3 Dangerous Home Items To Avoid

As much as we would like to hope that everything in our house is perfectly safe, we all know that there are a variety of dangerous home items proven to be toxic. If you were to read the labels of most of the cleaning supplies under your sink, you would see warnings to wash your skin after contact. Some items can even be deadly if used inappropriately! Here are three of the most dangerous home items to avoid and suggestions to replace them.

1. Mothballs: Mothballs have been used for years but still smell disgusting and offensive. Mothballs contain either paradichlorobenzene or naphthalene as a toxic active ingredient. Paradichlorobenzene is known to cause cancer in animals while naphthalene can cause vomiting, diarrhea and damage to red blood cells. As an alternative you may use cedar chips. Cedar chips keep insects of all kinds at bay along with moths, smell incredibly pleasant, and are long lasting.

2. Cleaning Solutions: How many of us have really looked at the cleaning supplies we keep in our house? Many people use Ammonia, Windex, Bleach, Clorox Bleach Wipes not to mention a barrage of additional dangerous home cleaning chemicals marketed for every specific cleaning task you can think of. Ammonia and bleach are both irritants to the skin and mucus membranes. If these two common items are mixed together, they can produce a deadly gas. As an alternative you could try diluted vinegar. It is a great disinfectant and can be used to clean the bathroom, stove top, appliances, counters, tiles or linoleum floors. Many people even use it as fabric softener. Lemon juice is great at dissolving soap scum and hard water stains and you can mix with vinegar or baking soda to make a scrub for stubborn stains. There are a ton of simple natural cleaning alternatives available.

3. Plastic Bottles: Another dangerous home item is plastic bottles. Many disposable plastics release toxins when heated (like a bottle of water left in a car). Experts advise people to use a stainless steel or BPA free water bottle and bring it in out of the heat.

By: Victoria Blitzer

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