You clean regularly. You cook at home. You feel you’re safe when you’re inside most of the time – when you’re in there that’s when you say you are safe. What happens when that very space that should be there to safeguard you is actually sabotaging you instead?
But the truth is there are lots of secret chemicals in the standard array of home products we routinely use, including the light on the coffee table and the non-stick pan on our stoves. They’re not neonate-red poisons. They’re subtle, slow-release irritants that manifest themselves bit by bit over time, that affect your day-to-day body, and make you feel poorly every single day; the headaches you can’t seem to shake; the lack of energy; the skin that just doesn’t clear; the mornings that don’t seem to get better.
This isn’t fear, this is awareness. Knowing what is in your home environment and what to choose wisely is somewhat easy once you become aware of it.
Let’s start with the rooms in your home and the greatest threats found in each. But what you can do about them.
The Air You Breathe Indoors Is Often More Polluted Than Outside
People think that the outside air is dirtier than the inside air. Studies always indicate the other. Homes that don’t let fumes, dust, gases and particles out can make indoor air quality even worse.
Your indoor air quality is impacted by the following:
- Synthetic air fresheners and scented candles – Most contain artificial fragrances containing a long list of chemicals that you don’t know. They become airborne when they are burned or sprayed and stay in the air for several hours.
- Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) – These are the gases emitted by paints, varnishes, cleaning sprays, and even the new furniture. They taste and smell nothing at all after some time, but they off-gas into your home.
- Dust and mold – Soft furnishings, carpets and poor ventilation allow dust to build up, which in turn allows molds to grow and both quietly eat away at the air you breathe each and every day.
The swap: Ventile for 10-15 minutes a day, even during cooler times. Purchase an essential oil diffuser or steam some herbs & citrus peels on the stove to create your own air freshener. Take in a plant or two that can purify the air without you doing anything to help. A snake plant or peace lily should do the job. One of the bigger adjustments you can make to your house to create a healthy home will be this.
Your Kitchen: Where Hidden Toxins Hide in Plain Sight
One of the strongest concentrations of chemicals in everyday products is in the kitchen – and most are quite ordinary looking.
One of the most popular concerns is regarding the non-stick cookware. Certain non-stick coatings have a tendency to begin to vaporize and decompose at high temperatures and pollute the air in your cooking space. Exposure to these fumes has been linked with chronic fatigue in many studies, as well as general poor health.
Plastic food containers and wraps are another source. Plastic can release compounds into your food when heated, whether in a microwave, dishwasher or even in a hot car. The use of glass or stainless steel for storage and heating are easily achievable changes that make a difference.
Soap, surface sprays, dish soaps, oven cleaners – the traditional cleaning products – use harsh chemicals that can remain active on surfaces for an extended period of time after spraying. You are cooking on a contaminated surface!
The swap: Replace non-stick-pans with a cast iron or stainless steel pan. Transfer food to glass containers. Use simple cleaners that can be made with white vinegar, baking soda and diluted castile soap as substitutes for traditional cleaners. These are not merely the latest fads for a healthy lifestyle; they actually decrease the amount of chemicals your body has to deal with on a daily basis.
Your Bathroom: A Room Full of Absorbed Chemicals
Your skin is the largest organ, and a part of what you apply to your skin goes into your body. One place that is of special interest is the bathroom, where most people use 5-15 personal care products in one fast morning.
Traditional shampoos, conditioners, body washes and lotions are frequently formulated with synthetic preservatives, stabilizers and fragrances that, over the past years, have been subject of independent research and are thought to cause concerns. On the ingredients list, the term fragrance can legally mean dozens of undisclosed compounds.
Another worry is antibacterial soap with triclosan or other chemicals – not only because of the potential for long-term impact but due to its effect on the skin’s profile and in your household.
Plastic shower curtains off-gas a familiar odor for weeks, especially if they are new. The odor that comes with that “new shower curtain”? It’s VOCs releasing into the air of a bathroom which is a small, confined area with minimal ventilation.
The swap: Choose a fragrance-free or naturally fragrant personal care product. Check for short, easy-to-spell ingredient lists. Use a fabric shower curtain or a glass shower door. These are subtle changes that can help you have a living environment that is toxin free without the need for an entire bathroom makeover.
Your Living Room: The Slow Burn of Everyday Comfort
The living room is the least threatening place – yet it’s home to some of the tenacious sources of hidden toxins in the home.
Synthetic carpets and rugs can absorb dust, mold spores, VOCs and other manufacturing and treatment materials. These particles are given off each time they come into contact with the person who uses them and are disturbed by their movement over the years.
Sofas, mattress and foam furniture are typically all made using flame retardants, which has been put under a microscope for its effect on residents’ well-being over time.
Speaking of scented candles, as stated above, a second mention. Burning paraffin wax produces soot and compounds (which are petroleum by-products). If you burn candles, replacing them with beeswax or soy candles and cotton wicks can help make a difference.
The swap: Use a vacuum cleaner that is equipped with a HEPA filter to vacuum carps regularly. Ventilate rooms periodically. If possible, select natural fibre rugs such as wool, jute, or cotton. Choose by-products of natural waxes. These are not earthshaking adjustments, but significant shifts that can begin to break the major noxious cycle of behavior that develops over months and years.
Your Bedroom: Where Your Body Is Supposed to Recover
Your body repairs itself the most deeply when you sleep. So here’s the question: what does your bedroom expose you to for the 7–8 hrs?
Flamer retardant chemicals are routinely applied to conventional mattresses, which continue to release them. Dust and dyes and dyestuffs used in pillow and bedding production can be off-gassed and accumulate in synthetic pillows and bedding.
Air fresheners and fabric sprays that are plugged into the air or sprayed onto fabrics to scent the bedroom are some of the highest concentration sources of synthetic fragrance in the home – in the place you sleep most and for the longest duration of the day.
Conventional dry cleaning equipment uses perchloroethylene, which is a solvent that can off-gas from clothing brought into the home for many days after they have been dry cleaned.
The swap: Dry-clean the before going into the bedroom. Sleep on natural fibre beds – organic cotton or linen. Ditch plug-in fresheners, and embrace some cotton pad lavender essential oil near the bed. Find a spot in bed where you can get comfortable enough to sleep, heal and rejuvenate, instead of somewhere else you are constantly exposed. Some of the most useful healthy home strategies to implement is to safeguard your sleep environment.
Building a Cleaner Home Doesn’t Require Perfection
It’s not about stripping down all furniture and walls of your home to glass jars. To make informed swaps one room and one product at a time until your home is truly on your side versus silently working against you.
A home that is toxin free does not mean that there is no exposure to anything. It’s about minimizing the unnecessary burden of chemicals in everyday products and allowing your body to work without having to process unnecessary chemicals which it was not designed to handle.
Begin with the swap that is the easiest for you. Perhaps it’s getting some fresh air each day. Or perhaps it’s using a different cleaning spray that can be made at home. Perhaps it’s tossing the man-made candles. You’ll get closer to a cleaner and safer home environment in every step and over time, you’ll see the fog lifting, mornings feel easier and your body finally feels room to breathe.
Frequently Asked Questions: Hidden Toxins
Q1. What are the most common hidden toxins found in everyday homes?
Synthetic fragrance in candles and air fresheners, VOCs in paint and furniture, non-stick cookware coatings at high temperatures, hard chemicals in regular cleaners, preservatives in personal care products are all common hidden toxins found in a typical household. These develop over time in your home and may have an impact on your health without you being aware of the source.
Q2. How does poor indoor air quality affect how you feel day to day?
Poor indoor air quality, caused by a toxic home environment, can lead to chronic fatigue, concentration problems, recurrent headaches, skin problems, and insomnia. Many don’t associate these symptoms with their home; the goal of improving IAQ is precisely because these symptoms are common and non-specific.
Q3. Are natural cleaning products actually effective replacements for conventional ones?
Yes. White vinegar, baking soda and castile soap work the trick for most household cleaning tasks. They eliminate grease, eliminate stains and clean without leaving a caustic residue like regular disinfectants do. The best and easiest way to reduce the amount of chemicals in the home is to replace them. One of the simplest and quickest ways to decrease chemicals in the house is by replacing products.
Q4. Is it expensive to create a toxin-free home environment?
Not at all. Some of the most effective ways to make your home a healthy environment are more affordable than conventional alternatives. The cost of using homemade cleaning sprays from vinegar and water, preference for personal care products without scents and using glass containers to replace most others is equal to or less than what most people already spend. The largest expenditure is paying attention, in this case to what is written on the labels.
Q5. Where should I start if I want to reduce toxins in my home?
It can be rejuvenated from the places where you are spending the most time and where you are breathing the most – your bedroom and kitchen. Two quick steps that will make the difference in your daily exposure are to replace synthetic air fresheners, and to use soft natural fiber bedding and replace harsh cleaners in the kitchen with milder ones. It can be done one room at a time, so it’s sustainable and good.