Shame on you Clorox: Bleach Doesn’t Belong in our Homes
According a Clorox commercial on TV today (during a baby show, meaning lots of Moms saw this ad) you should sanitize not only your child’s toys but also their BOTTLES and SIPPY cups in a bleach and water solution.
Are you freaking kidding me?
Bleach is a huge cause of calls to the poison control center, and the makers of Clorox Chlorine Bleach want us to soak young children’s food containers in it?
These are just some of the oh so useful suggestions found on Clorox.com under AMAZING USES. Heh… the only amazing thing about bleach is its ability to strip fabric of all colors and eat through fabric when used repeatedly or in higher concentrations (and that SMELL!)
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Chlorine bleach is bad for the environment and more importantly, it is bad for the health of our families and our homes. While traditional household concentrations of bleach won’t cause any life threatening reaction if ingested, it is still a toxic chemical, one that our homes should be free of.
The MSDS for Clorox Regular bleach states: “DANGER: CORROSIVE. May cause severe irritation or damage to eyes and skin. Vapor or mist may irritate. Harmful if swallowed. Keep out of reach of children.”
I’m just absolutely shocked at the recommendation to clean an infants bottles and sippy cups with a bleach solution. For one, WHY do we need to sanitize to the level of killing all bacteria (good and bad)? If for some reason, sanitation is required, boiling water works wonders without chemicals. Many dishwashers on the market today have a sanitation cycle, you can stick lots of toys, bottles and sippy cups on the top rack and they come out sparkling clean.
According to Clorox, one should mix one tablespoon of bleach with a gallon of water and soak prewashed bottles in the solution for two minutes. Then you should pour the solution through the nipples and drain dry. They don’t even recommend a final rinse.
I’d like to think that we are well beyond the days of feeling like we have to sanitize our children’s bottles. But if you do want to or have been advised to by a Doctor, then use boiling water (you know, the old fashioned method our parents used when we were infants). There are also options on the market for microwave sanitation.
Let all the green people quit using bleach and lets see how bad the flu viruses get out of hand. I’ve worked in the restaraunt biz for many years and you better make sure you have diluted bleach around and ready for when the state department comes to inspect! If the state requires it, it must do the job. Our church has a bleach cycle in our commercial dishwasher-are people going to quit going to church food events? I should think they would feel more confident to use our dishes and utensils than if we were washing with merely dw soap and hot water!
Last week my childrens school had a 20% absentee rate due to the various flu epidemics. 2 children out of 25 in one class were hospitalized. Lets quit using bleach so that your children can infect my children who come from a clean and bleach sanitized home. I am not a bleach freak-small diluted quantities can work quite well. As for septic tanks-asked our plumber-unless you dump gallons a week through your tank it is not harmful to the good bacteria.
I run a diaper service and I have to laugh whenever someone asks us if we use bleach on our diapers. Um, yes, unless you feel comfortable that plain ole soapy water (or vinegar — Ha, that’s a good one!) can protect you and your baby against e. coli, strep bacteria, staph infections, tuberculosis, rotavirus, MRSA, swine flu, and God knows what else! Vinegar does not kill viruses. Some people argue back that we could wash each child’s diapers separately as some services do… to which I ask, How exactly are they disinfecting the MACHINE in between loads??
Honestly, the whole thing with bleach is a concern but it is WAY overblown and bleach does have its place. Maybe it’s not absolutely necessary in the home, but it’s absolutely a blessing when it comes to public services (including restaurants). If you don’t agree, do some research on what public sanitation conditions and disease used to be like.