Is My House Making My Kid Sick?
New Book Helps Keep Kids Healthy by Ridding Home of Harmful Products
When her infant son got sick, Lindsey Carmichael began looking for causes in the foods she fed her family and in the cleaning and personal care products she purchased. It was an eye-opening search revealing a myriad of toxins lurking in everyday items.
Carmichael soon quit her management-consulting job to pursue a Masters in Public Health at the University of New Hampshire. Her research uncovered thousands of harmful chemicals, most of which are unregulated, requiring no testing for use in consumer products.
The work inspired Carmichael to write Greening Your Family: A Reference Guide to Safe Food, Personal Care, & Cleaning Products. The book differs from other "green guides" as it's written by a mom for moms in a user-friendly format that can be easily skimmed at the grocery store.
Harmful Ingredients in Household Products
According to Carmichael, potentially harmful items run the gamut from pesticide-laden fruit, to all-purpose cleaners, to canned soup. Two particularly egregious ingredients are parabens, used to prevent bacterial growth in foods and other products, and phthalates, chemicals often used as plasticizers in shampoos. Both substances are hormone disrupters that can increase the risk of cancer and reproductive health issues.
Another antibacterial agent, triclosan, which the Environmental Protection Agency regards as hazardous waste, is often used as a foaming agent in toothpaste. An especially toxic item is dryer sheets that, when heated, release chemicals linked to reproductive disorders and cancer. "They bathe your clothes, and your skin absorbs about 60 percent of them," Carmichael says.
Carmichael's book lists the many hazardous chemicals that appear in product ingredient listings. Her policy was to focus on chemical classes and ingredients rather than reference name-brand products. Her book does list national producers of organic foods.
How to Use Greening Your Family
Carmichael advises families wishing to make changes to first assess what products they use most often and switch to safer products or brands for those items. For budget-conscious "greening" she recommends making one's own cleaning supplies, which can be done for pennies on the dollar.
In a nutshell, Carmichael advises health-conscious consumers to "Buy as much organic produce as you can, including meat and dairy products free of hormones and antibiotics, and filter your water."
As Carmichael's shopping habits changed, her son's health improved. She observed that kids have a lot of behaviors that make them susceptible to the toxic chemicals in cleaning products. "Many chemical ingredients are heavier than ambient air and hang out close to the floor, where kids hang out, touching things and putting their hands in their mouths," Carmichael says. "Children also lack an adult's ability to detoxifying their bodies."
Greening Your Family includes:
- Health information on three main types of products: food, household cleaners and personal care items
- Twenty easy-to-follow charts to make informed buying decisions
- Recipes for creating homemade safe cleaners
- Information on where to purchase green and organic products
- A wealth of web-based resources
- Information about legislation, particularly products with limited government oversight, such as baby shampoo and dishwasher soap.
Greening Your Family By Lindsey Carmichael, MPH, 136 pp. Peter A. Randall Publisher. $14.00
Carmichael's primary goal in writing the book is to help families change to healthier shopping habits. Long term, she hopes it will lead to legislation regulating the use of injurious chemicals. "Thankfully, we live in a country that is responsive to consumer demand and the list of products void of these ingredients is growing quickly," Carmichael says. "I feel every family, especially those with young children, should own a copy of this book."
Greening Your Family Author Lindsey Carmichael
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Cover Art For Greening Your Family
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