Removing interference is one of my 4 key strategies when creating a Personalized Active Care Plan for clients. Interference can be foods, thoughts, products, supplements and habits that are incompatible with your bodymind.
According to the US-based Environmental Working Group (EWG) we shouldn’t make assumptions about the safety of any cleaning products, for these reasons:
- Companies that make cleaning products can use nearly any ingredient or raw material in their formulations without US government review or approval.
- Many manufacturers add fragrance mixtures to their cleaning products and typically don’t disclose all ingredients. Some common ingredients have hormone-disrupting properties (shown by lab tests) while other ingredients in both natural and synthetic fragrances can cause allergic reactions.
- There are no US federal regulations that require cleaning supplies advertised as natural or organic to live up to these claims, which can lead to greenwashing.
- Cleaning products can contain hazardous contaminants that are unintentional by-products of manufacturing processes. Current US law and regulation doesn’t require cleaning product makers to test ingredients for purity.
Some of the brands of cleaning product that work well for me are:
- Nature Clean
- 7th Generation
For an inexpensive green option, try cleaning with simple kitchen ingredients such as vinegar, dish soap, lemons and baking soda—and a little elbow grease.
EWG’s online Guide to Healthy Cleaning rates more than 2,000 household cleaning products to help people find products that:
- fully disclose their ingredients
- contain fewer ingredients that are hazardous
- contain fewer ingredients that haven’t been thoroughly tested