Excerpts from “How to Survive on a Toxic Planet” by Dr. Steve Nugent
Chapter 11 – Dealing with Household Toxins – page 128
Your Home – More Toxic Than You May Realize
 The average home contains 3 to 10 gallons of hazardous
materials.
 The average household typically uses and stores more than
60 hazardous products, including household cleaners,
automotive products, paints, solvents and pesticides.
 In 1999, 2.1 million human poisonings were reported to
poison control centres in the US. More than 50 per cent of
these cases involved children.
 The US government has not conducted even basic toxicity
testing for about 75% of the 15,000 high-volume chemicals in
commercial use. Also more than 90% of these high volume chemicals have not been
tested for specific health effects for children.
 EPA studies of human exposure to air pollutants indicate that indoor air levels of
many pollutants may be 2 to 5 times higher than outdoor levels. Cleaning products
and other household products are among the many culprits.
 Over 250 chemicals found in the average home have been linked to allergies, birth
defects, cancer and psychological abnormalities.
Toxic Household Products
Today the number of toxins found in the average home is astounding. Things that you
wouldn’t give a second thought to may be making you sick or even worse. Why are
there currently 6.3 American children with asthma? What chemicals in your home can
cause fatigue, dizziness or worse?
Your closet can affect the world
During dry cleaning of your clothes, liquid chemical solvents are used to remove stains
from fabrics. In an earlier chapter, we mentioned that the primary chemicals of concern
are perchlororethylene also known as “Perc”. The EPA estimates there are
approximately 30,000 dry cleaners using Perc. Improper storage, handling and disposal
of Perc along with other volatile organic compounds used in dry cleaning resulted in
significant contamination of our soil and ground water. Perc does not bind well to soil,
so it may move rapidly through soil and into ground water where it does not dissolve
completely.
In a study published by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), 1,708 dry cleaning
workers exposed to Perc had elevated standardized mortality ratios for tongue, bladder,
esophagus, intestine, lung and cervical cancer. They also exhibited a statistically
significant increase in diseases of the stomach and duodenum.
Common Household Toxins
 Hyper chlorite (chlorine bleach) is a lung and eye irritant. Household bleach is the
most common cleaner accidentally swallowed by children. If mixed with ammonia or
acid based cleaners (including vinegar), releases highly toxic chloramine gas. Short
term exposure to chloramine gas may cause mild asthmatic symptoms or more
serious respiratory problems.
Michael Smith, ID#44809085 905-842-9616, Email: support@yourhealthandmine.net
Web: www.yourhealthandmine.net
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Petroleum distillates (metal polishes). Short term exposure can cause temporary
eye clouding. Longer exposure can damage the nervous system, skin, kidneys and
eyes.
Ammonia (glass cleaner) is a lung and skin irritant. If mixed with chlorine, releases
chloramine gas. Short term exposure to chloramine gas may cause coughing,
choking and lung damage. Asthmatics may be particularly vulnerable to chloramine
gas.
Phenol and cresol (disinfectants) are corrosive. They can cause diarrhea, fainting,
dizziness and kidney/liver damage.
Nitrobenzene (furniture and floor polishes) can cause shallow breathing, vomiting
and death. Associated with cancer and birth defects.
Formaldehyde (preservative in many household products; used as a glue in particle
board and plywood furniture). It is a probable human carcinogen.
Perchloroethylene (Perc) is used in dry cleaning solvents, spot removers and
carpet cleaners. It is liked to tongue, bladder, esophagus, intestine, lung and cervical
cancer.
Naphthalene or Para dichlorobenzene (moth balls, toilet bowl cleaners) can irritate
eyes, skin and respiratory tract. Chronic exposure to naphthalene can cause damage
to the liver, kidneys, skin and central nervous system. Para dichlorobenzene is a
probable carcinogen that can also harm the central nervous system, liver and
kidneys. High concentration of fumes may irritate eyes, nose, throat and lungs.
Hydrochloric acid or sodium acid sulfate (toilet bowl cleaners) can either burn the
skin or cause vomiting, diarrhea and stomach burns if swallowed. It can cause
blindness if inadvertently splashed in the eyes.
Phenol and pentachlorophenol (spray starch). Any aerosolized particle including
corn starch may irritate the lungs.
Phosphates are minerals that act as water softeners. Although they are very
effective cleaners, phosphates also act as fertilizers. When cleaning products go
down the drain, phosphates are discharged into our rivers, lakes, estuaries and
oceans. In lakes and rivers especially, phosphates cause rapid growth of algae,
resulting in pollution of the water. Many states have banned phosphates from
household laundry detergents and some other cleaning products. Automatic dish
washing detergents are usually exempt from phosphate restrictions and most major
brands contain phosphates.
Alkyl phenols and their derivatives are found in some laundry detergents,
disinfecting cleaners, all-purpose cleaners, spot removers, hair colours and other
hair-care products and spermicides. These break down to alkyl phenol ethoxylates
which are endocrine (glandular) disrupters. They are slow to biodegrade and have
been shown to disrupt the endocrine systems of fish, birds and mammals.
Volatile organic compounds are widely used as ingredients in household products.
All of these products can release pollutants as you use them and to some degree
while in storage.
Some of the hazardous volatile organic compounds (VOCs) that frequently pollute indoor
air may be emitted from aerosol products, dry cleaned clothing, paints, varnishes, glues,
art supplies, cleansers, spot removers, floor waxes, floor polishes and air fresheners.
See individual instances below.
 Trichloroethylene is one of the chemicals suspected of causing a cluster of
childhood leukemia cases due to drinking water contamination in the town of
Michael Smith, ID#44809085 905-842-9616, Email: support@yourhealthandmine.net
Web: www.yourhealthandmine.net
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Woburn, Massachusetts in the early 1980’s. The subsequent lawsuit against the
polluting company was the subject of the movie “A Civil Action”.
High levels of toluene can out pregnant women at risk of having babies with
neurological problems, retarded growth and developmental problems. Xylenes can
also cause birth defects.
Styrene is a suspected endocrine disrupter – a chemical that can interfere, block or
mimic hormones in humans or animals.
VOCs such as xylene, ketones and aldehydes are found in many aerosol products
and air fresheners. Researchers found that babies less than 6 months old in homes
where air fresheners were used on most days had 30 per cent more ear infections
than those exposed less than once per week.
Dioxins
Dioxins are carcinogenic and are never manufactured deliberately but are unintentionally
created by heating plastic in your own kitchen or from burning plastic in municipal
garbage disposal.
You should never cook in plastic containers. Remove food from plastic first and put into
glass cookware that is designed for oven, microwave or stove tops. That includes cling
wrap and other “microwaveable” plastic wraps. Dioxin pollution is persistent and
bioaccumulative which means that it ends up in our food and our bodies. According to
the “American People’s Dioxin Report” about 90 to 98 per cent of the general
populations exposure to dioxins is through contaminated food primarily animal fat in
meat, fish, poultry and dairy products.
Chapter 12 – A Close Look at the Air We Breathe – page 145
When it comes to indoor air, most people don’t give it much thought. If they can breathe
and they are not in pain or dead, the air must be OK. I have warned repeatedly that how
you feel in the 21st century is no longer an accurate gauge of your health. Many people
have experienced what seems to be sudden disease without warning. I believe that such
problems can brew inside you for years while you are apparently symptom free. Health
effects from indoor pollutants, as with many other toxins may be experienced soon after
exposure, but more probably, years later. Then it will often be too late.
Michael Smith, ID#44809085 905-842-9616, Email: support@yourhealthandmine.net
Web: www.yourhealthandmine.net
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