What Could Be Lurking in Your Laundry?
By Katie Feldpausch
Although the words natural and clean show up on many mainstream laundry
products, many of them are still saturating your clothes with chemicals
that are irritating to our eyes, lungs and skin, chemicals that are
harsh and possibly toxic. What’s difficult to understand is that
we don’t really know what happens when our bodies come into contact
with chemicals from many different sources because the government doesn’t
require research to determine the safety of household cleaners. Researchers
suggest some chemicals found in conventional laundry products may cause
cancer, disrupt the endocrine system and interfere with the health
of the reproductive systems of wildlife and humans.
Is it Really Considered Clean Laundry if You are Saturating Your
Clothes with Toxins?
Scientists suspect that many ingredients found in laundry detergents
and products may be harmful to our health over the long-term, causing
allergies, skin, lung and eye irritation. Here are the “dirty” cleaning
ingredients.
Surfactants: The bubbles and suds in our washing machine are a result
of surfactants. This ingredient has caused such concern that many European
countries have outlawed the use of surfactants. Alkyl phenol ethoxylates
(APE’s), the most common surfactant, has been identified as a potential
endocrine disrupter. Endocrine disruption can result in a decreased sperm
count and increased risk for testicular cancer, and likely many other
harmful reproductive effects. These compounds also may interfere with
the urogenital tract and nervous system while being particularly dangerous
to a developing fetus. In addition, endocrine disruptors may even interfere
with the function of the uterus, which may possibly lead to cancer and
infertility down the road. Your Healthy Alternative: Look for corn, coconut,
and soy based surfactants to generate suds. They have far less impact
on the health of the environment and humans.
Chlorine: Chlorine causes irritation to the lungs, mucus membranes,
and eyes and is often found in bleach and some detergents. When we use
the bleach, we inhale the chlorine because the hot water causes a vapor
to form and leak into our noses. In fact, we actually begin inhaling
chlorine as soon as we open the bottle or box. Bleach can even affect
our nervous system and trigger respiratory distress or asthma attacks
at very low concentrations. Your Healthy Alternative: Use hydrogen peroxide
to brighten whites. It works just as well as chlorine.
Synthetic Fragrances: “Mountain fresh,” “Spring Rain,” “Ocean
Breeze.” These are a few of the many names for the fresh scents
often found in conventional laundry detergents, fabric softeners and
dryer sheets. These scented chemicals can irritate skin, instigate allergic
reactions, initiate an asthma attack and damage the nervous system. In
addition, some of the chemicals used to add fragrance to these products
are known carcinogens. Research also suggests that there is a potential
link between phthalates (associated with some synthetic fragrances) with
deformities of the penis and testes in infants. Exposure to phthalates
by inhalation can have a serious affect on our health as the fumes easily
build up indoors. Your Healthy Alternative: Avoid skin irritation or
harmful, reactions by using natural essential oils and/or citrus oils
to freshen up your laundry.
Dryer Sheets: Chloroform, camphor, and ethyl acetate are examples of
chemicals that are used in dryer sheets. These compounds just also happen
to be on the Environmental Protection Agencies (EPA’s) Hazardous
Waste list due to potential effects on the nervous system. Since dryer
sheets contact our clothes after they are washed and rinsed, we are exposed
to the chemicals for a longer period of time. Your Healthy Alternative:
Select a natural wash-cycle fabric softener that is vegetable based and
use your favorite essential oils to add the natural fragrances and freshness.
When you do your next load of laundry, stick to the natural stuff so
that you can happily know that your clothes truly clean!
