The paradox of cause and effect.

Found some more interesting facts about household things that can cause illness and wanted to share them:

Germs (This one we know.. but the detergent was the new shocker for me)

Which room of the house harbours more germs, the bathroom or the kitchen?
If you answered the bathroom, you will be surprised to know that the kitchen harbors a lot more germs then the toilet seat.

According to a program on CNN broadcase in March 5, 1996, Carlos Enriquez , a scientist at the University of Arizona in Tucson lab tested sponges and dishrags from 1,000 kitchens in five major American cities. Some sponges carried salmonella bacteria, e. coli, campylobacter, clostridium perfringens and staphylococcus and other ill-causing bacteria.Not only that , but some bacteria growth is caused by the detergents that are used in washing dishes…. What a paradox….

Read more about this here: edition.cnn.com/TECH/tomorrow_today/9603/sponges/index.html.
If this article didn’t get your attention, consider the fact that one single bacteria cell can become more than 8 million cells in less than 24 hours! http://www.webmd.com/solutions/stop_cold_germs/kitchen-cleanliness.

Are your beauty products killing you?

This is the title of the article you find here: www.alternet.org/story/13530/.This article examines phthalates which are plasticizers and have always been considered safe according to product safety standards. But are they so safe?Phthalates have now been recognized as toxic substances under environmental law, but companies are free to use unlimited amounts in cosmetics.Read more in the article above.

Certified organic bodycare products

What is the difference between simple “Organic” and “Certified organic”?
CERTIFIED organic products contain no synthetic chemicals at any stage of the production chain, beginning with growing, harvesting, storage, transporting and processing, through to the final ready-for-market product. Where there is an ingredient that is essential for the product to function, (e.g. xanthan gum to thicken) and that ingredient is not yet available as organically grown, then, up to a maximum of 5% of non-organic ingredients may be used in the product, and only until that ingredient becomes available and organically grown.

Organic products are not the same. The organic chemistry definition of organic, is any compound containing carbon. Carbon is found in anything that has ever lived. So, by using this definition of organic, many manufacturers can (and do) say that the toxic petrochemical preservative, methyl paraben, is "organic" because it was formed by leaves that rotted over thousands of years to become the crude oil used to make this toxic preservative.

All of this is something to add more knowledge to our base.. not to scare, but just for our back pocket so to speak. Hope you found this interesting. I did. You hear people talking about what to avoid, but they don't always have facts or reasons why... If you have other items you avoid, please share them with us. I know I always have an open ear and an open mind.