How cleaning Products affect the health of your Pets
Hello, I am Michael and Taetske invited me to be a guest commentator on her website.
Shugar in the Spanish Sun
The toxic dust in your house
In recent news, house dust may be hazardous to your pet’s health. In a study published in Environmental Health and Technology, indoor cats are especially sensitive to organohalogen compounds that are absorbed by household dust.
The study evaluated the house dust in seventeen Swedish homes, the blood samples from house cats resident in the homes as well as samples from the food sources. To establish a baseline, cat food was purchased matching the reported diets of the households in question.
The problem is that many organohalogens are present in our homes. You may not think so but how many items do you have that are sprayed or treated with flame retardant. The study investigated at least ten known compounds and found a significant correlation between serum and dust samples.
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Cleaning Products image by Tookapic
You may not think that this is important, but I would advise you to reconsider. Many of our household chemicals are heavier than air, so they sink to the low levels in the house. Who besides our furry friends inhabit the low levels, maybe babies?
Cigarette and a coffee image by Myriam Zilles
Smoking also dangerous for your pets
My mother lived in a mobile home in the Colorado Rockies. And much to my chagrin, she smoked a pack of cigarettes a day. She did not believe that cigarette smoke was harmful to her pets. One time while visiting her, I cleaned the furnace filter and found it was absolutely filthy with a dark brown sticky substance.
I proposed that this was nicotine and tar from cigarettes. It wasn’t until her cats started developing cancer symptoms that she started questioning her stance.
I had left two wonderful animals with her for a while. Within 4 years, I lost a beautiful Cornish Rex to sinus cancer. She had lost a Cornish Rex I had given her to breast cancer, and a feral beauty she had adopted as a kitten to lung cancer. Soon, she would develop cancer and the rest is unnecessary to discuss.
Be proactive and protective with your pets (and children) and air the house out often.
There are more dangers you may not be aware of. We found that other things can seriously affect your pets, Look at my post beware of frontline for more information. You may also want to visit this site as well: Frontline Side Effects.
A recommended book
With all the chemicals in our life, one should pay attention to the little ones who live near the floor. Do you know how the poisonous chemicals in your home might be affecting you, your children, and your pets?
Even if you are a casual smoker, you need to realize that cigarette smoke might be captured by your air filter, but it is also just as likely to be re-circulated through the ventilation system.
In this book, you will find practical, cost-effective methods for detoxing your home Less Toxic Living is a discussion on how to reduce your in-house exposure to all sorts of household chemicals. Take a serious look at your indoor life. Your health, the health of your family, and your pets will benefit.
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Conclusion
I present you with the following video of 30 October 2017, which is quite an eye-opener. There are many harmful things in your home you are so used to that you do not realize they are dangerous.
Do not miss this informative video.
I have made a special page for you with a collection of items you might be interested in. Before you leave, have a look at Recommendations.
Source: NaturalHealth365 and My Life
Photo Source: Pixabay and Private
Our modern life holds many toxic substances and we often do not even realize they are there. Perhaps you are interested to read the following post.
Comments
Melinda Curle
Oh wow! I hadn’t even know that these could harm our pets. You mention cats a lot in the article, do you know if it impacts dogs in the same way? I have a mixed breed dog.
Do you have recommendations for cleaners that are safer for our pets? I know that a lot of people use vinegar solutions to clean.
Taetske
Good Morning Melinda,
Yes, it is a bad situation and it is good to be informed about these hazards. Cats and dog and also small children will be affected as they are close to the ground. I do not know where you live but here in Spain, the different supermarkets have often a “clean” line of cleaning products, the same is valid for hygiene products, make-up, and food. The more one is informed the better. I have recently written a post about Frontline, you might care to have a look.
Regards, Taetske
Alejandra
Hi Taeske,
Thanks so much once again for sharing a good article to read to help me to live in a better place.
I love pets and I love to know more about them and how I can make life better for them.
I’ve heard a few times about some pets getting sick of cancer and their owners didn’t know why their pets got sick, and I think most of the pet owners don’t know why and how pets can get sick.
Getting to know more about how we live and how we build out homes to make nicer and maybe cleaner, but sometimes we have no idea what products we use to clean our houses and these products can be novice for our pets.
I will forward your article to my sister as I think she will be interested to know more about this topic.
Muchos saludos desde Quebec
Alejandra.
Taetske
Good afternoon Alejandra,
The more I investigate on the things in our daily life the more disturbing facts come to light. The dangerous substances of products are not always exposed by the manufacturer and in the meantime, we use it in our homes.
In old times we just would clean with neutral soap and water and everything was fine. Now we are led to the belief, mostly by advertisements, that certain things are better and more modern when actually they are harmful to us all.
The best we can do is to be informed as much as possible to at least be able to make a choice while being conscious of the effects it might have.
Thank you for leaving a comment. I hope you have downloaded your free PDF?
Regards, Taetske
Chris
I was fully aware that smoking around your pet was rather selfish – along with any other mammal really. But, I had no idea about the danger household cleaners held for our pets – very worrying.
How long has this been common knowledge? Are they just finding out more about their effects now?
Taetske
Good afternoon Chris,
I personally think this is not common knowledge yet as the manufacturers will not readily disclose the danger of their products and as long the laws are rather hazy on this these companies will not care about our health, they care about selling.
The modern-day environmental movement started in the 1960s. In the beginning, it focused mainly on disasters. Later on, it became more multifaceted and people got more conscious about what is in the food, water, air, product ingredients etc. Going green became a known word.
I am sending you a link of 10 years ago which will give you more information.
Regards, Taetske
https://www.today.com/health/dirty-truth-about-cleaning-products-wbna26903507
Daniel
I must thank you a lot for this article Teatske. I have a dog and I really did not know that all of this things can harm our pets in some way. I don’t smoke but I have a lot of friends who are smoking when they come to my house and it needs to be changed.
Taetske
Good afternoon Daniel.
In 1998, when I reformed my house, I decided no more smoking in the house. Everybody, myself included, would have to smoke outside. In 2015 I stopped smoking and that was one of the good decisions I made in my life.
Friends or not I do think I have the last word in my own house. If I were you I would tell my friends that health comes first.
Thank you for your comment, I hope to see you again.
Regards, Taetske
Hany Hamed
Hi, the topic is very important to anyone with pets in their homes. I myself lost my dear cat after 6 years having him with me. And the reasons were a lot including smoking I am afraid!
The image of the chemicals is quit large, and it squashing the text next to it. You may want to resize the photo so the text is more clear.
Thank you for discussing this topic, can’t wait for more tips.
Taetske
Good Morning Hany,
Thank you for leaving a comment on my website. I hope you downloaded your free PDF?
I know how hurtful it is to lose ones fur friends. This summer I lost my dear Cindy, a Rottweiler Lady. A few months later old Missu, she came walking in while still being a baby in 1995. She had a long and happy life here on the farm.
I know that photo is big. If I downsize it the picture gets very small. There is no in-between size for big to medium.
We have checked the post on Michaels Samsung smartphone and there is no problem as the text above and below the photo have enough space. Sorry you had this experience but on our side, all looks ok.
Regards, Taetske
DerrAd
That’s an interesting enlightenment about how the things I’ve normally ignored affect the pets around me. From now on I’m going to be observant to how they react to those chemicals around. In this light, I would be pleased if you could throw more light on “organohalogens” and the degrees of effect they have on the pets?
Also, could that evaluations from the study be said for all pets or it’s peculiar to cats? Thanks for the information.
Taetske
Good afternoon Derr,
Thank you for visiting my website and leaving a comment. I hope you downloaded your free PDF?
These chemicals are harmful to all living things. Dog, cats, and babies are closer to the ground so they will be more affected as organohalogens are heavier than air.
It is, of course, difficult to know how much an effect organohalogens have on our pets and children. Most organohalogens have a bio-accumulative effect and repeated exposure to mild concentrations can be just as hazardous as chronic exposures to high concentrations.
Many of the materials used for furniture manufacture include organohalogens, from glue in the plywood to the fire retardant on the cloth. These chemicals are released slowly over time. We are surrounded by dangerous things and that is why one has to be informed about it.
Regards, Taetske
Henry
Hi Michael! Poor little pets! Most of us haven’t been paying attention to the impact cleaning products have on them. Nobody at home smokes, but we all use cleaning products. Thanks for raising awareness. We’ll be careful to take our pets out for a walk while the house is being cleaned. I appreciate the point you have made in this post!
Taetske
Good Morning Henry,
Michael says thank you for your comment. I hope you have downloaded your free PDF?
As we live on a farm our animals spend a great deal of time outside and in this house smoking was banned in 1998.
These modern times are full of health hazards, not so easy to stay healthy. That is why being informed is so important. The more I investigate the more scary things come to light.
Regards, Taetske
Edwin IBU
Wow never knew cleaners had effects on pets like cats. The usual household cleaners are dangerous when ingested but never knew it could affect them this drastically.
Cigarettes are bad for everyone even pets. This means animals can also have cancers. This is new to me and will definitely advice pals that smoke to desist while having pets.
Taetske
Good Morning Edwin,
I banned smoking in the house in 1998 so everybody had to go outside, myself included. In 2015 I completely stopped and that was a good decision. There are a lot of dangerous things in our life, in the food, water, air, and also cleaning products. It is important that we know about all these health hazards so we know what we should avoid.
Thank you for leaving a comment on my post. I hope you have downloaded your free PDF?
Regards, Taetske
Linda Frankson
Dear Teatke Thank you very much for this inlighted article I am a firm believer as you that these chemicals and many more are very harmful to your health.
I can testify to this and your answer on organohalogens. I was a beautician for many years that was my trade. A young mother came into the shop with her newborn at this time I no understanding how deadly perm solution could be no that it was an organohalogen substance. We placed the baby as far away from us as possible to my work station, in her car seat on the floor. As I worked with the solution I heard a whimper and went over to the baby. I could see she was having a hard time breathing and I realized that the perm solution had an adverse reaction on her. I grabbed the baby and ran outside the Mother follow and I got the baby to breathe but I also told the Mother to run her to the Hospital. As she ran to her car I was pulling all the rods from her hair. She was told at the Hospital that she was very lucky to have acted so quickly otherwise the child would have died.
From this experience, I found how these chemicals are much heavier than air and will form fumes about 10″ from the ground that is why we are not exposed so much to there poisonous effects. it was a very bad experience but I learned from it and never had young children come with there mothers while using these chemicals.
Thanks for your work and making people aware of toxin that we are exposed to every day. These types of blogs are very important to create awareness.
always a better way
Linda
Taetske
Good Morning Linda,
Thank you for stopping by and leaving a comment.
What an awful experience that must have been. On the other side, it taught you a valuable lesson. I am happy to hear the baby survived her ordeal as it could have ended in a very sad way. There you see the crazy things we humans do putting harmful chemicals on our hair which also penetrate the skin of the scalp. I am guilty myself having done various perm solutions in my life. The more I find out about these things the more I try to find natural and healthier alternatives. In life, one never stops learning.
Regards, Taetske
Mary
I’m glad to see this article. Only two weeks ago I banned my neighbour from my house unfortunately because whoever did his washing had put in one of those ‘Unstoppables’ type fragrances and when he popped in for a cup of tea my house was radioactive afterwards. My favorite chair was stinking and had to be covered, he only touched one glove which was on the table in front of him but when I put both gloves together and took them out when I went for a walk both were stinking of fragrance which cannot be washed off – I immediately thought of his dog!!! But I’d never heard anyone talk of this and I’m sure pet owners would do more if they knew – they could be our secret weapon in the war against fragrance!
Taetske
Good Morning Mary,
Unstoppables type fragrances? You cannot wash it off? I had not heard this before. I wonder if it is a new product which is not sold in Spain yet?
My nose functions very well, sometimes I wished for the contrary. When I stopped smoking the smell of cigarettes on peoples clothes or in their home started really bothering me. Here is the south of Spain with the mild weather conditions there is nearly never a day where I do not air the house well.
Thank you for leaving a comment, it is really appreciated.
Regards, Taetske
billonreview
This is very helpful information about pets that can be affected by human toxicity compounds. We use many products around the house for cleaning and other assorted things. We just do not realize the harmful effects that it might have on our own pets.
The best thing that we can do is to use as many natural and non-toxic products as possible. Our health, as well as that of our pets will certainly improve.
We still don’t fully understand the ramifications of using toxic products over a long period of time and how it can affect us and our pets. We need to be better informed and more research into toxicity products needs to be done.
Taetske
Good Morning Bill,
Thank you for stopping by and for your comment. I hope you downloaded your free PDF? Tulip widget.
I am lucky that I live on an organic farm so my animals spend a lot of time outside, the same as we do. I try to keep those products to a minimum. Especially people living in cities should take care and try to avoid those toxic products. Airing your house every day is very important. I hope though that the outside air is somehow not too polluted.
Regards, Taetske