The Chemical Home

Further to my previous post about harmful chemicals in the home, I'd like to recommend The Chemical Home - an excellent, well researched website that's new from Greenpeace. This site tells you all about the toxic chemicals that are inside us, how they get there, and it names many of the companies responsible for producing and selling them in the first place.

Did you know, for example, that your pyjamas could be depositing organotins in your blood? ("Organotins are very poisonous even in tiny doses. Some organotins attack the immune system, others can cause birth defects.") Or that your sofa may contain endocrine disruptors, "capable of causing birth defects, reproductive abnormalities or developmental problems in... children by interfering with the body's natural chemicals that control growth and development"?

It's not easy to get this kind of information. Big companies are notorious for trying to cover up the fact that they have been poisoning their customers for years, and many of them continue to do so. Greenpeace has done a fantastic job, not only in gathing the facts, but also in making them available in a simple and straightforward way for people to understand.

Even if you've already banished chemical cleaners from your home, there is still so much more to know. The Chemical Home is a must-read.