man once told me you only need a few drops of soap and that "they only tell you that you need more so you'll buy more." Now that is as economical on price as you can get- a box of natural detergent could last you a long time! There are natural alternatives at most healthy groceries - but even a little baking soda or a drop a vinegar will get the job done. Smelling like an artificial flower is not smelling clean...
real clean smells like the sun!

Happy Washing! :)

To Read about specific ingredients of detergents and their effects GO HERE.

Toxic Chemicals, Love Canal, and Our Health

"Today, nearly half of the U.S. population lives within 10 miles of one of EPA’s 1304 active and proposed Superfund sites, according to the Center for Public Integrity, a nonprofit group dedicated to investigative journalism."

I found a fascinating article via the Canary Report about Love Canal... have you ever heard of it? The name was most appropriate before the residents of the area were given an emergency evacuation due to a gumbo of chemicals that began bubbling out of the ground in the school yard and seeping out multi colored goo from their basement walls, causing birth defects and illness to double in their area. It took a few years and a huge community rising to get the government to buy out all their houses and clean up the mess- for quite a while these residents were told that there was no evidence that it was harming their health.

"... one-quarter of the waste was benzene hexachloride, the main component of the pesticide lindane, a neurotoxin. There were chlorobenzenes (used in the synthesis of DDT) and dozens of other organic chemicals, many of which were known to be toxic. The waste also contained an estimated 120 pounds of 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin, commonly called dioxin, which is a byproduct of trichlorophenol manufacture. At the time dioxin was buried at Love Canal, it was not thought to cause disease, but it is now known as one of the most carcinogenic chemicals in the world. "

When the community tried to speak out the government said their testimonials to what was happening in their area was "useless housewife data".

This was back in 1978.

Now we are in 2008 nearly 30 years later and much of the same environmental crisis is going on- much of which is on a large & mysterious scale. One of the major problems for Love Canal was that no matter how people tried to use their voices to say something was wrong, the government only would act on substantial data that they could measure by standards they made up. Tests which couldn't measure much of anything at the time, and unfortunately have scarcely been updated in 30 years. Which is where the major problem lies since the standards of the EPA are , ehem , let's say not in the people's favor as much as they are in industries favor. Marketing & money now talks the talk and educates the masses, with nothing but nonsense to make a sale, to get us all to buy into their products and consumerism. Most of the products we buy have never been tested for chemical exposure safety, how they mix with other common products and what's worse is how they are manufactured is polluting our basic needs too- when the US wants even looser restrictions it just outsources their factory to a poor country and poisons their land & people instead. Some of which that very air pollution is blowing back our way.

While standards for toxic dumping (like what happened at Love Canal) have tightened some, we are still behind the times for testing the mixture of chemical products we bring into our home, build our home with, and shop for in stores. If you are questioning whether we are brainwashed into toxic consumerism and educated by marketing and not with real knowledge just look to the tragedy at Walmart where the worker was trampled to death by swarms of anxious customers convinced they had to get a good deal on Black Friday (at the expense of killing someone and injuring others). This type of tragic acceptance & anxiety on a mass scale is what leads to the environmental disaster that is taking place. I am not even speaking about global warming, or animals going extinct, glaziers melting, or trees being cut down at alarming rates - those are the issues that half the country seems to think are silly "treehugger" ideas. The disaster is right under your nose, under your kitchen sink, filling your washer machine, spewing into the air, on your walls and in your bottle of shampoo. The mixing of all the chemical fragrances (perfume, shampoo, lotion), bleach, household cleaners, detergent chems, preservatives & additives in your food, the paint out gassing on your walls that now contains anti-mildew chems too - stop and think about how you are mixing all these each day, and stop to think of how many people you know with chronic, re-occurring, mysterious health problems, ones that are just achy and the ones that are dieing of cancer.

In reality when we buy into the marketing bullshit we are paying big corporations & big pharma to destroy our health, so that they can fly in their private jets, wear expensive clothes, live in huge houses, and buy more destructive junk being sold by another rich company - continuing a cycle of the rich sickening (or killing) the poor for their own luxuries. We are paying their way and paying all the consequences, and the government sits back and let's it happen because these giant companies are paying government officials too. We all know it is happening, so why are we letting it?

Even in economic strife we must stay strong on demanding the health standards we deserve. And not buy into the big corporation's brainwash, because following their lead is creating a mini Love Canal in each of our homes, schools, and workplace - and in the air we breathe, the soil we grow food, and the water that is vital to our life.

Do you live near a Superfund site? Go HERE to check.

Want to learn more about where the stuff you buy really comes from? Go HERE to watch The Story of Stuff.

Watch a Documentary on Love Canal HERE.