BLACK : THE HEALTH MAGAZINE vol2 | Page 28

The Environment Household bleach begins and ends as salt water in a fully sustainable cycle. There's a significant difference between "bleaching" – the name associated with the manufacturing of paper products – and household bleach. During consumer use and disposal, bleach quickly breaks down primarily to salt and water. Bleach does not contaminate ground water because it does not survive sewage treatment – either in municipal sewage treatment plans or in septic systems. RESEARCH SHOWS: Based on the International Council of Chemical Associations, Sodium hyprochlorite is very toxic to aquatic organisms. Every time you clean with a toxic cleaner the toxins get washed down your drain and into the lakes and rivers and eventually spread to all parts of the environment. The National Oceanographic Data Center’s database states that big lakes and rivers are formed by evaporation and subsequent precipitation/runoff of ocean water, and by melting of freshwater ice. Since evaporated water can’t “take the salt with it”, even big lakes are generally made of freshwater, whereas the oceans are made of saltwater. So bleach ends at salt water but what happening to fresh water? The Chemical says: Some bleach products are EPA registered disinfectants, which means they are classified as pesticides – along with agricultural pesticides – even though it is primarily a public health disinfectant. It can be confusing because of X