What kills those germs in our soaps that say antibacterial? Triclosan and it is a pesticide. Makes sense because pesticides kill things. Did you know it is in over 140 different products? I didn’t know triclosan is in some brands. Scary. What is even more scary, the idea that this pesticide is found in a mothers breast milk.
The EPA has just done a preliminary report on Triclosan and it raises some red flags. I recommend visiting the Environmental Working Groups summary of the report and their recommendations. Healthy Child also wrote a great article with some resources and reports that I highly suggest reading. Good old fashion soap and water is all we really need to kill germs. This means our children have to wash their hands and we need to enforce it. We also need to teach them how to wash them and for at least 10 Mississippis! That’s my house rule and it may be time consuming but it is safe! So what should a mom do when there is no soap or water? What about when a school note requires your child to bring a hand sanitizer? There are safe and natural alternatives and my favorite include:
If you’re a teacher I highly suggest visting my tips for how to have a safe and non-toxic classroom this year. Our children need to be in safe environments and that means their classrooms should be non-toxic. For parents wanting to green their school year, Nature Mom , has a great letter for parents to give teachers.
Sommer writes for Busy Mommy as the health editor. You can also read more from her blog Green & Clean Mom where she writes about how being green is sexy, sassy and fun.
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