Friday, February 19, 2010

Labels, labels, labels

I must say I am quite frustrated as I sit at my computer and try to find out exactly what's in my cleaning products. Companies are not required by law to disclose what is in a cleaning product. There are some companies such as Seventh Generation and Trader Joe's are choosing to do so, and to them I give a standing ovation. :) However, even if there was a full ingredient label on every bottle, I probably wouldn't know what's toxic and what's not because even some natural ingredients can be toxic.
So, until I become fully competent in the names of dangerous ingredients, I will be relying on warning labels. These are required by law. DANGER is worse than warning or caution. The product I am using states this: "COMMON-SENSE CAUTION: Eye irritant...flush with plenty of water." This is much better than hold your open eye under a gentle stream of water for 15-20 minutes and call your doctor. Can you imagine trying to do that while your kids are doing who knows what? Or, what if your child gets a little bit on his hands and then touches his eye? Ahh! The thought of holding Ellie or Will's eye open under a stream of water is not pleasant! Here's some more, wash any skin that comes in contact with the product with soap and water for 20 minutes and remove any clothes that come in contact with the product. I've seen all these labels on a bottle of Fantastic cleaner.
If you are interested in a list of harmful ingredients as well as recipes for homemade cleaners, check out this link: http://www.greenerchoices.org/products.cfm?product=greencleaning&page=RightChoices. This is a Consumer Reports website, and I trust them because they are totally independent.

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