Toxic Cleaning Products and Breast Health

There have been studies and growing concerns over toxic chemicals in our cleaning products and the links to breast cancer. Of course any time you hear the word  toxic you can translate that to poison. Ok, so I can point you to pages and pages of information about chemicals in the products we use and what they do to the body. Any of us in our right mind, if we really pay attention to what we have in our cabinets and use on a regular basis and line it up with the safety data we can only draw one conclusion. All of this "stuff" is bad! Some people are more sensitive than others and get reactions right away, and some don't. Those that get reactions most of the time don't realize what is causing the problem and go to the doctor with ailments and conditions and are given medication ('cause what else can a doctor do?).

Here’s a scenario, you get up in the morning, brush your teeth with toothpaste that has a warning label that reads and I quote..”If more than used for brushing is accidentally swallowed get medical help or contact a Poison Control Center right away”
Did you realize that the toothpaste you use says that? Did you tell your children to let you know if they swallow some because it could be poisonous? You may use mouthwash because that’s going to really get your breath springtime fresh.  Then you wash your face with soap or some sort of cleansing cream with a few ingredients you can’t pronounce or now come to realize is on the list of toxic chemicals. Use a moisturizer (chemicals), makeup, face, eyes, and lips. Then you look down and realize the sink and the toilet need cleaning right quick, so you do that with your favorite cleaners, spray with a nice air freshener and you inhale because it smells sooo good! I could go on and on, but if you go through your day and think about all of the products and chemicals you are exposed to, you will come to realize that it’s a whole heck of a lot of chemicals! And we haven’t even talked about food yet!

So back to the issue of breast health. There was a study done by The Silent Spring Institute on the use of household chemicals and the incidence of breast cancer. I want you to look all over this website. The gist of the matter in simple terms is that there are lots of chemicals that mimic estrogen (xenoestrogens) in the body. ***Estrogen is a naturally occurring female reproductive hormone. Before the body can use estrogen, it must bind to proteins called estrogen receptors.  One of the jobs of estrogen is to stimulate cell growth in breast tissue. Estrogen receptors are located there. When the estrogen fits into the estrogen receptor, the estrogen signals the cells to divide and multiply.  The estrogen cannot tell the difference between healthy cells and cancerous cells and attaches to estrogen receptors in both types of cells.  Cancer cells can multiply very rapidly and they are stimulated even more by estrogen. An over abundance of estrogen results in hormonal disruption. Then you have your breast cancers, uterine cancer, fibroid tumors, endometriosis, fibrocystic breasts, children reaching puberty too soon (you’ve seen them), decreased sex drive, foggy thinking, memory loss…the list goes on and on.

When you hear the words eco-friendly products and you think that’s just for health nuts. You may want to consider that you may not just be doing something good for the environment, but more importantly your health and the health of your loved ones.

Once upon a time it used to be expensive to buy eco-friendly cleaning products Since being “green” is like the coolest thing you can be, Clorox and companies that made the really bad stuff  have suddenly jumped on the bandwagon and and now produce non toxic cleaners as well. You can be industrious and make some of your own. There are plenty of blogs out there like Healthychild.org that can share safe, easy options for cleaning your home