The origins of personal cleanliness date back to prehistoric times. Our early ancestors lived near water, and understood the basic cleansing properties of it. That is to say, they at least realized that water would rinse dirt and mud from their skin.

The earliest evidence of a soap-like” material was found in ancient ruins of Babylon and date back to about 2800 B.C.

According to an ancient Roman legend, soap got its name from Mount Sapo, a place where animals were sacrificed. Rain would wash a mixture of melted animal fat, or tallow, and wood ashes down into the clay soil along the Tiber River. Women discovered this clay mixture and found it made their wash cleaner with much less effort.

The soap making process developed over the centuries but remained essentially the same, and natural”, until 1916. In response to a World War 1-related shortage of fats for making soap, Germany developed the first synthetic detergent. The chemistry improved over the years, and the major breakthrough in development of detergents came in 1946 in the U.S., when the first built” detergent (containing a surfactant/builder combination) was introduced to the market as an all-purpose” laundry wash.

By 1953 sales of detergents in the U.S. surpassed those of soap. The availability and lower cost of synthetic detergents has resulted in the use of these chemicals” replacing natural ingredients in many of the home and personal care products you use every day.

The average adult uses nine personal care products a day, containing a grand total of 126 chemical ingredients. There are roughly 10,500 chemical ingredients (many of them with little or no testing) stirred into the personal care products that line shelves. Each day, we slather and bathe our bodies in these chemicals, will little concept of the effect they will have on our future health.

Equally as frightening is the toxic brew of chemicals found in many of today s household cleaners. Glancing at the labels on these products, and you will often see a long list of chemical names you can t even pronounce. Yet every day, people spray or wipe these products on the surfaces we prepare food on, our windows, or even mist into the air to eliminate foul odors.
There are alternatives today.

Thanks in a large part to the green” consumer, willing to pay a premium for environmental products, an ever growing line of environmentally friendly products has been introduced to the marketplace. These environmental products are becoming increasingly easy to find and relatively inexpensive. There is also an abundance of information on the internet about how to make your own natural and chemical free cleaners and personal care products.

Everything from soaps, shampoos and skin lotions, along with non-toxic, natural cleaning agents can be made right in your own kitchen with simple every day items.

As environmental awareness continues to grow, there are sure to be more and more new products developed without all of the toxic chemical ingredients found in today s items. It is often said that the consumer votes” with their pocket book. By choosing to purchase only environmentally friendly products, the public is driving down prices, and forcing the large corporations to introduce their own lines of environmental products to meet the growing market.

The effects of synthetic chemicals on humans are probably more understood today that at any other point in our history. While there is still much research to be done, we are beginning to realize that making environmental choices now can have long term benefits.

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Article Submitted By: Craig Wallace300
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