And Now For Something Really Big: 12 Facts About Chlorine
- Dioxin, a chemical by-product of the manufacturing of
chlorine-bleached paper, is believed to be the single most carcinogenic
chemical known to science.
- Cancer-causing dioxin residue from chlorine-bleaching may be found in
products like coffee filters, disposable diapers, paper towels, and
bathroom tissue.
- Dioxin has been linked to endometriosis, immune system impairment,
diabetes, neurotoxicity, birth defects (including fetal death),
decreased fertility, testicular atrophy, and reproductive dysfunction
in
both women and men.
- In 1997, The American Public Health Association unanimously passed
are
solution urging American industry to stop using the chemical chlorine.
- Chlorine vapors can irritate your lungs and pose a serious risk to
people who suffer from asthma and other lung problems.
- When you open the door of your dishwasher after washing, toxic
volatized chlorine from dish detergent and tap water is released into
the air.
- The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has found dioxin to be
300,000 times more potent as a carcinogen than DDT.
- Every year, between five and ten million poisonings are caused by
household cleaning products containing toxic ingredients like chlorine.
- Studies show that forty to seventy percent of the dioxin in bleached
coffee filters can leach into your coffee; dioxin found in paper milk
cartons also leaches into the milk you drink.
- Thanks to chlorine pollution, Americans ingest a daily amount of
dioxin that is already 300 to 600 times greater than the EPA's
so-called
"safe" dose.
- Pregnant women in their first trimester who drink five or more
glasses
of chlorinated tap water a day may be at a much higher risk of
miscarriage than women who drink non-chlorinated water.
- Cancer-causing chemicals like chlorine found in many household
products are readily absorbed through the skin.
http://www.seventhgen.com/making_difference/newsletter_article.php?issue=24&article=10
***
Chlorine in Household Cleaners
Excerpted from Seventh Generation's Information Bulletin, "Facts about
Chlorine."
Should I worry about chlorine in household cleaners? In a word: YES!
Whether found alone or in a mixture of other chemicals, household
products that contain chlorine pose a number of serious health risks.
Products of special concern include: automatic dishwashing detergents,
chlorine bleach, chlorinated disinfectant cleaners, mildew removers,
and
toilet bowl cleaners.
Many household cleaners contain chlorine, though it often masquerades
behind aliases such as "sodium hypochlorite" or "hypochlorite."
Breathing in the fumes of cleaners containing a high concentration of
chlorine can irritate the lungs. This is particularly dangerous for
people suffering from heart conditions or chronic respiratory problems
such as asthma or emphysema. And the risks are compounded when the
cleaners are used in small, poorly ventilated rooms, such as the
bathroom. Chlorine is also a highly corrosive substance, capable of
damaging skin, eyes, and other membranes. Chlorine was listed as a
hazardous air pollutant in the 1990 Clean Air Act, and exposure to
chlorine in the workplace is regulated by federal standards.
What Can I Do to Protect My Family from the Hazards of Chlorine? You
can
do plenty.
One of the most important things you can do is buy paper products that
aren't bleached with chlorine. That's because chlorine bleached paper
can contain dioxin and organochlorine residues that can transfer to any
food or person they come in contact with. Choose instead unbleached
paper towels, napkins, facial tissue, and bathroom tissue.
How Does Paper Bleaching Affect Me?
The EPA says that using bleached coffee filters alone can result in a
lifetime exposure to dioxin that "exceeds acceptable levels". Choose
instead unbleached coffee filters.
Once These Chemicals Are Inside My Body, What Can Happen?
* Using detergents that contain chlorine in the dishwasher or clothes
washer can pollute the air in your home. The water in the machines,
which contains chlorine from the detergents, transfers the chlorine to
the air through a process called "volatilization." We then breathe the
contaminated air. Choose instead cleaning products made without
chlorine.
* Dishwashers are the worst culprits, releasing chemicals in a steamy
mist when the door is opened after washing. In a clothes washer,
chlorine mixes with the dirt in clothes to generate airborne, toxic
chlorinated organic chemicals. Chlorine-free dishwashing detergents are
readily available.
Helpful Hints:
* Particularly dangerous are fragranced chlorine bleaches and products
made with chlorine bleach plus surfactants. Disguising the odor -
actually making the experience of inhaling chlorine bleach pleasant -
can lead to over-exposure, as we inhale the fumes unchecked.
* Another danger lies in mixing household products containing chlorine,
either intentionally or unintentionally. These mixtures can create
chlorine gas and chloramines, both of which are toxic gases that can
injure the deep tissues of the lungs. Although the number of reported
incidents is relatively small, the percentage of accidents with
moderate
to serious outcomes is high.
Shop for Supplies:
Seventh Generation
Link to the full article on chlorine, and learn about chlorine-free
products, at Seventh Generation's web site. http://www.seventhgen.com/
Pandora's Poison: Chlorine, Health, and a New Environmental Strategy
by Joe Thornton, Joe Thorton (MIT Press, 2000).
This extremely well written book makes a powerful argument for a
fundamental but practical change in the way government and the chemical
industry do business. It is amazingly well referenced and makes a
powerful case that synthetic chemicals based on chlorine are harming
everyone's health -- not just people who live in polluted areas but the
general public, because hundreds of these chemicals can now be found
all
across the planet.
Links to Resources and Articles:
Greenpeace International - Greenpeace International -Greenpeace
International's Toxics Campaign aims to eliminate hazardous substances
focusing especially on persistant organic pollutants.
www.greenpeace.org
Reach for Unbleached - is a Grass roots organization monitoring pulp
and
paper mill pollution of the environment and working to abandon
chlorine-based bleaching of paper.
http://www.rfu.org/
The Center for Health, Environment and Justice (CHEJ) - was founded in
1981, as the Citizens Clearinghouse for Hazardous Waste (CCHW), by Lois
Gibbs community leader at Love Canal. CHEJ believes in environmental
justice, the principle that people have the right to a clean and
healthy
environment regardless of their race or economic standing.
http://www.chej.org/
http://www.care2.com/channels/solutions/home/101
***
- Dioxin, a chemical by-product of the manufacturing of
chlorine-bleached paper, is believed to be the single most carcinogenic
chemical known to science.
- Cancer-causing dioxin residue from chlorine-bleaching may be found in
products like coffee filters, disposable diapers, paper towels, and
bathroom tissue.
- Dioxin has been linked to endometriosis, immune system impairment,
diabetes, neurotoxicity, birth defects (including fetal death),
decreased fertility, testicular atrophy, and reproductive dysfunction
in
both women and men.
- In 1997, The American Public Health Association unanimously passed
are
solution urging American industry to stop using the chemical chlorine.
- Chlorine vapors can irritate your lungs and pose a serious risk to
people who suffer from asthma and other lung problems.
- When you open the door of your dishwasher after washing, toxic
volatized chlorine from dish detergent and tap water is released into
the air.
- The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has found dioxin to be
300,000 times more potent as a carcinogen than DDT.
- Every year, between five and ten million poisonings are caused by
household cleaning products containing toxic ingredients like chlorine.
- Studies show that forty to seventy percent of the dioxin in bleached
coffee filters can leach into your coffee; dioxin found in paper milk
cartons also leaches into the milk you drink.
- Thanks to chlorine pollution, Americans ingest a daily amount of
dioxin that is already 300 to 600 times greater than the EPA's
so-called
"safe" dose.
- Pregnant women in their first trimester who drink five or more
glasses
of chlorinated tap water a day may be at a much higher risk of
miscarriage than women who drink non-chlorinated water.
- Cancer-causing chemicals like chlorine found in many household
products are readily absorbed through the skin.
http://www.seventhgen.com/making_difference/newsletter_article.php?issue=24&article=10
***
Chlorine in Household Cleaners
Excerpted from Seventh Generation's Information Bulletin, "Facts about
Chlorine."
Should I worry about chlorine in household cleaners? In a word: YES!
Whether found alone or in a mixture of other chemicals, household
products that contain chlorine pose a number of serious health risks.
Products of special concern include: automatic dishwashing detergents,
chlorine bleach, chlorinated disinfectant cleaners, mildew removers,
and
toilet bowl cleaners.
Many household cleaners contain chlorine, though it often masquerades
behind aliases such as "sodium hypochlorite" or "hypochlorite."
Breathing in the fumes of cleaners containing a high concentration of
chlorine can irritate the lungs. This is particularly dangerous for
people suffering from heart conditions or chronic respiratory problems
such as asthma or emphysema. And the risks are compounded when the
cleaners are used in small, poorly ventilated rooms, such as the
bathroom. Chlorine is also a highly corrosive substance, capable of
damaging skin, eyes, and other membranes. Chlorine was listed as a
hazardous air pollutant in the 1990 Clean Air Act, and exposure to
chlorine in the workplace is regulated by federal standards.
What Can I Do to Protect My Family from the Hazards of Chlorine? You
can
do plenty.
One of the most important things you can do is buy paper products that
aren't bleached with chlorine. That's because chlorine bleached paper
can contain dioxin and organochlorine residues that can transfer to any
food or person they come in contact with. Choose instead unbleached
paper towels, napkins, facial tissue, and bathroom tissue.
How Does Paper Bleaching Affect Me?
The EPA says that using bleached coffee filters alone can result in a
lifetime exposure to dioxin that "exceeds acceptable levels". Choose
instead unbleached coffee filters.
Once These Chemicals Are Inside My Body, What Can Happen?
* Using detergents that contain chlorine in the dishwasher or clothes
washer can pollute the air in your home. The water in the machines,
which contains chlorine from the detergents, transfers the chlorine to
the air through a process called "volatilization." We then breathe the
contaminated air. Choose instead cleaning products made without
chlorine.
* Dishwashers are the worst culprits, releasing chemicals in a steamy
mist when the door is opened after washing. In a clothes washer,
chlorine mixes with the dirt in clothes to generate airborne, toxic
chlorinated organic chemicals. Chlorine-free dishwashing detergents are
readily available.
Helpful Hints:
* Particularly dangerous are fragranced chlorine bleaches and products
made with chlorine bleach plus surfactants. Disguising the odor -
actually making the experience of inhaling chlorine bleach pleasant -
can lead to over-exposure, as we inhale the fumes unchecked.
* Another danger lies in mixing household products containing chlorine,
either intentionally or unintentionally. These mixtures can create
chlorine gas and chloramines, both of which are toxic gases that can
injure the deep tissues of the lungs. Although the number of reported
incidents is relatively small, the percentage of accidents with
moderate
to serious outcomes is high.
Shop for Supplies:
Seventh Generation
Link to the full article on chlorine, and learn about chlorine-free
products, at Seventh Generation's web site. http://www.seventhgen.com/
Pandora's Poison: Chlorine, Health, and a New Environmental Strategy
by Joe Thornton, Joe Thorton (MIT Press, 2000).
This extremely well written book makes a powerful argument for a
fundamental but practical change in the way government and the chemical
industry do business. It is amazingly well referenced and makes a
powerful case that synthetic chemicals based on chlorine are harming
everyone's health -- not just people who live in polluted areas but the
general public, because hundreds of these chemicals can now be found
all
across the planet.
Links to Resources and Articles:
Greenpeace International - Greenpeace International -Greenpeace
International's Toxics Campaign aims to eliminate hazardous substances
focusing especially on persistant organic pollutants.
www.greenpeace.org
Reach for Unbleached - is a Grass roots organization monitoring pulp
and
paper mill pollution of the environment and working to abandon
chlorine-based bleaching of paper.
http://www.rfu.org/
The Center for Health, Environment and Justice (CHEJ) - was founded in
1981, as the Citizens Clearinghouse for Hazardous Waste (CCHW), by Lois
Gibbs community leader at Love Canal. CHEJ believes in environmental
justice, the principle that people have the right to a clean and
healthy
environment regardless of their race or economic standing.
http://www.chej.org/
http://www.care2.com/channels/solutions/home/101
***
