As consumers, my wife and I have always assumed that as long as a product was available on the shelf at our local supermarkets, building supply or department stores, or any retail store, they were completely, 100% safe. However, once we began reading the labels on these products, especially focusing on the “active ingredient”, we found that many contained pollutants and toxins and some even had carcinogenic qualities! I found the following from an article at Clean Link:
Most people have no idea about the active ingredient. “It’s irresponsible for us not to know. We’re not all chemists, but we better be that way fast,” states Lea Buburuz, corporation cleaning consultant for the British Columbia Buildings Corporation (BCBC) in Victoria, which provides real estate services to the provincial government and the public. Buburuz oversees cleaning operations, including chemical decisions, for more than 2,000 properties. Before allowing a new chemical into her inventory, Buburuz requests a full-disclosure Material Safety Data Sheet (MSDS) from the supplier. She maintains a list of banned substances, both by chemical and by brand name, and if any of the ingredients in the chemical are on the list, she won’t purchase it.
I looked up her sample excluded list on the website, and recognized several common active ingredients that I have seen listed on some of the products in my home. That’s when I decided to start a complete, whole house inventory.
Multiple Chemical Sensitivity (MCS) is the name given to a syndrome now suspected of affecting millions of people. The following is an excerpt from Albert F. Robbins, D.O., MSPH, FAAEM, Board Certified: Preventive Medicine,Occupational/Environmental Medicine:
"I have updated my viewpoint on MCS because it is has become a serious but poorly recognized silent epidemic. Both the Yale Occupational Medicine Clinic in New Haven,Connecticut and the Mount Sinai Occupational Medicine Clinic in New York City increasingly diagnose and recognize this serious environmental illness. Over 20 states have proclamations signed by their Governors making May,2007 MCS Awareness Month throughout the U.S.A."
We also began to consider Indoor Air Quality. According to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA): "In the last several years, a growing body of scientific evidence has indicated that the air within homes and other buildings can be more seriously polluted than the outdoor air in even the largest and most industrialized cities.” In coming issues, I will share with you what we found by looking through the products in our garage, kitchen, bathrooms, closets and pantry and provide you with resources with which you can perform your own green audit and protect the health of your family.
In the meantime, if you have not already done so, you can start your Going Green process by making sure you recycle and changing out those spent incandescent bulbs with CFLs or better yet, LED’s. While you are at it, don’t forget to save paper by requesting e-statements from your bank or credit union.
Keith Winn is the COO of GreenProfit Solutions, Inc. which assists businesses in becoming environmentally responsible. You may view their website at www.greenprofitsolutions.com or e-mail Keith at kwinn@greenprofitsolutions.com .
