Hello all! It's been a while since my last post...things have been a little crazy around here. Mother's day was pretty awesome, my brother treated my mom and I to lunch, I got to spend the day with hubby and the kiddos, got a copy of a new movie I've been wanting to see (Black Swan!) and I even got to take a nap when the kids did...all in all a great day! We found out big boy's cat allergy was a bit worse than we thought...he went with us to a friend's house who has 2 indoor cats (I hadn't given him his allergy meds before we left, had just given baby girl hers). Well he was fine while we were there, playing a lot with the cats and such (thankfully they're relatively kid-friendly kitties), but once we got in the car to go home, he started coughing and sneezing like crazy! He ended up needing two breathing treatments and his liquid allergy meds before he could get to sleep and since he was feeling so bad, I just went ahead and let him sleep with us so I could kinda keep an eye on him. I kinda have to wonder if perhaps some of their allergies may be a result of exposure to triclosan in utero...I've read research that states a possible link between triclosan exposure in utero and a higher predisposition to allergies. Hubby and I also have a few allergies (though not as many as them it seems), so I'm sure genetics are in play here some too...I'm not silly enough to blame it ALL on chemicals, but I highly doubt they're helping matters. For anyone out there who doesn't know, triclosan is a chemical commonly used as an anti-bacterial agent. It is also known as Micro-ban (mostly called that in clothing and hard-surface items). It can be found in a multitude of common household and personal care products including soaps and bodywashes, household cleansers, shaving creams, anti-bacterial wipes and even toothpastes, to name just a few. Through research it has been found to be an endocrine disruptor (another example of an endocrine disruptor is BPA (Bisphenol A), formerly found in all kinds of hard and semi-hard plastics before it was removed because of possible leaching into food and drink), which means it interferes with the body's endocrine (hormone) system and can cause cancerous tumors, birth defects and other developmental disorders. Specifically, they are known to cause learning disabilities, severe attention deficit disorder, cognitive and brain development problems, deformations of the body (including limbs); sexual development problems, feminizing of males or masculine effects on females, etc. Endocrine disruptors (like triclosan and BPA) are substances that "interfere with the synthesis, secretion, transport, binding, action or elimination of natural hormones in the body that are responsible for development, behavior, fertility and maintenance of homeostasis (normal cell metabolism)". In addition, the EPA classifies triclosan in particular as a pesticide and in light of recent studies of the chemical, has bumped up its own research and review of triclosan to 2013, a whole decade ahead of schedule for its recertification as a "safe pesticide". Needless to say, not something you really want around your home or family. I personally have signed an online pledge (http://www.beyondpesticides.com/) to not use triclosan...the website also has even more info on the dangers of triclosan.
Ok, so enough with the scariness...I won't even start with the Johnson's debaucle in this post. Though speaking of cleanliness (if you've stuck with me this long anyway), I have found a new product that I'm really loving right now...Dr. Bronner's Magic Soap. It's a castile soap (available in both liquid and bar forms, I like the liquid for its versatility), made from all natural, organic ingredients like coconut oil, olive oil, hemp oil and jojoba oil, uses certified fair-trade ingredients, isn't tested on animals and uses 100% post-consumer recycled plastic in their bottles...basically a tree-hugger's wet dream. (Incidently, it has been proven in several scientific studies (internationally, no less) that anti-bacterial soaps and cleaners kill only a very small percentage more germs than plain old soap and water. Also, the germs the anti-bacterial stuff doesn't kill can become more resistant little buggers, making them harder to kill in the future...just so you know.) So far, I've been using it as a body wash for myself and the kiddos, as a shampoo for the kids (I'd use it on my hair too, but I color my hair and apparently castile soap isn't very kind to haircolor) and I'm planning on using it extensively in the next 3 weeks for deep spring cleaning (everyone's out of the house except for me, hubby and the kids, so I'm using this time to intensly clean the entire house). Like, I'm talking washing down walls and fan blades, stuff like that. I figured since I'll have far less people to work around, now would be the time. The Dr. Bronner's does a great job as a body wash, though it's very watery...you get a ton of suds though, so I'll definately need to dilute it a bit when I use it for cleaning around the house so I don't end up rinsing lots of suds off everything and doubling my workload. Since I bought it planning on using it more for cleaning the house than anything else, I got the unscented kind cause I couldn't figure out which other scent I would want my whole house to smell like...certainly not peppermint (the most popular scent, by the way). Don't get me wrong, I like peppermint just as much as the next girl, maybe even a bit more, but I don't want my entire house to smell like I live in Candy-Land, ya know? Plus, I wasn't sure which scents might make the kid's allergies flair up, and who wants miserable, stuffy kids until the smell fades away? Not I. I've also seen several recipes for home-made cleaning products that call for castile soap as an ingredient, so I'm kinda excited to try those out too. Also, the Dr. Bronner's is supposed to help clear up ecxcema, and since using it on little man as a body wash in collaboration with Eucerine cream, he hasn't had a breakout again...hopefully that'll keep me from having to use the hydrocortizone cream as much. Well, I guess that's about all for now...until next time!
