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Household Pollution Greetings, We would like to start this letter by wishing all our Jewish friends and patrons a Shannah Tova. May this coming year bring Peace, Love, Harmony and Tolerance to this troubled world. May we all learn to live with one another without judging, condemning or criticizing each other’s beliefs. Let us make this our Gan Eden. Shalom Aleynu ! When we think about health we invariably think of diets, supplements and exercises. Seldom do we give a thought to our environment. Of course there is not much we can do about car pollution etc.. But we can control the pollution in our own homes. The average household contains a wide variety of dangerous chemicals, which can create serious health problems. Dangerous household chemicals are usually disguised in common products. The first living creature to die from an aerosol spray was a mosquito in 1942. Since then, many more than just insecticides have appeared in spray cans. Antiperspirants, feminine hygiene sprays, underarm deodorant, oven cleaners, spot removers, floor was, varnish, anti-fogging agents, and even cream have appeared in thousands of aerosol and spray products. Aerosol sprays are a major source of air pollution within the home. The sprays spread out into the surrounding air and make it unfit to breath. This is especially true in closed spaces like bathrooms. The particles and chemicals in aerosol sprays are often so small that they can penetrate the lung tissue and be directly absorbed into the bloodstream. Thus, a chemical, which might be relatively harmless, if used externally quickly becomes an internal poison when sprayed in easily inhaled particles Perhaps the most dangerous of the sprays is the hair spray. These sprays are always used in closed quarters and are emitted near the face, heavily contaminating the air. The hairspray itself contain, starch, and plasticisers which may be toxic enough to form enlarged lymph nodes. Hair spray also contains silicone, which is damaging to the eyes and cannot be washed away by the natural eye fluid. An irritation of the cornea often develops in users of hair spray. We stink. At least that is what the advertisers would have us think. Underarm deodorant, antiperspirant sprays, feminine hygiene deodorant, air fresheners, are aggressively promoted and advertised. But how necessary are those odour disguisers, and more important, how safe are they? All sprays contain chemicals, which are both breathed and deposited directly on the skin. Underarm sprays, for example, work by actually clogging the sweat pores with an aluminium chloride compound. Mouth sprays kill all bacteria in the mouth, including the so-called beneficial variety. Why do people smell bad and feel that they must use some chemicals to deodorize their bodies? Basically, an improper diet is the cause of all body odours in almost every case. Foods from animal origin (milk, eggs, meat etc..) are poorly assimilated and full of foul smelling toxins. When these foods are eaten, the waste products are eliminated from the skin and an unpleasant smell results. When all animal foods, junk foods and sugars are eliminated from the diet, all body odours eventually disappear. Next to human bodies, the smelliest place may be the home. Cooking odours, cigarette smoke, and bathroom odours seem to permeate our households. Many people try to remove these odours with air fresheners. Air fresheners work in one of four ways: -They use one odour to cover another -They coat the nasal passage with an oil film -They deaden the sense of smell with a nerve chemical -They deactivate the unwanted odour ( such as through charcoal absorption ) Actually, very few deodorizers work by actually removing the odour. Most simply contaminate the air with another foreign substance, and certainly do not “freshen” the air. Many times an artificial fragrance is released that simply smells stronger than the offensive odour. These fragrances often irritate the eyes and air passages. The only safe and recommended air freshener is an open window. Next week we will take a closer look at household cleaners. Have a fabulous week, The Crazy Nut Team