My Healthy Interiors Know-How
Results
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#1. Is my smart phone also my alarm clock in the morning?
Battery operated clocks are safer. Smartphones and electric clocks create electric magnetic fields, EMFs. Our bodies have their own electric system, and our cells are specialized to conduct electrical currents. This electricity allows the nervous system to send signals throughout the body and to the brain, which makes it possible for us to move, think and feel. Environmental electricity can disturb the body’s own electrical system. Sleep time is when our bodies repair and rebuild themselves, so eliminate or reduce interference from electrical fields.
#2. Should I leave my shoes at the door when I return home?
Think about where the soles of your shoes travel – lawns treated with pesticides, dirty sidewalks, garages with oil spills, etc. Do you really want to bring this into your home? The floor is where toddlers play, crawl and learn to walk. They spend a lot of time on the floor, and you may want to walk in your home with bare feet.
#3. Is “body burden” (the amount of accumulated toxins in our body) best controlled by how much I eat?
Body burden” is the pollution and chemicals that all people carry inside their bodies as a result of environmental toxins. It is best controlled by lifestyle, by living in a healthy environment, by the type of body products used and by what you eat.
#4. Do I use scented laundry detergent and fabric softener, air fresheners and scented candles?
Fabric Softeners, air fresheners, laundry detergents and scented candles all use strong chemicals to mask unpleasant odors. The stronger the scent, the stronger the chemicals. Fabric softeners also use additional chemicals to reduce static cling, and these can irritate the skin. For candles, look for “Fragrance-free” made of beeswax. “No Fragrance Added” and “Unscented” are marketing tricks.
#5. Buying furniture, children’s products, clothes and toys that use flame retardants is the safest way to protect my family from fires.
Numerous studies have found that today’s most widely used products contain the hazardous chemical element bromine and that they actually increase amounts of carbon monoxide and hydrogen cyanide released during fires. This showed that flame retardants increase the danger of invisible toxic gases, the leading cause of death in fires.
#6. Are “BPA Free” plastic products for food use safer choices than standard BPA plastic products?
It’s best to stay away from all plastic including “BPA Free,” because sometimes harmful BPA substitutes are used. Food-grade stainless steel is a safe choice.
#7. Lack of odor in new carpets, new furniture and fresh paint is an indication that off-gassing of VOCs is complete.
Odor does not indicate the level of risk from inhalation of this group of chemicals. There are thousands of different VOCs produced and used in our daily lives, and some are odorless and never finish off-gassing. They mingle with house dust and affect the entire family, especially babies when they crawl and play on the floor.
#8. Are stuffed toys good choices for babies?
Stuffed toys can be good choices, but only when made with certified organic, untreated cotton, hemp or wool and colored with natural dyes.
#9. Is frequent use of antibacterial hand sanitizers a good method to protect me from harmful bacteria?
Hand sanitizers contain harmful chemicals and alcohols that also kill off good, needed bacteria on the skin and can cause drying and cracking. The best way to stop the spread of germs is to wash your hands regularly with ordinary soap and water.
#10. Newborn babies are affected by polluted environments as soon as they are born.
Research conducted at hospitals and medical institutions showed that blood tested in the umbilical cords of newborn babies already contained more than 100 chemicals, even when the mothers were not in constant contact with chemicals.