**getting up on by soap box here**
Since September in childhood cancer awareness month I thought it would be
good to blog about something that is on my mind alot.
I read an article today from healthy child, talking about the rise in childhood
cancer and the importance of prevention...not just the cure!
I stated becoming a "freak" about chemicals one day when Alivia was about 1 years old. I was
washing her highchair tray down with Clorox wipes and then put cheerios down for her to eat.
and I thought " I just put chemicals down on her tray that she is eating from?" Not too long after
Alivia started getting a mystery rash off and on for months. Finally after to a trip to an allergist we discovered she was allergic to Formaldehyde, Parabens, and fragrance. Turns out these chemicals are carcinogens and are in most of our baby products!!!!! Why? Why would you put formaldehyde
in wipes or parabens in baby wash and sunscreen? So after that I made big changes in our products that we use.
This is it for cleaning stuff in my house
It now cost me a little over $2 every 6 months for the vinegar that I mix with water that cleans everything in my house...from toilets, to counter tops and windows. Melissa just gave me some Shaklee Basic H2 to use which is great too but not as cost effective. So as far as cleaning goes being "green" can be cheap. But my question is why do I have to pay sooo much more for our sunscreen, bug spray, and bath products? I wrote an email to Johnson and Johnson a few months back saying how we love the baby wash we use Johnson Natural....but I asked why not make all your baby products just as safe and cut out all the chemicals. This is what they wrote back
Dear Erika:
Are you kidding me... Johnson and Johnson you totally avoided my question. Most parents just assume that these products are safe for their babies because its Johnson and Johnson. This is very frustrating to me. Now I am not saying that everyone using these products end up sick....because they don't. But I have no doubt in my mind that these chemicals that we are exposed to in pregnancy and that our babies are exposed to are playing a huge role in the increase in childhood cancer. So why not eliminate these chemicals? It seems like a no brainer to me! Thankfully we do have safer options for our kids but most families cant afford to buy these......which is so unfortunate.
Also unfortunately I have been called a hippy because of some of the things I choose to avoid. So to those of you that say "everything causes cancer" educate yourself!!! I will continue to cringe when I see someone putting fertilizer on their lawn (sorry Adam not happening), and when my kids eat hotdogs, and when people spray their kids down with deet filled bug sprays ......because I have done my research. I cant protect my kids from everything and this certainly does not exclude them from becoming sick but every little bit helps and I dont cringe when I wipe the highchair down anymore! And I encourage all moms to do some research too!
1 comments:
Thanks, honey. Just bought a gallon of vinegar myself!
Being aware of how you clean is important but don't forget....breastfeeding is key....as you know.
I think if more moms breastfed on demand and exclusively we would see a turn around in childhood illnesses (some--not all! remember to vaccinate PLEASE) and a decrease in breast cancer after a few generations!
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