Here are two articles for organizing your closet and making sure your closet keeps you healthy...
7 Ways to Organize Your Closet, the Eco-Way (hint: it's doesn't involve buying stuff, because consumerism is anti-"green"!)
Healthy Green Closet
Showing posts with label healthy homes. Show all posts
Showing posts with label healthy homes. Show all posts
6.11.08
5.11.08
Winterizing your home.
You can check out the Alliance to Save Energy, and at this link they even have state-by-state info!
6.10.08
On being an energy-efficient renter
From Grist:
Renting is a blessing and a curse: little control, and little responsibility. You don't get to make long-term, expensive investments, but you can certainly undergo behavior modifications to reduce your energy bills. I've offered the generally recommended steps over the years, and I'm happy to collect them all here. We might as well go room by room.
In the KITCHEN, our main hope for energy savings is in reducing hot water use in the sink and dishwasher. Install low-flow attachments on the sink -- and, in fact, on all the faucets in your apartment. If you have a dishwasher that's not a dinosaur, use it; the newer models are more efficient than cleaning dishes by hand. Run it only when full, and don't use the "heated dry" setting. Use a dish tub if you do have to lave the old-fashioned way. Keep the fridge and freezer relatively full and at 36 to 38 degrees Fahrenheit for the main compartment and between 0 and 5 degrees for the freezer. Turns out, cleaning the coils doesn't make a big difference in fridge energy use. Phew. (As an aside, replacing an old refrigerator with an Energy Star model is good, so if you can persuade your landlord ...) Microwaves and plug-in kettles are more efficient than using the stovetop and oven.
Over in the bathroom, we can continue our crusade to get in less hot water. We've already installed a flow restrictor on the faucet, and now we can put a low-flow head on the shower. Take short showers and fewer baths if you can bear it (I personally find bath restriction an onerous duty).
In the bedroom, a major help is to have an ample comforter, so the thermostat can be turned down as far as possible at night. The overall goal, of course, is to keep the thermostat as low as you can when it's cold outside, and as high and un-air conditioned as you can when it's warm. If you or the landlord can pony up the dollars for a programmable thermostat, it may be worth it. They're fairly cheap, and they always remember to lower the heat while we're at work -- something we ourselves might forget. It takes less energy to reheat or re-cool the apartment when you get home than it takes to keep it toasty or cool while you're away.
Throughout your dwelling, replace incandescent bulbs with compact fluorescents, and turn off lights when you leave a room. Turn off your computer if you're not going to use it for an hour. Unplug electronic devices that come with LED lights or standby functions: These draw small amounts of power that add up over time. The same goes for "wall warts" such as cell phones and iPod chargers -- even when they're not charging anything, they're drawing phantom energy. Power strips are a handy way to turn off a whole bunch of the suckers at once.
There is also a lot you can do with your windows, which can be huge panes in the glass (sorry). Windows, seriously, are a major source of excess heat loss and heat gain, but here I'll refer you to a previous column that examines the problem in detail. Suffice it to say that key items for window efficiency include curtains, caulk, and glazing. As to doors, if your apartment has one leading to the outside, you might consider putting weather-stripping around the jamb.
What else? Laundry should be washed in cold water and hung dry when possible. If you're doing all these things already and have rooms and quandaries I haven't imagined, then I have failed you today. Write back and let me know, and I'll see if I can dig a little deeper.
Guaranteedly,
Umbra
3.10.08
Follow-up to "Air Freshners: Not so good for you"
Indoor Air Clean-Up
There's perhaps no month as filled with ritual as October. As we make our annual journey across the weeks between summer and winter, there are gardens to put to bed, leaves to leap in, pumpkins to carve, and homes to ready for the coming cold.
For many of us that means sealing windows, adding weatherstripping to doors, and adopting other strategies that tighten our dwellings to better hold their precious warmth. That's a good thing where energy conservation is concerned, but a well-sealed home traps more than heat ― it can trap odors, stale air, and other olfactory nuisances, too.
To mask the smelliness, we often turn to air fresheners. From aerosols and plug-in units to potpourris and scented candles, fragrance products are a $9 billion a year industry. Yet researchers sniffing out the truth about them have found that such products frequently contain more than a pleasant scent.
According to the Children's Health Environmental Coalition, the fragrance products industry relies on over 3,000 different chemical compounds to create its olfactory wonders. These include flammable propellants like butane and propane; terpenes, xylene, benzene, and other volatile organic compounds; petroleum distillates like naphthalene; and chemicals like phenol, cresol, and paradichlorobenzene. Recently, a Canadian Broadcasting Corporation investigation of air fresheners found that nearly a third of the samples tested contained phthalates.
These and other ingredients are combined in air freshener formulas to create products intentionally designed to fill our homes with invisible airborne fumes that linger in the air where they can be repeatedly inhaled. And manufacturers aren't required to tell us exactly what's in the air fresheners we buy. Instead, most hide their ingredients behind generic label terms like "fragrance" and "scent agent." When we use these products, we have no way of knowing what we're really breathing, and in winter's sealed-up homes, our exposure to them can be nearly constant.
For a safer choice, stick to natural air freshening strategies. Here's a list of our favorite ways to deodorize your domicile:
* First, track down and eliminate the sources of any persistent bad odors in your home. Since many foul smells are the result of molds or microbial action, spraying or scrubbing trouble spots like trash cans and compost collectors with undiluted 3% solution of hydrogen peroxide will often remove the foul smells. Vinegar is another useful natural antifungal and antibacterial agent.
* Use natural mineral borax and/or baking soda to deodorize surfaces and other places in your home. Because baking soda removes acid odors and vinegar takes care of alkaline smells, a combination of the two is often all you'll need to deodorize as you clean. Lemon juice is another great deodorizer.
* Open windows and doors for a few moments now and then during winter to replace stale indoor air with a fresh supply from outside.
* If odors persist, make your own air freshening spray by combining 5-10 drops of an essential oil like lavender, lemon, peppermint, bergamot, balsam, eucalyptus, tea tree, or sweet orange in a spray bottle with two cups of water.
* To scent indoor air, place a drop of your favorite essential oil on a light bulb prior to turning it on or add a dozen drops to a bowl of water placed on a radiator. Fragrant dried herbs, cinnamon sticks, or cloves boiled in a pot of water will also release a fresh smell.
* Place a couple of drops of essential oil on your vacuum cleaner's exhaust filter to freshen exiting air. A few drops of lemon juice on your vacuum cleaner bag will do the same trick.
* If you burn candles to scent air make sure yours are made natural waxes like soy rather than petroleum-based paraffin wax. Choose candles with lead-free wicks and naturally-derived scents. And use them sparingly ― natural candles may be safer but they're still filling your air with small amounts of combustion byproducts.
* Problem situations can sometimes be helped by an air purifier that contains an activated charcoal filter. Don't use devices that generate ozone, which is a hazardous pollutant.
There's perhaps no month as filled with ritual as October. As we make our annual journey across the weeks between summer and winter, there are gardens to put to bed, leaves to leap in, pumpkins to carve, and homes to ready for the coming cold.
For many of us that means sealing windows, adding weatherstripping to doors, and adopting other strategies that tighten our dwellings to better hold their precious warmth. That's a good thing where energy conservation is concerned, but a well-sealed home traps more than heat ― it can trap odors, stale air, and other olfactory nuisances, too.
To mask the smelliness, we often turn to air fresheners. From aerosols and plug-in units to potpourris and scented candles, fragrance products are a $9 billion a year industry. Yet researchers sniffing out the truth about them have found that such products frequently contain more than a pleasant scent.
According to the Children's Health Environmental Coalition, the fragrance products industry relies on over 3,000 different chemical compounds to create its olfactory wonders. These include flammable propellants like butane and propane; terpenes, xylene, benzene, and other volatile organic compounds; petroleum distillates like naphthalene; and chemicals like phenol, cresol, and paradichlorobenzene. Recently, a Canadian Broadcasting Corporation investigation of air fresheners found that nearly a third of the samples tested contained phthalates.
These and other ingredients are combined in air freshener formulas to create products intentionally designed to fill our homes with invisible airborne fumes that linger in the air where they can be repeatedly inhaled. And manufacturers aren't required to tell us exactly what's in the air fresheners we buy. Instead, most hide their ingredients behind generic label terms like "fragrance" and "scent agent." When we use these products, we have no way of knowing what we're really breathing, and in winter's sealed-up homes, our exposure to them can be nearly constant.
For a safer choice, stick to natural air freshening strategies. Here's a list of our favorite ways to deodorize your domicile:
* First, track down and eliminate the sources of any persistent bad odors in your home. Since many foul smells are the result of molds or microbial action, spraying or scrubbing trouble spots like trash cans and compost collectors with undiluted 3% solution of hydrogen peroxide will often remove the foul smells. Vinegar is another useful natural antifungal and antibacterial agent.
* Use natural mineral borax and/or baking soda to deodorize surfaces and other places in your home. Because baking soda removes acid odors and vinegar takes care of alkaline smells, a combination of the two is often all you'll need to deodorize as you clean. Lemon juice is another great deodorizer.
* Open windows and doors for a few moments now and then during winter to replace stale indoor air with a fresh supply from outside.
* If odors persist, make your own air freshening spray by combining 5-10 drops of an essential oil like lavender, lemon, peppermint, bergamot, balsam, eucalyptus, tea tree, or sweet orange in a spray bottle with two cups of water.
* To scent indoor air, place a drop of your favorite essential oil on a light bulb prior to turning it on or add a dozen drops to a bowl of water placed on a radiator. Fragrant dried herbs, cinnamon sticks, or cloves boiled in a pot of water will also release a fresh smell.
* Place a couple of drops of essential oil on your vacuum cleaner's exhaust filter to freshen exiting air. A few drops of lemon juice on your vacuum cleaner bag will do the same trick.
* If you burn candles to scent air make sure yours are made natural waxes like soy rather than petroleum-based paraffin wax. Choose candles with lead-free wicks and naturally-derived scents. And use them sparingly ― natural candles may be safer but they're still filling your air with small amounts of combustion byproducts.
* Problem situations can sometimes be helped by an air purifier that contains an activated charcoal filter. Don't use devices that generate ozone, which is a hazardous pollutant.
1.10.08
November is Domestic Violence Awarness Month.
Myths and Facts about Domestic Violence
MYTH #1: DOMESTIC VIOLENCE AFFECTS ONLY A SMALL PERCENTAGE OF THE POPULATION AND IS RARE.
FACT: National studies estimate that 3 to 4 million women are beaten each year in our country. A study conducted in 1995 found that 31% of women surveyed admitted to having been physically assaulted by a husband or boyfriend. Domestic violence is the leading cause of injury to women between the ages of 15 and 44 in our country, and the FBI estimates that a woman is beaten every 15 seconds. Thirty percent of female homicide victims are killed by partners or ex-partners and 1,500 women are murdered as a result of domestic violence each year in the United States.
MYTH #2: DOMESTIC VIOLENCE OCCURS ONLY IN POOR, UNEDUCATED AND MINORITY FAMILIES.
FACT: Studies of domestic violence consistently have found that battering occurs among all types of families, regardless of income, profession, region, ethnicity, educational level or race. However, the fact that lower income victims and abusers are over-represented in calls to police, battered women's shelters and social services may be due to a lack of other resources.
MYTH #3: THE REAL PROBLEM IS COUPLES WHO ASSAULT EACH OTHER. WOMEN ARE JUST AS VIOLENT AS MEN.
FACT: A well-publicized study conducted by Dr. Murray Strauss at the University of New Hampshire found that women use violent means to resolve conflict in relationships as often as men. However, the study also concluded that when the context and consequences of an assault are measured, the majority of victims are women. The U.S. Department of Justice has found that 95% of the victims of spouse abuse are female. Men can be victims, but it is rare.
MYTH #4: ALCOHOL ABUSE CAUSES DOMESTIC VIOLENCE.
FACT: Although there is a high correlation between alcohol, or other substance abuse, and battering, it is not a causal relationship. Batterers use drinking as one of many excuses for their violence and as a way to place the responsibility for their violence elsewhere. Stopping the abusers' drinking will not stop the violence. Both battering and substance abuse need to be addressed separately, as overlapping yet independent problems.
MYTH #5: DOMESTIC VIOLENCE IS USUALLY A ONE TIME, ISOLATED OCCURRENCE.
FACT: Battering is a pattern of coercion and control that one person exerts over another. Battering is not just one physical attack. It includes the repeated use of a number of tactics, including intimidation, threats, economic deprivation, isolation and psychological and sexual abuse. Physical violence is just one of these tactics. The various forms of abuse utilized by batterers help to maintain power and control over their spouses and partners.
MYTH #6: MEN WHO BATTER ARE OFTEN GOOD FATHERS AND SHOULD HAVE JOINT CUSTODY OF THEIR CHILDREN IF THE COUPLE SEPARATES.
Fact: Studies have found that men who batter their wives also abuse their children in 70% of cases. Even when children are not directly abused, they suffer as a result of witnessing one parent assault another. Batterers often display an increased interest in their children at the time of separation, as a means of maintaining contact with, and thus control over, their partners.
MYTH #7: WHEN THERE IS VIOLENCE IN THE FAMILY, ALL MEMBERS OF THE FAMILY ARE PARTICIPATING IN THE DYNAMIC, AND THEREFORE, ALL MUST CHANGE FOR THE VIOLENCE TO STOP.
FACT: Only the batterer has the ability to stop the violence. Battering is a behavioral choice for which the batterer must be held accountable. Many battered women make numerous attempts to change their behavior in the hope that this will stop the abuse. This does not work. Changes in family members' behavior will not cause the batterer to be non-violent.
MYTH #8: BATTERED WOMEN ARE MASOCHISTIC AND PROVOKE THE ABUSE. THEY MUST LIKE IT OR THEY WOULD LEAVE.
FACT: Victim provocation is no more common in domestic violence than in any other crime. Battered women often make repeated attempts to leave violent relationships, but are prevented from doing so by increased violence and control tactics on the part of the abuser. Other factors which inhibit a victim's ability to leave include economic dependence, few viable options for housing and support, unhelpful responses from the criminal justice system or other agencies, social isolation, cultural or religious constraints, a commitment to the abuser and the relationship and fear of further violence. It has been estimated that the danger to a victim increases by 70% when she attempts to leave, as the abuser escalates his use of violence when he begins to lose control.
MYTH #9: MEN HAVE A RIGHT TO DISCIPLINE THEIR PARTNERS FOR MISBEHAVING. BATTERING IS NOT A CRIME.
FACT: While our society derives from a patriarchal legal system that afforded men the right to physically chastise their wives and children, we do not live under such a system now. Women and children are no longer considered the property of men, and domestic violence is a crime in every state In the country.
MYTH #1: DOMESTIC VIOLENCE AFFECTS ONLY A SMALL PERCENTAGE OF THE POPULATION AND IS RARE.
FACT: National studies estimate that 3 to 4 million women are beaten each year in our country. A study conducted in 1995 found that 31% of women surveyed admitted to having been physically assaulted by a husband or boyfriend. Domestic violence is the leading cause of injury to women between the ages of 15 and 44 in our country, and the FBI estimates that a woman is beaten every 15 seconds. Thirty percent of female homicide victims are killed by partners or ex-partners and 1,500 women are murdered as a result of domestic violence each year in the United States.
MYTH #2: DOMESTIC VIOLENCE OCCURS ONLY IN POOR, UNEDUCATED AND MINORITY FAMILIES.
FACT: Studies of domestic violence consistently have found that battering occurs among all types of families, regardless of income, profession, region, ethnicity, educational level or race. However, the fact that lower income victims and abusers are over-represented in calls to police, battered women's shelters and social services may be due to a lack of other resources.
MYTH #3: THE REAL PROBLEM IS COUPLES WHO ASSAULT EACH OTHER. WOMEN ARE JUST AS VIOLENT AS MEN.
FACT: A well-publicized study conducted by Dr. Murray Strauss at the University of New Hampshire found that women use violent means to resolve conflict in relationships as often as men. However, the study also concluded that when the context and consequences of an assault are measured, the majority of victims are women. The U.S. Department of Justice has found that 95% of the victims of spouse abuse are female. Men can be victims, but it is rare.
MYTH #4: ALCOHOL ABUSE CAUSES DOMESTIC VIOLENCE.
FACT: Although there is a high correlation between alcohol, or other substance abuse, and battering, it is not a causal relationship. Batterers use drinking as one of many excuses for their violence and as a way to place the responsibility for their violence elsewhere. Stopping the abusers' drinking will not stop the violence. Both battering and substance abuse need to be addressed separately, as overlapping yet independent problems.
MYTH #5: DOMESTIC VIOLENCE IS USUALLY A ONE TIME, ISOLATED OCCURRENCE.
FACT: Battering is a pattern of coercion and control that one person exerts over another. Battering is not just one physical attack. It includes the repeated use of a number of tactics, including intimidation, threats, economic deprivation, isolation and psychological and sexual abuse. Physical violence is just one of these tactics. The various forms of abuse utilized by batterers help to maintain power and control over their spouses and partners.
MYTH #6: MEN WHO BATTER ARE OFTEN GOOD FATHERS AND SHOULD HAVE JOINT CUSTODY OF THEIR CHILDREN IF THE COUPLE SEPARATES.
Fact: Studies have found that men who batter their wives also abuse their children in 70% of cases. Even when children are not directly abused, they suffer as a result of witnessing one parent assault another. Batterers often display an increased interest in their children at the time of separation, as a means of maintaining contact with, and thus control over, their partners.
MYTH #7: WHEN THERE IS VIOLENCE IN THE FAMILY, ALL MEMBERS OF THE FAMILY ARE PARTICIPATING IN THE DYNAMIC, AND THEREFORE, ALL MUST CHANGE FOR THE VIOLENCE TO STOP.
FACT: Only the batterer has the ability to stop the violence. Battering is a behavioral choice for which the batterer must be held accountable. Many battered women make numerous attempts to change their behavior in the hope that this will stop the abuse. This does not work. Changes in family members' behavior will not cause the batterer to be non-violent.
MYTH #8: BATTERED WOMEN ARE MASOCHISTIC AND PROVOKE THE ABUSE. THEY MUST LIKE IT OR THEY WOULD LEAVE.
FACT: Victim provocation is no more common in domestic violence than in any other crime. Battered women often make repeated attempts to leave violent relationships, but are prevented from doing so by increased violence and control tactics on the part of the abuser. Other factors which inhibit a victim's ability to leave include economic dependence, few viable options for housing and support, unhelpful responses from the criminal justice system or other agencies, social isolation, cultural or religious constraints, a commitment to the abuser and the relationship and fear of further violence. It has been estimated that the danger to a victim increases by 70% when she attempts to leave, as the abuser escalates his use of violence when he begins to lose control.
MYTH #9: MEN HAVE A RIGHT TO DISCIPLINE THEIR PARTNERS FOR MISBEHAVING. BATTERING IS NOT A CRIME.
FACT: While our society derives from a patriarchal legal system that afforded men the right to physically chastise their wives and children, we do not live under such a system now. Women and children are no longer considered the property of men, and domestic violence is a crime in every state In the country.
14.8.08
Air Freshners: Not so good for you.
A friend asked me to send this article to her... Thought I'd post it here, too.
p.s. if you ever get a chance to see Spring Awakening, for the love of god, see it! It's an amazing musical based on a banned late 1800's play about what happens when sexuality, curiosity, and free will are repressed, especially with teenagers... It's amazing, I really can't say enough about it.
-----------------------------
There’s always been a something a little unsettling about the idea of revitalizing the air inside our homes by spraying things with names like “Meadow Mist” and “Mountain Breeze” all over the place, especially when such products hardly smell like either. Now two new studies have found that our suspicions were correct: synthetic air fresheners are coating our homes and filling our air with unsafe chemicals.
Used in 75% of American households, air fresheners are a huge industry that generates sales of $1.72 billion a year. Found in everything from plug-in disposable appliances and fake candles to sprays and peel-and-stick evaporative disks, these products don’t actually eliminate odors but merely use one of several strategies to make you think they’ve vanished. Some products simply cover up bad smells with stronger chemicals. Some use a nerve-deadening agent to reduce your ability to smell in the first place; while others coat the inside of your nasal passages with a film that stops smells from getting through. Now a new study from the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) finds they’re doing something else as well: polluting our indoor air whenever we use them.
The NRDC tested 14 different air fresheners, including those labeled “all-natural,” and found that all but two contained measurable levels of phthalates, synthetic chemicals linked to asthma, endocrine disruption, and other serious health problems. (For more about phthalates see the February 2006 issue of the Non-Toxic Times at Seventh Generation) The amounts of phthalates found ranged from 0.12 parts per million (ppm) to an extraordinary 7,300 ppm. Only two of the tested products contained no phthalates at all.
Researchers said that though the number of products tested was small and couldn’t be said to form a representative sampling, the study’s results clearly indicate the need for more comprehensive testing of these common consumer products, especially in light of the fact that the federal government neither tests air fresheners nor requires their manufacturers to list product ingredients or adhere to any specific safety standards.
In response to the study, Walgreens stores, whose private label air fresheners contained the highest levels of phthalates reported by the study, removed the offending products from their shelves in a commendable example of a company taking swift action to right a toxicological wrong.
Hot on the heels of that decision came news of a study published in the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, which found that the use of spray cleaners in general greatly increases the risk of contracting asthma. Researchers in Barcelona, Spain found that test subjects who used spray cleaners at least once a week had a 30-50% greater chance of developing this respiratory disease and concluded that as many as one in seven cases of adult asthma could be blamed on exposure to spray cleaners. The study singled out conventional glass cleaners, furniture sprays, and air fresheners as particularly likely to trigger the ailment.
Clearly, conventional air fresheners have no place in a healthy home. In addition to phthalates, air freshener toxins can include naphthalene, phenol, cresol, dichlorobenzene, and xylene among many others. These chemicals have been implicated in cancer, neurological damage, reproductive and developmental disorders and other conditions.
For these reasons, indoor air quality experts recommend against using air fresheners or room deodorizes of any kind. Instead, try these safe methods to freshen the air in your home:
• Locate sources of odors and eliminate them when and wherever possible. Since many odors are the result of microbial action, spraying trouble spots and potentially problematic areas (like trash cans, compost containers, etc.) with an undiluted 3 percent solution of hydrogen peroxide (the concentration typically available in stores) will remove many odors.
• Use natural minerals like baking soda and borax to control common odor sources and to deodorize when you clean.
• Keep windows open as much as possible to let bad air out and good air in. If odors are still troubling, invest in an air purifier with activated carbon filtration, a strategy that can remove odors.
• To scent indoor air, place a drop of a natural essential oil like lavender or mint on a cold light bulb, or add a dozen drops to a bowl of water placed on a radiator or wood stove. You can also boil fragrant dried herbs in a pot of water to release a fresh smell.
• A natural mineral called zeolite is available in packets that will absorb odors when hung in problem areas like musty basements and closets.
• Make your own sprays from essential oils and other natural ingredients. For recipes and more information, we recommend the book Better Basics for the Home, by Annie Berthold Bond.
To learn more about the NRDC study, visit this link. For more information about the research published by the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine,click here.
p.s. if you ever get a chance to see Spring Awakening, for the love of god, see it! It's an amazing musical based on a banned late 1800's play about what happens when sexuality, curiosity, and free will are repressed, especially with teenagers... It's amazing, I really can't say enough about it.
-----------------------------
There’s always been a something a little unsettling about the idea of revitalizing the air inside our homes by spraying things with names like “Meadow Mist” and “Mountain Breeze” all over the place, especially when such products hardly smell like either. Now two new studies have found that our suspicions were correct: synthetic air fresheners are coating our homes and filling our air with unsafe chemicals.
Used in 75% of American households, air fresheners are a huge industry that generates sales of $1.72 billion a year. Found in everything from plug-in disposable appliances and fake candles to sprays and peel-and-stick evaporative disks, these products don’t actually eliminate odors but merely use one of several strategies to make you think they’ve vanished. Some products simply cover up bad smells with stronger chemicals. Some use a nerve-deadening agent to reduce your ability to smell in the first place; while others coat the inside of your nasal passages with a film that stops smells from getting through. Now a new study from the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) finds they’re doing something else as well: polluting our indoor air whenever we use them.
The NRDC tested 14 different air fresheners, including those labeled “all-natural,” and found that all but two contained measurable levels of phthalates, synthetic chemicals linked to asthma, endocrine disruption, and other serious health problems. (For more about phthalates see the February 2006 issue of the Non-Toxic Times at Seventh Generation) The amounts of phthalates found ranged from 0.12 parts per million (ppm) to an extraordinary 7,300 ppm. Only two of the tested products contained no phthalates at all.
Researchers said that though the number of products tested was small and couldn’t be said to form a representative sampling, the study’s results clearly indicate the need for more comprehensive testing of these common consumer products, especially in light of the fact that the federal government neither tests air fresheners nor requires their manufacturers to list product ingredients or adhere to any specific safety standards.
In response to the study, Walgreens stores, whose private label air fresheners contained the highest levels of phthalates reported by the study, removed the offending products from their shelves in a commendable example of a company taking swift action to right a toxicological wrong.
Hot on the heels of that decision came news of a study published in the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, which found that the use of spray cleaners in general greatly increases the risk of contracting asthma. Researchers in Barcelona, Spain found that test subjects who used spray cleaners at least once a week had a 30-50% greater chance of developing this respiratory disease and concluded that as many as one in seven cases of adult asthma could be blamed on exposure to spray cleaners. The study singled out conventional glass cleaners, furniture sprays, and air fresheners as particularly likely to trigger the ailment.
Clearly, conventional air fresheners have no place in a healthy home. In addition to phthalates, air freshener toxins can include naphthalene, phenol, cresol, dichlorobenzene, and xylene among many others. These chemicals have been implicated in cancer, neurological damage, reproductive and developmental disorders and other conditions.
For these reasons, indoor air quality experts recommend against using air fresheners or room deodorizes of any kind. Instead, try these safe methods to freshen the air in your home:
• Locate sources of odors and eliminate them when and wherever possible. Since many odors are the result of microbial action, spraying trouble spots and potentially problematic areas (like trash cans, compost containers, etc.) with an undiluted 3 percent solution of hydrogen peroxide (the concentration typically available in stores) will remove many odors.
• Use natural minerals like baking soda and borax to control common odor sources and to deodorize when you clean.
• Keep windows open as much as possible to let bad air out and good air in. If odors are still troubling, invest in an air purifier with activated carbon filtration, a strategy that can remove odors.
• To scent indoor air, place a drop of a natural essential oil like lavender or mint on a cold light bulb, or add a dozen drops to a bowl of water placed on a radiator or wood stove. You can also boil fragrant dried herbs in a pot of water to release a fresh smell.
• A natural mineral called zeolite is available in packets that will absorb odors when hung in problem areas like musty basements and closets.
• Make your own sprays from essential oils and other natural ingredients. For recipes and more information, we recommend the book Better Basics for the Home, by Annie Berthold Bond.
To learn more about the NRDC study, visit this link. For more information about the research published by the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine,click here.
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