BURLINGTON, VT -- (MARKET WIRE) -- 03/18/09 -- Family is cherished and when it comes to protecting them -- let's face it, we'll pull out all the stops. Unless, of course, they're at risk of unknown danger right in their own homes, like 47 percent of U.S. adults may be by not being able to name even one ingredient in the cleaners they're using throughout their homes or the nearly one in five parents⁽¹⁾ (18%) who do not take steps to safeguard their families from toxic ingredients in some household cleaners.

Nearly three in five adults (58%) clean their homes by wiping the surfaces with a cleaning solution/product at least once per week. The lack of consumer awareness about what's in those products, coupled with the fact that the average American home has 63 hazardous chemical products within arm's reach (according to the Consumer Product Safety Commission), makes for this stark reality: the typical American home can be a danger to families.

According to a recent survey conducted by Harris Interactive(R) and commissioned by Seventh Generation, the world's most trusted brand of authentic, safe, and environmentally-responsible products for the living home, nearly one in ten adults (9%) wipe the surfaces of their home with cleaning products several times per day, but more than half (58%) don't always check the labels of cleaning products to determine if they contain ingredients that are harmful to their health. With nearly ten percent (8.7%) of all calls to the U.S. Poison Control Centers involving toxic exposure to household cleaners (American Association of Poison Control Centers), it's more important than ever for parents to be educated on the topic.

As part of its commitment to empowering people with the knowledge of maintaining a healthy, safe home for their family, Seventh Generation -- in collaboration with WebMD, the most trusted brand of health information, and Healthy Child Healthy World, a nonprofit leader that aims to inspire parents to create healthier environments for their children -- is providing a personalized educational platform on WebMD called the Health eHome, found at www.webmd.com/healthyhome.

Set up as a virtual tour, Health eHome enables users to visit each room of the home to uncover potential dangers and hazards that are identified as "hot spots." Clicking on the "hot spot" opens an information window which explains the potential hazard and tips on eliminating it to improve both personal and environmental health. The information window also provides documentary-style video with real families confronting these issues in their homes. An expert blog provides trusted information on creating a cleaner, greener lifestyle. Parents can also test the safety of their home by doing a "Health eHome Check," where they can get personalized results and an action plan for their home.

"We are living in a time where environmentally conscious parenting is more possible and necessary than ever before," said Dr. Alan Greene, pediatrician and leading authority for the green baby movement. "The Health eHome offerings enable families to determine the hidden dangers that not only pose harm for their families, but also within the environment, helping to provide effective solutions."

According to the Seventh Generation survey, while one third (33%) of parents believe the kitchen is potentially the most harmful area to their children, 75 percent of adults store their cleaning products under the kitchen sink -- with just half (50%) choosing to open windows to release toxic fumes when cleaning. With more than 92 percent of poisonings happening in the home (CDC) and children under six making up more than half (51.2%) of human exposure victims to poisonings in America (American Association of Poison Control Centers), it's important to remember that every room has hidden dangers.

"We live in a society where parents are taking steps to think about their family's health more consciously, like the 37 percent we found in our survey who buy organic produce. However, they might be putting that produce on surfaces that are toxic to their family's health," said Jeffrey Hollender, CEO, Seventh Generation. "The Health eHome educational platform is designed to teach families about the chemical dangers in the home while discovering non-toxic and environmentally-friendly alternatives, providing parents with the peace of mind of knowing that they are doing all they can to maintain a safe and healthy home for their children."

More findings from the survey

• Sixty-seven percent (67%) of adults believe that companies are required to disclose all of the chemical ingredients contained in their products. The truth is, they are not.
• More than half of adults (58%) don't always check the labels of the cleaning products they purchase to determine if they contain ingredients that are harmful to their health.
• While more than half of adults believe that household cleaning products (e.g., window cleaner, toilet bowl cleaner, kitchen cleaner) cause substantial damage to the environment (53%) and think that if used daily products that contain dyes or fragrances can be harmful to their health (59%), only 21 percent of parents opt for cleaning products with natural ingredients.
• Surprisingly, 70 percent of adults with kids under the age of six years that live in their household store their household cleaning products/solutions under the sink.
• Sixteen percent (16%) of parents do not believe any room in their home poses potential danger to their children.

To locate the hazardous "hot spots" in your home, or to create a personalized action plan for your family, please visit Health eHome at www.webmd.com/healthyhome.
About Seventh Generation

Seventh Generation is committed to being the most trusted brand of household and personal-care products for your living home. Our products are healthy and safe for the air, the surfaces, the fabrics, the pets, and the people within your home -- and for the community and environment outside of it. Seventh Generation also offers products for baby that are safe for your children and the planet.

For information on Seventh Generation cleaning, paper, baby and feminine personal care products, to find store locations, and explore the company's website visit www.seventhgeneration.com. To read more about Seventh Generation's corporate responsibility, visit the Corporate Consciousness Report at: https://www.seventhgeneration.com/corporate-responsibility/2007.

About Healthy Child Healthy World

Healthy Child Healthy World is a national, non-profit 501(c) 3 organization, which inspires parents to protect young children from harmful chemicals.

We exist because over 125 million of Americans, predominantly children, now face an historically unprecedented rise in chronic disease and illness such as cancer, autism, asthma, allergies, birth defects, ADD / ADHD, obesity, diabetes, and learning and developmental disabilities. Credible scientific evidence increasingly points to environmental hazards and household chemicals as causing and contributing to many of these diseases.

Healthy Child Healthy World aims to educate parents, support protective policies, and engage communities to make responsible decisions, simple everyday choices, and well-informed lifestyle improvements to create healthy environments where children and families can flourish. Please visit www.healthychild.org for more information.

About the Survey

This Seventh Generation survey was conducted online within the United States by Harris Interactive on behalf of Coyne PR from March 5 to March 9, 2009 among 2,852 adults ages 18 and older, of whom 757 are the parent or legal guardian of a child/children under the age of 18 that lives in their household. This online survey is not based on a probability sample and therefore no estimate of theoretical sampling error can be calculated. For complete survey methodology, including weighting variables, please contact Lauren Curtin at lcurtin@coynepr.com.

⁽¹⁾ For the purposes of this study "parents" were defined as U.S. adults ages 18+ who are the parent or legal guardian of a child/children younger than 18 years old that lives in their household.

Seventh Generation

Seventh Generation

Seventh Generation is committed to becoming the world's most trusted brand of authentic, safe, and environmentally-responsible products for a healthy home. For 20 years, the Burlington, Vermont-based company has been at the forefront of a cultural change in consumer behavior and business ethics.

The company derives its name from the Great Law of the Iroquois that states, "In our every deliberation, we must consider the impact of our decisions on the next seven generations." Every time you use a Seventh Generation product you are making a difference by saving natural resources, reducing pollution, keeping toxic chemicals out of the environment and making the world a safer place for this and the next seven generations.

Seventh Generation products can be found by visiting: www.seventhgeneration.com.

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