Consumer Beware: Fabric Softeners Contain Toxic Chemicals!

(NaturalNews) Fabric softener ads often portray an image of comfort, freshness and sweetness. Yet most fabric softeners contain a grim list of known toxins which can enter your body through the skin and by inhalation, causing a wide range of health problems, particularly for young children.

Some of the harmful ingredients commonly found in liquid or sheet fabric softeners include:

• Chloroform: This substance was used as an anesthesia in the 1800s up through the early 1900s when its potential for causing fatal cardiac arrhythmia was discovered. A carcinogenic neurotoxin, it is on the EPA’s Hazardous Waste list. Inhaling its vapors may cause loss of consciousness, nausea, headache, vomiting, and/or dizziness, drowsiness. It may aggravate disorders of the heart, kidneys or liver. Its effects worsen when subjected to heat.
• A-Terpineol: Causes Central Nervous System (CNS) disorders, meaning problems relating to the brain and spine such as Alzheimer’s disease, ADD, dementia, Multiple Sclerosis, Parkinson’s disease, seizures, strokes, and Sudden Infant Death Syndrome. Early symptoms of CNS problems include aphasia, blurred vision, disorientation, dizziness, headaches, hunger, memory loss, numbness in face, pain in neck and spine. A-Terpineol also irritates the mucous membranes and, if aspirated into the lungs, can cause respiratory depression, pneumonia or fatal edema.
• Benzyl Alcohol: This upper respiratory tract irritant can cause central nervous system (CNS) disorders, headache, nausea, vomiting, dizziness and dramatic drops in blood pressure.
• Benzyl Acetate: This substance has been linked to pancreatic cancer. Its vapors can be irritating to eyes and respiratory passages and it can also be absorbed through the skin.
• Ethanol: Another fabric softener ingredient which is on the EPA’s Hazardous Waste list and linked to CNS disorders.
• Pentane: A chemical known to be harmful if inhaled.
• Ethyl Acetate: This substance, which is on the EPA’s Hazardous Waste list, can be irritating to the eyes and respiratory tract. It may also cause severe headaches and loss of consciousness, as well as damage to the liver and kidneys.
• Camphor: Another substance on the EPA’s Hazardous Waste list. It is easily absorbed through body tissue, causing irritation of eyes, nose and throat. Camphor can also cause dizziness, confusion, nausea, twitching muscles and convulsions.
• Linalool: A narcotic known to cause respiratory problems and CNS disorders. In animal testing, exposure to linalool has resulted in death.
• Phthalates: Used in scented products to help the scent last longer, phthlates have been linked to breast cancer and reproductive system problems.
• Limonene: This known carcinogen can cause irritation to eyes and skin.

If you use fabric softener, these toxic chemicals coat your towels, sheets and clothing so that you absorb toxins through your skin, the largest organ of the body. When you wear chemically “softened” clothes, you inhale these chemicals with every breath. Even if you do not use fabric softener, you can ingest these chemicals through dryer exhaust sending them into the air or simply by working with someone whose clothes have been chemically treated in this way. Fabric softeners are designed to remain in fabric for a long period of time, slowly releasing into the air.

Related links

• http://www.epa.gov/dfe/pubs/laundry/consider/
• http://planetgreen.discovery.com/fashion-beauty/replace-fabric-softener-vinegar.html
• http://www.naturallifemagazine.com/0608/softener.htm
• http://shop.sixwise.com/thetoxicdangeroffabricsofteneranddryersheets2805.aspx
• http://users.lmi.net/wilworks/ehnfs.htm
• http://www.environmentalhealth.ca/special/fall07FabricSofteners.html
• http://www.norwexgreenclean.net/page/page/5367159.htm
• http://www.care2.com/greenliving/6-natural-alternatives-to-toxic-fabric-softeners.html

Source: http://www.naturalnews.com/034617_fabric_softeners_toxic_chemicals_laundry.html