Households kicking chemicals

[Guest guest]

foto: Township teaches Edna Creel (middle) of Flint how to make a soft

scrubbing cleanser as Glenn DeSota of Flint listens in during a class to

show how to make cleaners without toxic chemicals at Riverdale Church in

Flint Township recently. Stuart Bauer | The Flint JournalStacey

Kimbrell (right) of Flint

- - - -

Flint-area households kicking the chemicals; medical experts mixed on

effectiveness

Posted by Shaw | The Flint Journal November 22, 2008 16:00PM

http://www.mlive.com/flintjournal/index.ssf/2008/11/flintarea_households_kicking\

_t.html

FLINT TOWNSHIP, Michigan -- For Flint Township mom Stacey Kimbrell, it

all started with a homemade painkiller for a twisted ankle on a family

camping trip.

Dilcia LaRocca of Mundy Township threw out processed meats after an

endocrinologist warned her the synthetic hormones could be causing her

6-year-old daughter's premature growth.

Baker College student Dana Hitchcock cured her son's skin allergies by

switching to chemical-free soap and deodorant.

Marcie Decker of Flint used a homemade mix of baking soda and powdered

sugar to get rid of ants without exposing her toddlers to dangerous

pesticides.

They're among a group of local homemakers who are relearning homespun

remedies and kicking chemicals out of their homes.

But is there a common-sense line between healthy and hype? Not even the

experts can say for sure where that line should be.

Flint Journal extras How to get more info To learn more about household

toxins: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Environmentally Preferable

Purchasing: www.epa.gov/epp

To host or join a nontoxic cleaning party:

e-mail: livingbalanced@...

Kimbrell knew nothing about the subject until her youngest son sprained

his ankle playing tag during a family camping trip in July 2007. The

campground manager rubbed a homemade mix of plant oils on his ankle to

relieve the pain.

" Five minutes later this kid got up and ran off down the path to play

with the other kids, " said Kimbrell. " I couldn't believe it. What was

that stuff? "

The woman invited her to a class on natural health and nutrition.

Kimbrell was hooked. When she got home, she read the labels on

everything in her cupboards and medicine cabinet.

" I couldn't believe the same ingredients in my kids' toothpaste was the

stuff they use to treat the water in sewage plants. I went through

everything in the house, researching all the chemicals online, " she said.

" I was the mom who always came home with the giant packs of Little

Debby's cakes from Sam's Club. But after we read the ingredients, even

my kids didn't want to eat it. I kept them like a little shrine on the

counter. "

Now she organizes " nontoxic cleaning parties " at her neighborhood church

to make household cleaners from baking soda, lemon, vinegar and

essential oils from plants.

She treats her sons' fevers with wintergreen and peppermint. They don't

eat anything with preservatives or other chemical additives -- a change

she believes has cured her two sons' hyperactivity.

" The doctors and schools wanted to put our kids on medication. Instead I

cut out all the dyes and processed sugars. In weeks we noticed a

gigantic difference in the boys' behavior. One son was two grades below

his reading level. Now he reads Harry Potter, " said Kimbrell.

Still, experts say to be cautious about homemade fixes to health problems.

" You have to be careful using words like 'natural' that have a common

meaning but also a marketing usage, " said Cruzen, a registered

environmental manager and industrial hygienist at Genesys Regional

Medical Center.

His job is to evaluate the potential health risks of everything in the

hospital from disinfectants to plastic tubing.

" If you can clean that surface with a damp cloth and water, then there's

no benefit to spraying a chemical on it. But if that area needs to be

sanitized because of risk of infection, then maybe it makes sense to

apply that disinfectant. It depends on the specific situation. "

Avoiding unnecessary chemicals and artificial additives is good common

sense. But just because something's natural doesn't mean it's safe.

Arsenic and crude oil are " natural, " but that doesn't make them any less

toxic, said Cruzen.

" Volcanoes are natural, but I don't think anybody wants one of those in

their backyard, " said Cruzen.

Still, the local women are true believers in the natural remedies.

LaRocca said she no longer sees signs of premature puberty in her

daughter after tossing out processed meats and containers with BPA, a

synthetic sex hormone used to make polycarbonate plastic.

" Our grocery bill is a lot bigger than normal now, but it's worth it for

our children's health, " said LaRocca. " When you first jump in, it's big

bills because you don't know what all your options are. It's a big

learning curve. But we're on the road to figuring that out and making it

cheaper. "

But getting everyone in the house on board isn't always easy, some admitted.

" My husband is not totally into it yet, and especially with food the

whole family has to be. So I have to wait for him, " said Decker, who's

slowly making the switch to an all-organic diet.

" But the ant killer was a great start. He was amazed by that. I think

people just have to see it works, and if it works, then they'll be all

for it. "

But the presence of a chemical additive doesn't necessarily make a

product unsafe -- and that's the part that has created headaches for

public health officials.

Fluoride, for example, can be a very reactive, toxic substance. But in

small, controlled concentrations it has marked benefits for dental health.

" But it remains controversial to this day in spite of the scientific

evidence showing the risks are far outweighed by the huge public health

benefit, " Cruzen said.

Worries about vaccine preservatives have caused a growing number of

parents to refuse to vaccinate their children, despite public health

warnings about potential new epidemics of deadly diseases.

Mercury amalgam dental fillings have been blamed for a variety of health

problems -- while others worry about hormones leaching from the plastic

resins used to replace them.

There are no easy answers, said Cruzen. It's up to the individual to

make their own informed choices.

" It's about risk versus benefit, about whether the benefit outweighs

whatever small risk is involved. "

© 2008 Michigan Live. All Rights Reserved.

..