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Highly toxic! Believing that cleaning laundry with conventional fragranced detergents is harmless is a mistake!
The dryer emissions are now classified as hazardous air pollutants and are known carcinogens.
Have you noticed that annoying toxic smell coming from neighbor laundry rooms?
Whenever they run their dryer and the fumes reach you walking in the street or even inside your home, they force us to shut the windows and run air purifiers even when we don’t want to.
“This is an interesting source of pollution because emissions from dryer vents are essentially unregulated and unmonitored,” says lead author Anne Steinemann, a professor of civil and environmental engineering and of public affairs at the University of Washington.
“Dryer exhaust from dryers that have been running with a dryer sheet or other type of fabric softener has shown to contain several toxic fumes such as benzyl acetate, which is a carcinogenic that is linked to pancreatic cancer.
Benzyl alcohol has been found in dryer exhaust and exposure to it will cause headache, nausea, vomiting, dizziness, and a drop in blood pressure which could lead to fainting. Several chemicals that have been classified on the EPA’s hazardous waste list have also been found in dryer exhaust.”
Findings, published online this week in the journal Air Quality, Atmosphere and Health, show that air vented from machines using the top-selling scented liquid laundry detergent and scented dryer sheet contains hazardous chemicals, including two that are classified as carcinogens.
You can spot immediately when someone is wearing a garment that has been treated with conventional products, its typical toxic smell is recognizable.
What is even worse is this toxic mix of chemicals we smell coming from laundry rooms when walking on a sidewalk in a residential area, in the alley, in your garden, or even inside your home if you have open windows! Preventing us from leaving the windows open or spending time outdoors in our backyard!
“When the neighbor’s dryer vent blows aromas your way do you inhale deeply and enjoy the experience? Or do you cover your nose and close the windows shut? By the time you have realized that the toxic pollution has entered your living space, it might be too late. The most troublesome fact is that most of these toxins are always produced on a base of petroleum distillates, which makes them stick to fibers and surfaces around us.”
That toxic smell is highly irritant not just for sensitive people but for everybody. It creates reactive symptoms that range from aches, irritability, hives, asthma, etc.
“Many people who consider being affected by multiple chemical sensitivities (MCS) are simply those who have learned to connect their symptoms to health hazards from bursts of chemicals entering their environment and body. The common symptoms of chemical poisoning from dryer vents and clothing that was washed in these chemicals are headaches, irritation of mucus membranes, fatigue, loss of energy, breathing problems including asthma attacks, seasonal allergies triggered by overloaded detoxification pathways, and digestive symptoms such as inability to digest food, diarrhea or constipation.” For me are headaches and hives
It is incredibly shocking that our neighbors are not aware that is putting them and us in danger by causing toxicity in our environment.
Many of us do not realize how toxic and dangerous CONVENTIONAL DRYER SHEETS can be!
They contain unhealthy fragrances, toxic chemicals, irritants, and heavy pollutants that affect not only sensitive individuals, pregnant women, the elderly, pets, children, and wildlife, but all of us, too!
They are still sold in regular grocery stores as harmless products.
Conventional dryer sheets contain toxic ingredients and chemicals that are cheap to produce, and harsh on us, the planet, and the environment. They are linked with asthma and respiratory damage, skin allergies and irritations, development, and reproductive toxicity, posing cancer, and environmental hazards. You can check your current detergent’s toxicity rating here at EWG.org
Those toxic fumes coming from dryer vents are an environmental hazard!
Conventional sheet pollutants contaminate the air around us, provoking respiratory effects with developmental/endocrine/reproductive effects, general systemic/organ effects cause acute, create aquatic toxicity, pollute the environment, and reach long distances through the vent of the dryer.
This study shows that after switching from fragranced laundry products to fragrance-free laundry products, toxicity decreased in all samples of the laundry room air and emissions with the use of products.
While unscented laundry products reduce the toxic fumes released to the environment, the best solution is truly natural and organic laundry products!
Fragrance-free conventional laundry detergents can contain still different spectrums of chemicals that are present in the dryer vents.
❌ Avoid all conventional laundry products, made with toxic and synthetic ingredients and material.
❌ Avoid greenwashing laundry products. Greenwashing is when a brand pretends to be green when it is not. It is a misleading marketing tactic to make you buy their products. There are several greenwashing detergents on the market that’s why we need to have the right information that allows us to buy a better detergent to protect us, our family, our pets, and the environment. Use your nose and eyes. Read the ingredients list. Avoid fragranced products and colored liquid products.
Finally a safer alternative to the toxic dryer sheets!
✅ Safer dryer products:
🍃 Wool Dryer Balls naturally soften fabrics while reducing your drying time by up to 30%!
Safer for us and the environment🐠
✅ Safer laundry products:
🍃 Organic laundry detergent
🍃Natural Laundry Brightener
🍃Safer Bleach Alternative
Now you have all you need to know for a safer, organic laundry experience. Wash your garments at home with your organic laundry detergent and eco-friendly dryer balls. When you need professional laundering choose only
✅ eco-friendly dry cleaners that use the only 2 approved eco-friendly methods:
🍃Wet cleaning method
🍃CO2 method.
❌Conventional laundry detergent and ⚠️Toxicity coming out from dryer vents! While I am typing this, I can smell toxic laundry fragrances coming from outside! How many of you are dealing with this?🙊 This is a legitimate health issue that pollutes the environment and causes reactions from many of us. Some are not able to easily detect it, as we are passively absorbing these toxic substances into our systems. 💨 Many, like me, are able to instantly recognize the toxic fumes and attribute them to the source. Since many cannot tolerate it, need to close the windows and run a home purifier to alleviate symptoms. In my opinion, this needs to be addressed! 🧼We need to regulate dryer vents and educate more consumers about the risks of buying products with fragrances! I break down in my blog the four categories of laundry products: ❌ WORST: Conventional with fragrance ➡️toxic ❌ BAD: Conventional, fragrance-free ➡️ still toxic ✅ BETTER: Organic products ➡️ safer ✅ BEST: Organic and fragrance-free ➡️ safest The last category is the key to reducing all the toxicity in the air! I hope more states will follow the lead of California and sign the law that fragrance has to be disclosed! Just because fragranced laundry products are sold regularly in the grocery store doesn't mean they are harmless: in fact, studies show that fragrance products harm reproductivity and unborn children! Irresponsible brands intoxicate many of us with passive, second-hand pollution from their smelly laundry products! We need to bring awareness about how fragrance and conventional laundry products are intoxicating us! 💚Let's all use laundry products that won’t harm us or our neighbors. Join me in picking approved laundry brands. Let’s kindly let our neighbors know about this and show them eco-friendly alternatives. They are all listed above.
Copy this message and kindly deliver it to your neighbor.
LETTER:
Hello Neighbor,
I have fragrance allergies from your laundry products.
Please help me and switch to fragrance-free laundry detergents and dryer sheets.
Thank you so much!
You can also add more information:
Conventional laundry products are responsible for multiple chemical sensitivities (MCS)
Fragranced laundry products that are toxic. They also harm the environment:
"Dryer exhaust from dryers that have been running with a dryer sheet or other type of fabric softener has shown to contain several toxic fumes such as benzyl acetate, which is carcinogenic that is linked to pancreatic cancer.
Benzyl alcohol has been found in dryer exhaust and exposure to it will cause headache, nausea, vomiting, dizziness, and a drop in blood pressure which could lead to fainting. Several chemicals that have been classified on the EPA's hazardous waste list have also been found in dryer exhaust."
The common symptoms of chemical poisoning from dryer vents and clothing that was washed in these chemicals are headaches, irritation of mucus membranes, fatigue, loss of energy, breathing problems including asthma attacks, seasonal allergies triggered by overloaded detoxification pathways, and digestive symptoms such as inability to digest food, diarrhea or constipation."
To protect your health and the environment choose organic or fragrance-free laundry products!
WORST: Conventional, fragrance: toxic
BAD: Conventional, fragrance-free: still toxic
BETTER: Organic products
BEST: Organic and fragrance-free
Please refer to this blog: prettyorganicgirl.com/dryer-vent
10% off code: PRETTYORGANICGIRL
🌎NEW Plastic-free tip: 👉Laundry pods made of biodegradable PVA are still made of plastic and should be labeled as plastic.⚠️ ⚠️Laundry Pods and Laundry Sheets that list Polyvinyl Alcohol (PVA or PVOH) as an ingredient contain plastic According to the Meliora Cleaning blog: 👉“Many people using laundry pods and strips think that these products contain zero plastic. Several brands state loudly, and incorrectly, that they contain ‘zero plastic’ while also listing PVA as an ingredient. We aim to clear things up: if there is PVA or PVOH in the ingredients, there is plastic. 👉Plenty of people know that the outer coating of a laundry pod does in fact contain PVA, but some may not realize that it can also be found in laundry sheets. Both products often contain Polyvinyl Alcohol, which is a water-soluble plastic. 👉PVA, also called PVOH, is a dissolvable plastic that is used in many applications including laundry and dishwasher pods. A recent study, Polyvinyl Alcohol in US Wastewater Treatment Plants and Subsequent Nationwide Emission Estimate [1], has concluded that the PVA used for these products does not readily biodegrade during wastewater treatment.” 👉About 75% of PVA used does NOT degrade in wastewater treatment plants in the USA[1]. 👉PVA-based products (laundry pods, dishwashing pacs, laundry strips) release plastic into the environment 🐠💚For this reason I switched to non-pods laundry products. My current favorite brand is the MELIORA 🌿Not only their products are 100% plastic-free but also their packaging!! I am committed to reducing plastic waste and using Meliora products is so rewarding!👏
I don't recommend this product: category greenwashing: WORSE.
Ingredients:
Dihydrogenated Palmoylethyl Hydroxyethylmonium Methosulfate, C16-18 and C18 Unsaturated Glycerides, C16-18 Fatty Acids, Fragrance, Lavandula Angustifolia (Lavender) Oil, Citrus Aurantium Dulcis (Orange) Peel Oil
I don't recommend this product: category greenwashing: BAD.
First, they don't list their ingredients anywhere. Making the search very difficult.
Plus they are liars! They are hiding that they have the CALIFORNIA proposition 65 warning.
According to EWG.org, they are toxic: skin irritation/allergies/damage, acute aquatic toxicity, respiratory effects.