More Dirt

We live in a society that touts cleanliness as next to godliness. Advertisements bombard us with sparkling images of dirt free, odor free homes. They promise us salvation from bugs, bacteria, fungi, dust, and dirt. Liberation found in a bottle; sleek, colorful, easy-to-use containers that with a spray and a swipe, rid our environment of the pesky organisms who taint our existence. The irony is these critters are great at adapting to their environment and overcoming our poisons. We are the ones who suffer as we poison ourselves in the crusade against the microbes.

Why are these products considered hazardous waste when thrown away, but we can purchase them at the local grocer, spread them all over our homes, yards, touch them, and breathe in their odors?

Household hazardous waste is defined as the unused portions of the product that is corrosive or toxic and under certain circumstances can catch fire, react, or explode. It should not be placed in your daily trash! The products found in the home that are designated “hazardous” are not regulated under RCRA (Resource Conservation and Recovery Act) because it is impractical to regulate every household, but they still pose a risk for people and the environment due to their ingredients. Instead, RCRA regulates hazardous waste generated by industries and depends on local government to help households dispose of their hazardous products safely by offering household hazardous waste collections.

Although there has been very little conclusive research into how commercial products affect health and even less in how they affect the environment, these products still need to be approached with caution. Industry has always sold products before adequate tests were available to determine whether the ingredients used were carcinogens, i.e. DDT, but the toxicity of the ingredients is known.

For example: commercial disinfectants may contain aphtha, a neurotoxin and central nervous system depressant; butyl cellusolve, an extremely toxic sodium nitrite; and, sodium sulfites, extremely fatal for asthmatics. Commercial oven cleaners may contain ether-type solvents, petroleum distillates, methylene chloride, butyl cellusolve, and lye. Methylene chloride is a liver and kidney poison. Many of these chemicals are stored in the fatty tissue of humans and wildlife and are slow to break down.

Anyone suffering from MCS (Multiple Chemical Sensitivities) will tell you that life is not easy surrounded by so many toxic products. People with MCS feel sick when exposed to many cleaning and laundry products, perfumes, air fresheners, tobacco smoke, pesticides, new paint, new carpets, and new building materials. Many MCS sufferers don’t realize at first why they feel nauseous, have trouble concentrating, feel dizzy, have headaches, are fatigued, their joints swell, or have difficulty breathing. Something in their environment sneaked unknowingly into their being, triggering the syndrome. MCS commonly develops after a pesticide or solvent exposure. Sometimes the symptoms don’t appear for a few days following the exposure, sometimes it’s immediate.

We know that household hazardous products can pose risks to people and the environment if they are not used, stored, and disposed of properly. What we don’t know is how these chemicals affect us over time. There is a solution but it does require some effort:

• o Clear your cupboards of synthetic cleaners, pesticides, and paints;
• o Purchase products with non-toxic ingredients;
• o Use simple safe ingredients to clean, i.e. vinegar, olive oil, lemon juice, baking soda, salt, toothpaste, and washing soda; and,
• o Rather than spraying the outdoors with insecticides and the indoors with disinfectants, welcome the bacteria and be less squeamish about bugs and wormy things.

Protect your health and the environment. Build up your resistance just as the critters are doing.