Working From Home

I want to take a few minutes and focus on our products and not the business side of what I do.  This outline was written by one of our team members and I felt it very important to share her insights and information.   I have withheld her name for privacy purposes.

It is a bit lengthy, but it covers some valuable points.

Research Notes:

I.      My Story

a.     3 year struggle with infertility; 3 months after converting to Melaleuca’s safer products I conceived, even doctor thought it could be related; Victoria was born on my 1 year anniversary with the company and she’s my mela baby

b.     This made me stop and think and want to know more. Here’s what I learned…

II.     The Law or Lack Thereof

a.     The Toxic Substances Control Act hasn’t been updated since 1976 and lobbyists continue to shoot down updates to it

                                                   i.     Current law is so weak that the EPA couldn’t even use it to ban asbestos

                                                  ii.     Current law has been used to regulate just 5 chemicals or chemical classes out of 80,000 used

                                                iii.     The government has very limited power to regulate manufacturers or require testing until after it is released into the marketplace, and the FDA cannot require recalls of harmful personal care products from the marketplace

                                                iv.     “The USA code of regulations exempts manufacturers from full labeling of products if used for personal use, family or household care.” (Directly from the US document covering regulations)

b.     Ex: A product that kills 50% of lab animals through ingestion or inhalation can still receive the federal regulatory designation of “non-toxic”

c.     Some products are protected by “trade secrets” and not even the government, Poison Control Centers, or your doctor can find out what is in them when an antidote is needed

III.   Poisoning Types

a.     3 different ways to be poisoned: ingestion, inhalation, absorption through the skin

b.     Ingestion risks of anything from cleaners to personal care products is obvious: you risk death. 3oz of hair conditioner is all it took to kill a 3 year old. Just crawling through a spilled puddle of bleach is all it took to kill a baby. If they’re lucky enough to escape death, they’re still looking at multiple surgeries to repair the damage. Dish detergent burns the digestive system from the inside out. One fingerful can cause major damage.

c.     Inhalation is more common and more harmful than ingestion because it’s straight into the bloodstream

                                                   i.     Products do something called outgassing. So just sitting on the shelf they are still giving off chemical vapors into your home that you then inhale

                                                  ii.     EPA found that airborne chemical levels in homes were as much as 70 times higher inside than outside

                                                iii.     According to the EPA, toxic chemicals found in the home are 3x more likely to cause cancer than airborne pollutants

d.     Skin can absorb and spread chemicals even by touching a surface that was treated with a chemical days or even weeks earlier

e.     Children are much more susceptible because of their smaller bodies

f.      With as few studies as there have been on chemicals in the marketplace, none have been done and nothing is known about how these chemicals interact with each other once they are inside our bodies, similar to how alcohol mixed with different prescription medications in the body can be fatal

IV.  Poisoning Impact

a.     Since World War II, dramatic rise in number of man-made chemicals in the home

                                                   i.     1900, cancer rate 1 in 50; now 1 in 3 women and 1 in 2 men

                                                  ii.     The National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health analyzed 2983 chemicals used and found that 884 were toxic, 314 caused biological mutation, 2218 caused reproductive complications, 778 caused acute toxicity, 148 caused tumors, 376 caused skin & eye irritations

                                                iii.     Many, including inert/inactive ingredients are carcinogens, including formaldehyde

                                                iv.     Many diseases & disorders are rapidly on the rise: Alzheimers, MS, birth defects, miscarriage, infertility, asthma (once very rare; tripled in the last 20 years), ADD/ADHD, Central Nervous System disorders, behavior disorders, learning disabilities, diabetes, thyroid problems, allergies; all a result of longterm exposure to environmental factors, which includes chemicals in everyday products

                                                  v.     Cancer, birth defects, genetic changes, heart disease – almost any symptom imaginable, both physical and psychological, has been associated with chemicals in common household products

                                                vi.     Breast cancer research links it directly to household cleaning products.

                                               vii.     Ex: one 15-year study found that women who worked at home had a 54% higher death rate from cancer than women who had jobs outside the home. The study concluded that the increased rate was due to the daily exposure to hazardous chemicals in everyday products in the home

b.     Cancer is the leading cause of death from disease for children ages 1-14; only 20% are due to genetic factors

c.     Babies are born prepolluted with over 200 chemicals in their systems, including flame retardants, pesticides and lead banned 30 years ago

                                                   i.     Ex: High levels of pesticides = lower IQ

                                                  ii.     Ex: High levels of phthalates (in plastics) to boys = anatomical defects, undescended testes

                                                iii.     Of the top 3,000 chemicals produced in the US, only 12 have been adequately tested for effects on the developing brain

V.    How Melaleuca is Different

a.     Never been a hospitalization or death from ingestion of any of Melaleuca’s products

                                                   i.     Ingestion of products may cause upset stomach or possible vomiting because they’re not meant to be ingested, but nothing worse, no trip to the hospital required, as unintentionally proven by one of our own team members last year

b.     We all know, no bleach, no ammonia, no caustic chemicals of any kind, no safety caps required

c.     Commitment to environmental safety and our health & wellness

                                                   i.     Test every product for "reactions" before releasing it to the public. Besides the common side effect of allergic reactions they do five years of research before releasing it to the public.

                                                  ii.     When something later on is determined to be not safe they then work on reformulating the products to remove that ingredient

                                                iii.     If it isn’t safe, it isn’t going to be in our products. We have constantly ongoing research and we’re constantly upgrading the products as we find superior ingredients to replace ones that maybe aren’t the exact preservative ingredient that we want. Melaleuca’s scientists know what is safe and what isn’t and have been dedicated to developing natural, healthy, green products we can trust for 25 years. It’s not about the bottom line profit. 

I am only a parent to a pug, but I have relatives and friends who would benefit greatly from our products.  I can't stress the importance enough of being healthy and safe.

Do it for your kids, pets and for yourself!!!!  Don't suffer with toxins in your home because you think you have to.  There is another choice.