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Nanny Fraser Home Daycare Contents
Parent Handbook
Additional Info
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Cleaning
Chemicals Potentially Unsafe for Young Children
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It is
important to note that the term “young children” or “young child” for the purpose
of this document pertains mainly to children who range in age from infancy
through toddlerhood. These young
children are more susceptible to contaminates than older children and adults
for a number of reasons. Most notably,
young children have underdeveloped immune systems which are unable to
effectively fight environmental contaminates.
They also have smaller bodies, which makes contaminates much more potent
to them. Furthermore, young children put
everything in their mouth, whether it be small
objects, touching their mouths to large surfaces, or simply putting their own
hands and fingers in their mouth. Any
chemical on any surface could potentially end up in a young child’s mouth which could result in serious illness or worse.
Cleaning
chemicals should not be stored in a small cupboard in your kitchen. Traces of these chemicals leak out of their
bottles in gaseous form and combine with other leaking gasses to create fumes
that can have serious affects on your health.
If, like many people, you spend a considerable amount of time in the
kitchen, you are putting yourself at unnecessary risk. If you can, store your cleaning chemicals in
an area that allows for open air flow (not directly in
the sun or outside in winter under freezing conditions) out of the reach of
children. Ideally, you would want this
area to be in a space you do not regularly occupy. If this seems impossible to you, you may
consider reducing the amount of chemicals you keep stored away.
Surface Cleaners
Dish Detergent
All
Purpose Cleaners and Disinfectants
There are a number of cleaners on the market designed to
cleanse and disinfect common household surfaces. Many people make the mistake of spraying a
surface with a disinfectant, then wiping it up immediately. Unfortunately, this merely lifts the surface
dirt but does not kill the germs. To
sanitize a surface, you must leave the disinfectant in place for a minimum of
10 seconds before removing it.
Window / Glass Cleaners
Oven and Grill Cleaners
Stainless Steel Cleaners
Fabric Cleaners
Laundry Detergent
Bounce (MSDS) – Not a detergent but is
certainly used in the laundry process.
Bounce can cause indigestion and intestinal blockage if swallowed. Using bounce for baby clothes and fabrics
tagged as fire resistant is not recommended, as it
will eventually break down the fire retardant elements and render them useless.
Liquid
Detergent
Liquid detergents have considerably less chemicals than their
granular counterparts do. Nearly all detergents list dermatitis as a
possible chronic side effect. It should
be noted however, that dermatitis is often caused by a histamine reaction to
irritants affecting the skin, a condition which is not
usually serious. I have this problem,
and aside from a few red patches on my left arm, it is not alarming. If you find yourself afflicted with this
problem, try switching brands for a while.
If the problem continues, visit your doctor and schedule an allergy test
to see if there are other irritants that may be further
aggravating you.
Tide –
Cheer –
Sunlight –
Granular
Detergent
Tide -
Cheer -
Carpet Cleaners
Fabric / Surface / Air Deodorizers
Air
deodorizers and disinfectants contain many chemicals that could be
harmful. Products that are sold in aerosol form are more of a concern than the
trigger spray formulas, as aerosols can cause respiratory reactions in some
people.