My sister spoils our children with presents. She is very generous and kind, and on one birthday she gave my daughter Maddie a 70 piece toy makeup set. Maddie loved it and promptly plastered it all over her face. The result was awful. Within an hour she was a feral animal – hitting, scratching, screaming and crying. It lasted for 7 hours. She’s no longer allowed to wear makeup.
Chemicals in food can cause major problems, which I wrote about in a recent post. However, chemicals in the environment can be just as bad. Your skin is your largest organ and it can absorb enormous amounts of chemicals, not just from makeup. Chemicals also enter your body through your nose. Aromatherapy is an example where your mood can be altered through your sense of smell.
Can the chemicals in your environment make your mood worse or even make you sick? Absolutely.
Gas cookers increase the carbon monoxide and nitrogen dioxide levels in the house. Moulds give off toxic fumes. You should make sure that your house is well ventilated and clean.
Think about the personal care products that you use. Makeup is a big culprit. Look at the ingredients – I can’t pronounce most of them. Liquid soap normally contains a chemical called sodium laureth sulfate which is a detergent and known skin irritant. It is also found in shampoos and toothpaste. But the list of chemicals is long and so are their potential effects for people who are sensitive. They are in deodorants, moisturizers, sunscreens.
If you’re concerned about the chemicals in your life then it would be a good idea to research the products you are using and potential substitutes, either online or somewhere like your local health food shop. There are many alternative products that are safe, work well, and don’t use harsh chemicals. For example cleaning with a mixture of vinegar and bicarbonate soda is an excellent substitute for detergents on many surfaces in the home.
Sensitivity to chemicals can cause real problems for some people, including changes to their moods. But once you adjust the products that you use in the house it is fairly easy to keep going. An allergy specialist can also do tests that hone in on each class of chemicals. That is what we ended up doing for Maddie.
Douglas Cootey 17 Feb 2008 @ 1:05 pm
This month my youngest daughter is going without milk. My wife was inspired on a whim that perhaps our daughter’s swollen tummy was caused by a lactose allergy. We have two other girls who have had troubles with milk. One grew out of it; the other still struggles. But this was new. Our little girl never complained about stomach pains, which was the number one complaint of our other lactose intolerant children.
Now that she’s gone a few weeks without milk her tummy has receded in swelling. We haven’t noticed any other improvements, but clearly my wife identified a sensitivity that had gone unnoticed for six years.
As you point out, it is important to evaluate our environment, including topical chemicals, so that we live in optimum conditions. It takes a lot of trial and error, it’s a lot of work, and it’s inconvenient, but in the end the results are worth it.
Douglas
Karen 17 Feb 2008 @ 5:59 pm
Thanks for this, I was talking about this very thing with my husband this morning.
Karen
Annie Turner 1 Mar 2008 @ 6:51 am
Having reactions to chemicals, the evorment, or food is more known then realized. So if you children that are showing signs of allergic reactions & you aren’t sure what’s doing it; You should have them tested as soon as possible because it can become dangerous to the child. My sister thought it was nothing & my nephew ended up in the hospital with more questions then it needed to be because she didn’t act soon enough. My nephew is now adult & he has grown out of allegy but he & his wife are watching their kids so they can get the help as soon as it’s need. Be safe then sorry; I say.
isabella mori 7 Mar 2008 @ 1:55 pm
wow, that’s an amazing story about the makeup.
of course one solution is to cut out a lot of the things. that also helps with doing what you talked about earlier: simplifying your life!
not that i’m a saint when it comes to that. i still haven’t switched to eco friendly cleaning products, for example, although i do try to use borax wherever i can. but i’ve pretty much given up on makeup, and find that a lot of things can be cleaned up simply with water!
Annie 16 Apr 2008 @ 1:48 am
Yeah inhaling chemicals indeed helps in mood swings. So it is advisable to breathe fresh air everyday as much as possible to stay healthy mentally and physically.
Alicia Sparks, Mental Health Notes 6 Jun 2008 @ 1:24 pm
I’ve been making a serious effort to decrease the number of products I use that have so many chemicals. It all began when I became a vegetarian. I then started becoming very aware of the products I buy (was this tested on animals? was that tested on animals?), and then gradually my focus broadened to also become a more conscious consumer regarding so many chemicals in products.
And yes, vinegar is wonderful!