Carol Manzetti spoke at Central Christian Church Thursday afternoon on ridding your home and your body of harmful toxins. 

An effort to have soft supple skin, the freshest smelling laundry and gleaming tile and hardwood floors has us often, unknowingly, bringing poisonousness chemicals into our homes and ultimately to our families.

Manzetti began looking for the use of safer cleaning and beauty products six year ago following a miscarriage.

“People often become more aware of environmental toxins during a critical point in their life,” she said.

For instance, the birth of a baby or trying to conceive frequently makes people more cognizant of harmful external factors. How many people have given up the life-threatening habit of smoking cigarettes not because the doctor said to but because “you can’t smoke around the baby”?  Or maybe the shattering diagnosis of a serious illness such as breast cancer or a chronic condition like inflammatory arthritis cause people to ask the question, “what am I putting into my body?”  

And consuming is not only what we eat but what we breathe and what we absorb through our skin.

Manzetti concedes that you can’t live in a bubble and that there is no one culprit.

“However, there are endocrine disrupting chemicals in many of the products that we use over and over every day, and that is where changes can make a difference,” she said.

Fragrance can be a huge offender.

“Give up my perfume, but I’ve worn it for years?”

 “It is all about balance. Like dieting, you need to make choices. If you really like one product, keep it, but switch out another,” Manzetti said. “There are many laundry detergents on the market today that are fragrance free.”

Skin cream can be another felon. It stays on your body for a long time between showering. It is also said that the average woman “eats” 14 pounds of lipstick in her lifetime.

Researchers at the Center for Environmental Research and Children's Health at UC Berkeley say the average teenage girl uses 14 personal care products a day, many of which include chemicals that are under-studied.

It is not just the female population affected by toxicity levels in personal care products.  Men use shaving cream, shampoo, soap and deodorant as well as women.

And, it is not just the toddlers crawling on the floor that pick up every tiny object and put it into their mouth.  Your pets lick crumbs from a floor that may have been mopped with a noxious substance.

Don’t rely on the picture on the label or the use of the word “natural” when selecting products.  You must read the ingredients.  Plus, there are apps for your phone such as “Healthy Living” and “Think Dirty” that will educate users on potential toxins in household, personal care and beauty products. Just scan the barcode and get a rating.

When asked to name a good household cleaner, “I use a lot of vinegar,” Manzetti said.

Some of you may remember having your hair rinsed in vinegar water following a shampoo.  Maybe Mom knew best.

Stop by Central, located at 4711 Westside Drive, and tour the new Wellness Center soon to open on the second floor of the building.