Serving Size: 4.82 MB Servings Per Container: 1 In Your Body On Your Body For Your Home For Your Family Seeking Medical Treatment How to Detoxify Your Body Guide to Symptoms A Healthy House Values, Vision & Mission Background & History Staff & Advisors News & Upcoming Events Join Our Mailing List Contact Us Recommended Resources Index of Terms Works Cited This product contains 100% natural ingredients. Easy Pay Pal Donations TNTP Grade A Brain-food More Special Features Clothing  |  Cosmetics  |  Hair Care Products  |  Personal Hygiene Products  |  Skin Care Products Page: 1 | 2 | 3 Next This category includes information about your clothes: what they're made of, what they're treated with, and how you can "green clean" them. For a list of suggested businesses to purchase more natural products from, visit our Recommended Resources page. Cotton CHEMICALS CONTAINED: The application of herbicides and pesticides to cotton crops is much greater, per acre, than the applications to food crops, and some of the anecdotal statistics that you might find on the web are quite shocking. For example, approximately 25% of pesticides in the US, are supposedly used on cotton. The major herbicides used include trifluralin, monosodium methanearsonate (MSMA), disodium methanearsonate (DSMA) (organic arsenicals), fluometuron, prometryn, cyanazine, pendimethalin, norflurazon, and diuron. The major pesticide used is methyl parathion. The other issue with cotton fabric is that it’s often bleached and/or dyed with synthetic dyes. Dioxins are inadvertently produced from the bleaching process. HEALTH CONCERNS: Trifluralin is considered by the US EPA to be a Class C (possible) carcinogen based on observed tumors of the thyroid and urinary tract in rats. It has also been associated with reproductive and developmental problems and toxicity of the blood and liver. Pendimethalin has also been associated with adverse effects on blood and the liver. Adequate information is lacking on the rest of the above chemicals. Methyl parathion, an organophosphate pesticide, is a “cholinesterase inhibitor” and has been associated with many neurological symptoms. This means that it “knocks out” acetylcholinesterase, the enzyme responsible for breaking down the neurotransmitter acetylcholine (AcE), so there isn’t too much at one time at the nerve junction (the site where chemicals cross from one nerve to the other, to make the receptor nerve fire). Without AcE, the acetylcholine builds up and the insects die of convulsions. Human symptoms of too much AcE include convulsions, nervousness, excessive salivation, nausea, vomiting, abdominal cramps, headache, weakness, tremors and noise sensitivity (Gibson 2000). Methyl parathion also has adverse effects on the reproductive and cardiovascular systems. Dioxins are carcinogenic and hormone-disrupting. They are thought to be connected with handicaps in the children of exposed adults. In an animal study, a small dose exposure in utero or through breast milk caused sperm counts in offspring to decrease by over a half. Dyes may contain a variety of chemicals, and unfortunately they can bleed from fabric quite easily and get on your skin. TIPS & ALTERNATIVES: Purchase clothing that is made from organic cotton. Either choose cotton that is the natural color, or that is whitened without bleach and/or dyed with natural dyes. As an extra bonus step, it’s optimal to purchase clothing that was made in a factory with humane conditions by workers who make a living wage. Dry Cleaning CHEMICALS CONTAINED: Dry cleaning is a process that washes clothing in a liquid chemical called perchloroethylene (PERC). HEALTH CONCERNS: Although there is no conclusive evidence that the residue on dry cleaned clothing poses significant health risks to humans, inhaling fumes from this solvent can cause cancer, liver damage, depression of the central nervous system, dizziness, disorientation, and nausea. TIPS & ALTERNATIVES: Remember that sometimes the instruction “Dry Clean Only” is sewn into clothing when it doesn’t need to be dry cleaned. Manufacturers often recommend this out of fear of customer complaints if they wash it incorrectly. Here are the ways to wash certain fabrics: Cotton: Wash with a natural laundry detergent and dry on medium heat. Linen: Same as cotton, but remove from the dryer while still a little damp and press. Silk: Wash each item separately. Swish garment around in a tub of very cold water with a little bit of mild soap. Rinse with cold water – do not ring fabric! Remove excess water by rolling the fabric in a towel and then hang them in the tub to drip dry. Press the garment with a warm iron. Wool: Hand-wash in lukewarm water with mild soap and a few tablespoons of vinegar. Lay-out garment in original shape on a towel, roll up towel to remove water, and then hang garment on a drying rack. Down: You can wash jackets, sleeping bags, etc. in your bathtub with warm water and either mild soap or baking soda. Tumble dry in dryer at a cool temperature. There are Laundromats that are starting to implement “wet cleaning”, which uses non-toxic detergents, computer-controlled washers and dryers, and special finishing techniques to wash delicate garments without PERC. If you do have to get something dry cleaned, remove the garment from its bag immediately and hang the garment in a well-ventilated area (preferably outdoors) to allow the PERC to evaporate. This may take up to a week. Fabric Softener CHEMICALS CONTAINED: Fabric softeners leave a chemical residue on clothes to reduce static cling, which is rubbing against your skin when you wear the garment. They are usually heavily scented with synthetic fragrances and may also contain synthetic dyes and other chemicals. Most synthetic dyes and fragrances are made from petroleum by-products or coal tars (a carcinogenic liquid or semi-liquid from bituminous coal). Coal tars can contain benzene, xylene, naphthalene, phenol and creosol. Synthetic fragrances are much less expensive than natural ones, and so are most commonly used. Most have not been tested for safety, or have undergone only minimal testing. Each individual fragrance may be made from up to 4,000 different chemical components. The chemical formulas of fragrances are considered trade secrets and so may be listed on labels only as “fragrance.” HEALTH CONCERNS: Chemical residues left on fabrics can irritate skin and cause allergic reactions. Synthetic fragrances may cause a wide range of acute and chronic effects such as respiratory irritation, headache, sneezing, watery eyes, other allergic symptoms, sensitization, nervous system depression and skin irritation. Nitrobenzene may be used in making synthetic dyes. Nitrobenzene can irritate eyes and skin at low exposure levels, and in larger amounts has damaged liver and blood in animals. Benzene is a known human carcinogen. Naphthalene is a possible human carcinogen that has been linked to cancer in animal tests, and exposure to large amounts may damage or destroy red blood cells. TIPS & ALTERNATIVES: One important thing to note is that natural fabrics don’t produce static cling – only synthetic fabrics do. Therefore you don’t need use fabric softeners on garments made from natural fibers. So if you choose to continue using fabric softeners, reduce your exposure to them by only using them on synthetic garments. And since many synthetic garments can’t be washed or dried in machines, you may not need fabric softeners at all! Baking soda added to laundry acts as a natural fabric softener. If you do use a commercial product, choose an unscented dryer sheet rather than a liquid that goes into the wash or a product that is sprayed on clothes. As a side note, dryer sheets are said to be a great “natural” insect repellent. Since there is nothing “natural” about dryer sheets, we would recommend rubbing a different repellent on your skin to avoid insects…preferably one that actually is natural like peppermint or citronella oil. Page: 1 | 2 | 3 Next