Germ free
When we talk about germs we get very anxious and scared. Going germ free has become a human mission. Lot of companies are manufacturing products to kill all the germs to keep us safe. Whether its true or not, strong marketing techniques of these brands buy us out on the idea that the germs are killing us right now! But little do we realize that bacteria is all around us and its ok!
Bacteria is so powerful that some of them eat really weird things. Scientists have found bacteria that eat rocks, sewage, even nuclear waste. Victoria Orphan (a geobiologist at Caltech in Pasadena, Calif )says there is a type of bacteria that live on the sea floor and gobble up methane, the greenhouse gas. “These microorganisms are the gatekeepers. They prevent ocean methane from getting into the atmosphere where it can change greenhouse-gas levels,” Orphan explains.
Bacteria play central roles in ecosystems like oceans, soil and atmosphere. They’re also a big part of the global food web. Bacteria makes it possible for all other life on Earth to exist. Unfortunately we fail to realize that bacteria is earth’s most important resource. That’s why scientists say these single-celled organisms are the invisible backbone of all life — at least on Earth.
Imagine a world with no bacteria — no pizza, no sour dough bread, no curd, no decomposition and then, no existence! Unfortunately, we kill this ecosystem with huge amounts of chemicals not only at the industrial levels but at home and inside our body as well.
Let’s worry about our homes for now. Floor cleaner, kitchen cleaner, dish wash, fabric wash, disinfectants — through all of these we make sure that we kill all the bacteria — good and bad. How do we save ourselves from the bad bacteria without chemicals? The simple answer is, protect the good bacteria and this will keep the bad bacteria away!
When I started understanding about the bacteria and the products we use to kill them, it mind boggled me! We are not just killing the bacteria but killing ourselves with these chemicals. There is a lot of awareness on organic, pesticide free foods; indeed, many countries have created laws to limit pollution in outdoor air — has anyone thought about the strong chemicals and the polluted air inside our houses?
Our wellness is effected not just by what we eat but what we put on our skin and what we surround ourselves with. If we start counting, there is no end to the list of chemicals that we surround ourselves with — Floor Cleaner, kitchen cleaner, dish wash, tile cleaner, glass cleaner, laundry detergent, fabric softener, furniture polish, air freshener, mosquito repellent, cockroach repellent, bug spray, pest control, toilet cleaner, disinfectant, bleach/acid, drain cleaner, moth balls etc. The whole blog will be full of products if i start listing the skin care and hair care products.
I dug for an old bottle of CIF — cream surface cleaner and checked for its ingredients. The main ingredient used is the salts of LABSA — Linear Alkylbenzene Sulfonic Acid. A little googling revealed — This ingredient is a corrosive substance. Contact with the eyes may cause ocular lesions….contact with the skin may cause burns….etc etc. The concentration of the chemical used is not mentioned on the product.
(Learn more about the toxic ingredients here.)
The manufacturers argue that in small amounts these toxic ingredients wouldn’t cause much of a problem. Here are a few questions I have —
- Are the concentrations of these chemicals provided by the manufacturer and assure that its safe? (they only talk about how effective the product is!)
- Each product that we use contains one harmful ingredient. We use many other products which have chemicals in them (their concentrations unknown). What about human exposure to multiple chemicals through multiple products and how they may build up in our tissues over time.
- Certain chemicals in combination with some ingredients are very harmful. Are we educated enough to understand this scientifically?
Below is an example of another such product: Harpic.
Also, what about the continued exposure to these products in small amounts. Its like we are working towards a “toxic load” for ourselves that can contribute to a chronic disease. Not just that; VOC’s are gases that are emitted into the air from these products (or in the process of using them when the chemicals react with compounds in the air). Some are harmful by themselves, some cancer causing.
While our goal is to keep our homes clean from dirt and bacteria, we are replacing them with allergens and poisons and killing the life supporting single-celled beings in the process. Thankfully, there are many alternatives to toxic commercial cleaning products.
Hygiene expert Donna Duberg, (assistant professor of clinical laboratory science at Saint Louis University) says natural cleaners can disinfect as well as clean. Simple and inexpensive vinegar is very effective at killing bad bacteria. It can be used for soaking the vegetables to washing the floors. Vinegar mixed with baking soda (to make a paste) and you can get the scum out of the bathroom.
Bio enzymes are nothing but fermented kitchen waste. They are the most used natural cleaners. These can be made at home and are completely biodegradable and environment friendly.
Although less effective, vinegar was found to reduce the amount of bacteria on a hard surface although it was less effective than commercial cleaners. (study by the Journal of Environmental Health, 1994). The acid in vinegar crosses the bacteria’s cell membrane, prompting a release of protons, which causes the cell to die. We should always remember that by using the fire fighter chemicals, we are also killing the good bacteria that is helping us live.
Bio Enzyme:
Fermentation has been used for time immemorial (and even before the science of fermentation was clarified by Louis Pasteur). Wines and vinegar's, sakes and arrack and other variants of these all over the world were produced through the process of fermentation. Depending on the locality and the crop grown in the area, locals prefer materials like rice bran, barley or grapes for fermentation.
In simple words, bio enzyme is vinegar made from kitchen waste. To bring in the fragrance and other benefits, a particular waste ingredient may be used, like: citrus peels, flowers etc.
How Bio enzyme ferments?Fruits, biological garbage etc., all contains cells; these cells contain enzymes. By the fermentation process the cells break down (lysis) and they release their enzymes. If the bio enzyme is made with waste that has digestive enzymes, the microbes eat them up. The end result is vinegar/alcohol blend, depending on how much oxygen is available during the fermentation, and it smells like whatever you put in it. Bio enzyme has high acetic acid concentration and low pH(3–4).
It can be used as a cleaning agent, odor removal, preventing drain blockages, etc. When diluted, it could provide nutrients to plants due to the growth hormones, minerals, enzymes and/or other organic compounds extracted directly or converted from the waste materials. The highlight of bio enzyme is that it is organic and can be homemade at low costs, as compared to other products that contain synthetic chemicals and consume high energy in their production.
In a research done on antimicrobial activity of fermented citrus fruit peel extract, it is proven that the enzyme has the highest power to reduce or inhibit the pathogen.
Soapnuts:
The Soapnuts were widely used as cleaning agents in olden days for dish washing, shampooing, laundry washing and for home cleaning purposes. Soap nuts are also called Reetha, Boondikottai, Kumkudukaya, Antuvalakay in different languages in India. Soap nuts grow abundantly in the himalayas (and Nepal) and some parts of south India/karnataka.
Soap nuts/soap berries are berries whose shell naturally contain soap. They grow on the Sapindus mukorossi (Soap Berry) tree in the Himalayas as well as Sapinduc Trifoliatus in South India.
There is even a species called a soap bark tree — Quillaja Saponaria that grows in South America. The bark of this tree contains the properties of the soap. Himalayan Soap nuts give higher foam, South Indian Soapnuts have better smell. Both are equally effective.
The shells of the berries have an essence called saponin that produces a soaping effect. Saponin is a 100% organic alternative to synthetic laundry detergents and cleansers. It can substitute many synthetic detergents such as those containing sodium laureth sulphates (SLS) which is a skin irritant and a well being hazard.
How does a soapnuts work? A soap compound has two ends — one tail end that repels water (and attracts dirt) and one head end that attracts water (making dirt water soluble). Soapnuts have these compounds naturally. They have high amount of surfactants (the chemical compound good at removing dirt) in the form of naturally occurring compound called saponin in their fruit pulp. These surfactants reduce the surface tension of water and remove dirt. Saponins also shown antibacterial, antimicrobial, anti-fungal and anticancer properties. Soapnuts also decompose back into the soil quickly leaving minimal environmental impact unlike chemicals produced in laboratories such as detergents and shampoos.
Fruits and vegetables can be soaked for around 10–15 minutes in soapnut liquid and rinsed. This removes harmful chemicals and residue. The same soapnut solution can be reused for household cleaning. Soapnuts have insect repellent properties and can be used to spray on the plants as well to get rid of pests.
Soap Nuts are actually a berry (a fruit!) related to the lychee and are not nuts at all. They are completely nut allergy safe and have been used successfully with no reactions by people with nut allergies. They earned the name “nuts” because of the way that they dry into hard shells resembling nuts, as opposed to squishy fruit.
Modern research has shown that soapnuts can be used in the removal of metals from contaminated soil. Soapnuts have been found to be useful in the removal of nickel (Ni), chromium (Cr) and manganese (Mn) from contaminated soils and in the removal of copper (Cu), lead (Pb) and zinc (Zn) from contaminated industrial soils. Soapnut plant helps in removal of arsenic As (V) from iron (Fe) rich soil.
Other ingredients like bioenzymes or essential oils can be added to soap nut concentrate to use it for multiple other cleaning purposes. Here is a study about using natural surfactant extracted from sapindus mukurossi as an eco-friendly alternate to synthetic surfactant
Castile Soap:
Castile soap is an amazingly versatile vegetable-based soap that’s made free of animal fats and synthetic ingredients.
Castile soap was made in the Mediterranean area before its use spread to Europe. Traditionally, castile soap was made of olive oil and it gets its name from the castile region of Spain. These days, the soap is also made with coconut, castor, hemp oils, avacado oils, walnut oils etc. These oils give the soap its lathering, moisturizing, and cleansing properties.
Castile soap is an exciting product since it’s not only environmentally friendly but also incredibly useful and effective for certain purposes. You can use it on your body, to clean your house, and even on pets.
How does castile soap work? This concept is same as how the soap works. It has an alkaline base (pH around 9.)Using castile soap for cleaning is an age old method but doesn’t have enough scientific proof on its effectiveness on cleaning. Some experiments are done on cleaning orthopedic wounds with castile soap and the results can be seen here.
A common myth on castile soap is that it cleans well when mixed with vinegar. When vinegar (an acid) is mixed with Castile soap (an alkaline base), they react together which causes the soap to un-saponify. Meaning the soap is reversed back to its original oil base, leaving with nothing more than oil. Since castile soap is alkaline, it only cleans the dirt and germs. It doesn’t kill the germs. Castile soap and baking soda share a similar pH level, and mixing the two together is safe.
Pine Oil
Pine oil comes from pine tree needles, including the dwarf pine, long leaf pine, Scotch pine and Norway pine. The pine oil is extracted through steam distillation of the fresh needles from these trees. Pine oil has been known for centuries for its many uses. It can be used as a cleaner, disinfectant, air freshener and insect repellent. It kills a variety of viruses and bacteria, including Escherichia Coli, Salmonella , H1N1, HIV-1 and a variety of other viruses and bacteria that cause illness.
Pure pine oil in diluted form can be used for cleaning. While pine oils are relative safe they also contain terpene alcohols. Pine oil has a relatively low human toxicity level, a low corrosion level and limited persistence; however, it irritates the skin and mucous membranes and has been known to cause breathing problems. Large doses may cause central nervous system depression.
Many “pine oil” cleaners marketed in the United States are pine scented but contain little or no actual pine oil, so it is important to check the label on pine-scented cleaners. Though natural, pine oil should be used in recommended proportions for cleaning purposes in combination with other ingredients.
Essential Oils
Research into the effects of using essential oils to kill bacteria is slow. Since essential oils can’t be patented, there aren’t any drug companies to sponsor the research. Slowly, more studies are being done that confirm their ability to kill bacterial naturally.
Essentials oils are oily liquids that are either distilled or pressed from the stems and leaves of plants. They’re very concentrated and need to be blended with a carrier oil before they can be safely applied to the skin. They’ve been used medicinally throughout history to treat various ailments and are now used in the practice of aromatherapy — as a form of alternative therapy to treat conditions ranging from anxiety to obesity.
Multiple combinations of essential oils can be used for disinfectant, antibacterial and anti microbial purposes. We need more researchers to perform experiments on this. One such thesis that looked at the antibacterial effects of four essential oils proves that pine and coriander in a 2:1 ratio lowered the bacteria concentration in the study; of course on particular bacteria.
In one other research, out of 21 essential oils tested, 19 oils showed antibacterial activity against one or more strains. Cinnamon, clove, geranium, lemon, lime, orange and rosemary oils exhibited significant inhibitory effect. Cinnamon oil showed promising inhibitory activity even at low concentration, whereas aniseed, eucalyptus and camphor oils were least active against the tested bacteria.
Ultimately, its our health and well being. The choice is ours in choosing the right products to keep us, our families and the environment safe.
References:
2. https://www.heraproject.com/files/HERA-LAS%20revised%20February%202013.pdf
3. https://www.labsaindia.com/pdf/labsa.pdf
4. http://www.aciscience.org/docs/alternative_hard_surface_cleaners.pdf
5. https://publications.waset.org/6989/pdf
6. http://www.ecowalkthetalk.com/blog/2011/03/04/responses-how-effective-are-garbage-enzymes/
7. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0957582014001591?via%3Dihub
8. https://www.cleanlink.com/casestudieswhitepapers/details.aspx?id=24615
9. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/B9781455707171000247
10. https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/4ffa/4532c96fe5b3cc6e9680fb310e6fd803c7a2.pdf
