Kelly Preston and John Travolta Talk About Toxic Chemicals In Their Home
Portions of this article extracted from www.USAToday.com

(Note: Since this article originally appeared in USAToday and our website, John and Kelly have tragically lost their son to Kawasaki's disease)

Kelly Preston and her co-star in life — John Travolta— have made some life-changing decisions about what types of cleaning chemicals they'll allow in their home.

John Travolta and Kelly Preston want homes to be safe from dangerous toxins.

USA Today

Preston and Travolta know first-hand about the possibilities of toxic chemicals in the home environment.

"Eight years ago our son got very, very sick with high fever and swollen glands and peeling fingers and rash all over his body," says Preston, who has taken on the role as national spokesperson for Children's Health Environmental Coalition (CHEC). "We thought it was just the flu, and after several rounds of antibiotics and trips to the doctor, she diagnosed him with Kawasaki syndrome."

A relatively rare disease, Kawasaki syndrome is a serious rash illness generally contracted by children.

"At the time, one of the questions on the questionnaire was, 'Have you cleaned your carpet with chemicals recently,'" adds Preston. "We had and so had every other parent in the ward. It was then that we vowed to learn everything we could about our child's environment."

"Because it's not just carpets and cleaning chemicals, it's in the paints you choose, fabrics you choose, particle boards and the materials you use to renovate," says Travolta. "It's in the grass and the chemicals you use on your lawn. And pesticides are big, one of the biggest problems."

"What people don't know is that when they use all these chemicals — the scents, the cleaning products — the air inside your home can be more dangerous than breathing on a freeway," says Preston. "We're taught if it smells fresh it is a healthy environment, and that's not always true. It can be very toxic and affect you on a cellular level. And toxic air especially affects small children with smaller immune systems."

To help make finding safer alternatives easier, CHEC has created a web site to help people learn about all the hidden dangers that might be in the home.

"We've launched a Healthy House on the Internet thanks to the Housing and Urban Development and the U.S. government," says Chuda. "We've been able to put together a wonderful one-stop virtual cyber-shop for parents to peruse at their leisure. You can look at every room in the house and find out what are the typical dangers."

"This is a great time to cut down on the chemicals and know what sort of products you're using," says Preston. "Especially during the holidays, when your house is shut up tight and you want to keep the heat in, you don't want to fill your environment with toxic scents that can affect you and your children adversely, because this is a time for joy and celebrating life."