Guest article by Mary Lee
Ideas like going green, living healthier lifestyles and using safer, more natural products seem nice but most of us don't give it much thought. We choose consumable goods like household cleaners and personal care products based on smells we like, stores that are convenient and of course, most importantly, the lowest price.
But what if it did really matter? What if the choices the you made about the consumable goods in your home had not only short-term risks of accidental poisoning but also serious long-term impacts on predisposing your family toward diseases like cancer, MS, Parkinson's, Alzheimer's, and more. IF that were the case, then it could be worth it to be careful about what consumable goods you allow into your home.
I vividly remember (what is now over 30 years ago) what was to be the last week of going to the babysitter everyday while mom worked. We were there so often that we affectionately called the sitter "Auntie." I was going to be starting school as a Kindergartener in the Fall and my mom had weeks of vacation time to spend with us during her Summer break from teaching that was just about to begin. My older sister and I were playing chase that afternoon with Auntie's two children. We blurted out, "You can't catch me!" and "Oh, yes I can" as we started running circles after each other on the tile floor of the babysitter's two story home. The chase came to an abrupt halt when my sister (who was in the lead by far) slipped on something wet that had gotten all over the floor outside of the bathroom. As she slid into the substance, it splashed back at me and I stopped short while my sister screamed and cried in pain right before me.
Auntie threw us in the tub to rinse us off as fast as possible. It wasn't working though. The burning just wouldn't stop. From the tub, we ran screaming into the backseat of the babysitter's car. I remember peaking over the seat and seeing the little holes eaten into Auntie's pantyhose. My sister was screaming and sobbing as the chemical had eaten through her clothes and skin as well. We ran into the ER and were quickly stripped naked and directed to showers and I remember it seemed so hot and so rough and my dear sister was crying so loud. She was screaming as her skin was peeling off her backside and elbow where she slid into the chemical.
It was a long summer of healing. That summer didn't feel so much like a vacation at all.
A defective bottle of a powerfully corrosive bathroom/drain cleaner had burst open and spilled all over the floor that day at Auntie's house and, unfortunately, we didn't notice until my sister slid right into it. It spilled into our lives, too, to influence my sister to become a physician, to work in the ER and also with wound care AND to influence me to help people create safer homes where harsh, caustic chemicals like that never even make it through the front door.
Today I am proud to be a home safety consultant with an Idaho-based Wellness company and part of an incredible Support Team of like-minded, caring people at EveVenture. If you want more info about how to affordably convert your home to safer cleaning products, I invite you to ask me for more info at: www.evsaferhomes.com/peggy.
For More Great EveVenture Community Articles About the Value of Safer Home Cleaning Products, visit:
Showing posts with label Poison Control. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Poison Control. Show all posts
Tuesday, June 28, 2011
Tuesday, March 22, 2011
EveVenture Supports USA National Poison Prevention Week (March 20-26)
According to http://poisonhelp.hrsa.gov, "More than 90 percent of the time, poisonings happen in people’s homes.1 The majority of these poisonings occur in the kitchen, bathroom and bedroom.2" Our simple, daily shopping decisions can have a huge impact on home safety and the health of our families.
People are often surprised that safer products can actually be more effective and more affordable. At EveVenture, we not only advocate home safety, we provide tangible, real solutions that the everyday family can quickly and easily implement.
Most consumers are surprised by the unnecessary chemicals that fill their homes and by the cumulative health impacts of those harsh, caustic ingredients. These chemicals reside not only in home cleaning products but also in personal care products, cosmetics, and more.
I once heard an anecdotal story of a woman who carefully prepared her Easter ham each year "just like mom did" by cutting off about 1 inch from either side of the ham before placing it in the baking pan. After years of this mode of preparation, a sibling finally informed her that the only reason their mother had done this was to fit the ham in her small baking dish. How silly! Yet how many of us mindlessly manage our homes "just like mom did" without making the most of the resources available today?We owe it to our families and ourselves to take a good hard look at our shopping decisions. We need to know that chlorine bleach, ammonia, aerosols, formaldehyde, abrasives, phosphates and fillers are not only unnecessary but also harmful to our families both in terms of posing accidental poisoning risks as well as harming our indoor air quality and our environment.
So what can you do?
- Get informed about the safer shopping options available today that can eliminate the risk of accidental poisonings
- And, if you ever suspect someone has ingested poison, call your local poison control center at 1-800-222-1222. They have an emergency checklist available here online.
SOURCE: http://www.eveventureblog.com/
RESOURCES: PoisonPrevention.org
FOOTNOTES:
1. Bronstein AC, Spyker DA Cantilena LR, Green JL, Rumack BH, Giffin SL. 2008 Annual Report of the American Association of Poison Control Centers’ National Poison Data System (NPDS): 26th Annual Report. 2009. Clinical Toxicology (2009) 47, 911–1084.
2. Cincinnati Drug and Poison Information Center (DPIC)
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