How safe is "green"?

When it comes to safe cleaning products, it seems there are a lot of manufacturers jumping on the opportunity provided by the increasing consumer interest and demand for products which are safer for their families health and for the environment. Great marketing campaigns convince consumers that products labelled "green" or "eco-friendly" are safe. But how safe are they?

A great article in the LA Times on How safe are green cleaning products reveals the underlying dangers of believing the marketing hype without extra education on the issues. Consumers must remember that this is an industry which is under-regulated. Labelling laws do not require manufacturers to list all ingredients. The most frightening fact was that a recently study on consumer products which claimed to be "natural" or "non-toxic" revealed tha half of 100 products tested contained the known cancer-causing agent "1,4-dioxane", including a number of dishwashing liquids with the words "eco" and "earth friendly" in their brand names.
The label "natural" still allows manufacturers to include petroleum distillates, some of which (eg benzine) are also cancer causing. Get this!

"labeling in the cleaning products industry is highly unregulated. The use of terms such as "green" and "natural" is monitored ...to ensure that such terms are not misleading to consumers. But neither the commission nor any other agency sets standards that products must meet before they can call themselves green. " 'Green' and 'natural' are marketing terms -- they're not terms of science," Sansoni said. Cleaning product manufacturers -- green or otherwise -- are also not required by law to disclose all of their ingredients on their labels..."

The article also mentioned pthalates (which I have blogged on many times) and numerous other harmful ingredients.

At the Health Highway, we put you in touch with ingredients which are proven to not contain any of these harmful ingredients (no pthalates, no 1,4-dioxane, no benzine, to name just a few of the potentially harmful ingredients you will find in supermarket brands).

We have products with a solid, 20 year history that are endorsed by research scientists and chemists at the top of their game. Don't risk your family's health on a fly-by-night manufacturer who doesn't carry the highest accolades of safety. We've seen dramatic improvements in people's health and lifestyle from ridding their homes of unsafe products and would love to help you get the same results. Contact us if we can help you in any way.