While on my stroll down the aisle to the TP I was overwhelmed by the fragrance of so many things. The laundry cleaning aisle and the household cleaner aisle are just…whoa. When you don’t smell that stuff all day anymore, it makes you start to get a headache and your body legit says “get the f off of this aisle…like NOW.” I snapped a few pictures of the new “green” products and decided to come back home and look into them.
First up on my list is this one above. Derm tested, Vegan and No bleach added are on the front of this bottle. It’s a multipurpose cleaner spray with the scent of Coconut water and Mimosa flower. It boasts “Clean fragrant homes & small acts of love for the planet”. Check out the back of the bottle and all of the “good” things it talks about. Contains all of the ingredients I listed below. Owned by Unilever. (which also owns, Suave, Vaseline, Axe, Seventh Generation, and Dove to name a few…it owns hundreds of brands)
Next on my list is a new brand that was released and owned by Target on Earth Day last year. Not tested on animals (fantastic!!!), biodegradable formula, 97% biobased product. Contains Fragrance, methylchloroisothiazolinone and methylisothiazolinone (synthetic). I’m not even going to get started on Mrs. Meyers. You can google that one yourself. Now let’s look at several of the ingredients.
BENZISOTHIAZOLINONE – Overall hazard – moderate to high. Other HIGH concerns: Irritation (skin, eyes, or lungs), Occupational hazards; Other MODERATE concerns: Organ system toxicity (non-reproductive); Other LOW concerns: Ecotoxicology – Wildlife and environmental toxicity; Reference: US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Suspected to be an environmental toxin; Reference: Environment Canada Domestic Substance ListA BIG KICKER FOR ME: Classified as toxic or harmful (only for products for use around the mouth; products for use on the lips); Reference: European Union – Classification & Labelling.
Why that bothers me – all of the “we are great, grand, green and safe” would make me THINK as a parent…”oh if my kid gets around this or accidentally gets this in their mouth it’s totally safe…I don’t need to worry…it’s all good ingredients” THIS IS WRONG!!!! Read more about this ingredient here: https://www.ewg.org/…/ingre…/716930/BENZISOTHIAZOLINONE/
METHYLISOTHIAZOLINONE – Other HIGH concerns: Irritation (skin, eyes, or lungs); Other LOW concerns: Data gaps, Ecotoxicology, Neurotoxicity. About METHYLISOTHIAZOLINONE: Methylisothiazolinone is a widely-used preservative; has been associated with allergic reactions. Lab studies on the brain cells of mammals also suggest that methylisothiazolinone may be neurotoxic.Concerns: Known human immune toxicant or allergen; Reference: European SCCS. Human skin toxicant or allergen – strong evidence; Reference: Cosmetic Ingredient Review Assessments. Human sensitizer toxicant or allergen – strong evidence; Reference: Burnett CL, Bergfeld WF, et al. One or more in vitro tests on mammalian cells demonstrate neurotoxicity; Reference: Du S, McLaughlin BA, Pal S, AizenmanIn E. Wildlife and environmental toxicityRead more about this ingredient here: https://www.ewg.org/…/ing…/703935/METHYLISOTHIAZOLINONE/
METHYLCHLOROISOTHIAZOLINONE – About METHYLCHLOROISOTHIAZOLINONE: Methylchloroisothiazolinone is a widely-used preservative; has been associated with allergic reactions.Other HIGH concerns: Irritation (skin, eyes, or lungs); Other LOW concerns: Data gaps, Ecotoxicology. Violation of government restrictions – Restricted in cosmetics; use, concentration, or manufacturing restrictions; Reference: European SCCS. Read more about this ingredient here: https://www.ewg.org/…/703924/METHYLCHLOROISOTHIAZOLINONE/
Fragrance – Fragrance is one of the most concerning ingredients in your products. This is because there is a loophole that allows manufactures to list fragrance as ONE ingredient, when in reality it can include hundred of ingredients in that one word. I learned all about the fragrance industry from a documentary called Stink! It is such an eye opening documentary. It has nothing to do with essential oils, but it does have to do with a more nontoxic lifestyle, and some hidden dangers you may not be aware of. This documentary changed my life, FOR REAL.
“When I go shopping in a store, I assume that if the product is on the shelf, SOMEONE has made sure it’s safe. That if a product was dangerous, toxic, carcinogenic – it wouldn’t be allowed to be sold… and that’s a fundamentally INACCURATE assumption. NO ONE’s made sure it’s safe.”
-Jeff Hollender- in the documentary Stink!
He’s referring to the 80,000 (yes, thousand) chemicals that were grandfathered in to TSCA by the FDA in 1976. The same FDA whose guidelines haven’t changed since they were enacted in 1938. EIGHTY 
PLUS YEARS AGO. These chemicals are allowed to be in our products with ZERO WARNING.
They’ve never, ever, ever been studied for their safety. EVER.
You don’t think we’ve advanced in our knowledge and understanding of science and the human body in 80 years?!?! 
Go look into what fragrance is and watch the Stink! Documentary. It used to be on Netflix, but now appears to be on Amazon Prime. You may also find a DVD copy from your local library. Watch it with your loved ones. I post about fragrance a lot on my facebook page. I’ll link a few posts here, here, here and here.
Why am I bothering with this? Why do I care which cleaner you use in your house? Because I care about people, animals and the environment. It is not fair. You’re wasting your money and having the wool pulled over your eyes with these products. It’s not fair. These companies make it look SO GOOD for you. It’s all marketing. They can put basically whatever they want on the label to make it sound good, but still include shit ingredients. PLEASE for the love, google some ingredients in your products. If you don’t have time, send me a message. I’ll gladly send you some links. If your product has ALL fantastic ingredients, but still includes FRAGRANCE – YOU. HAVE. BEEN. DUPED. I am not making this up guys, it’s a governmental loophole.
We choose to use Young Living’s Thieves product line for all of our cleaning needs. It doesn’t contain any of the above mentioned ingredients, especially fragrance, and is amazing. An entire blog post will be coming on the Thieves line. You can purchase a Thieves starter bundle here. Click on the “other premium kits” tab and choose the Thieves Starter Kit.
meagan meier 