Good morning to all the fellow ferret folks out there!
 
For those of you who use dryer sheets or fabric softener on your laundry
or your ferrets' laundry, I thought you might be interested in some of
the possible health side effects from the "scent chemicals" found in
them.  I'm having trouble finding the most concise and helpful links that
I've used in the past...the ones I have based my knowledge on, but here
is the basic information:
 
http://allergies.about.com/library/weekly/aa022299.htm?iam=savvy
&terms=%22health+risk%22+%22fabric+softener%22
 
The gist is this; people who are asthmatic can be highly sensitive to the
scents and the chemical compounds that make the scent last...i.e. "your
laundry still smells fresh a week later." For those of us who don't have
health problems, you may be interested to know that long-term use can
often create sensitivity to the products, people think they are becoming
allergic, but it's actually lung damage.  Some are potent enough to cause
birth defects!!  I could go on and on, but will just say, it's best to be
informed.  Those of you who already try to keep a fairly natural, healthy
home may be surprised by this.  I was.
 
Even if you aren't sensitive, you may have a neighbor who is bothered by
your dryer's exhaust air and eeek, all those chemicals go into our ground
water and end up in our farms.
 
Also, chlorine is a known carcinogen.  I do use it occasionally, for bad
stains and excessive messes, but mostly I stick with vinegar and water or
the Windex vinegar-based cleaner that Wolfy recommends.  In the laundry,
I use Arm and Hammer unscented powder detergent and Oxi-Clean.  From what
I know, I believe these to be relatively safe products.  (If you know
otherwise, please let me know.)
 
Another interesting, but long-winded site is:
http://es.epa.gov/techinfo/facts/safe-fs.html
 
For our health and that of our fuzzies,
Jaclyn and the crew -- Fred, Bomber, Merlin and Amelia
[Posted in FML issue 4065]