The Top 5 Toxins Lurking In Our Homes

The article below goes beyond nutrition, but ultimately our goal is to promote optimal health through lifestyle choice – we can all learn more about the toxins we are living with. 

We want to thank our friend & plant-based nutritionist, Meera Dalka, for taking the time to put this together and provide sources.

OUR MATTRESS
Why should we worry about this? Because we spent close to one third of our lives in bed! Most mattresses contain high levels of a compound called PBDEs. One of their major uses is as a flame retardant and has emerged as a major environmental pollutant. PBDEs have been associated with tumors, neurodevelopment toxicity and thyroid hormone imbalance.

They have been found in human blood, serum, adipose tissue, breast milk, placental tissue and in the brain. They have already been banned in Canada and several other U.S. states. 

When looking for a new mattress consider these standards: GREENGUARD GOLD, OEKO-TEX, and GOTS certified.

OUR COOKWARE
Almost every American home has some sort of non-stick cookware. Maybe you’ve heard of Teflon? (Or by the chemical name PFAs- a group of about 5,000 synthetic compounds) While it is convenient, it comes with an inconvenient cost: Our health and our safety.

Nonstick cookware has been linked to an array of health problems including thyroid disease, cancer, infertility, organ damage, and the list goes on! These chemicals have contaminated our homes, our food, and our water supply. The CDC has found that 99 percent of all living creatures have these “forever” chemicals in their bodies.

Sadly, our diets are the main source of exposure.

What do we use instead? For cookware, find a quality stainless steel set. Stainless steel is durable, non-reactive, and relatively inexpensive. For bakeware, I would suggest using glassware. For nonstick options, consider silicone baking materials such as nonstick baking mats and silicone muffin pans.

PLASTIC
Almost everyone I know gets their source of water from plastic bottles. Plastic is not only toxic to humans, but to wildlife, our oceans, our planet, and our food and water supplies. Nearly one third of the plastic we consume is used singularly and then discarded. Plastic doesn’t go away. At best, it breaks down into smaller and smaller pieces known as micro-plastics and then invade our water and food supply. Toxic chemicals leach out of plastic and are found in the blood and tissue of almost every living creature. The chemicals in plastic are endocrine disruptors, affect fertility, linked to cancer, birth defects, and impaired immunity.

Americans alone discard over 30 million tons of plastic in a single year with only 8 percent of that being recycled. The rest ends up in landfills and our precious oceans. In our oceans alone, plastic outweighs sea life by a ratio of 36 to 1. How devastating! When our oceans die, we die!

What do we use instead? Get a reusable stainless steel or glass water bottle and fill up from your filtered refrigerator. Also, when possible, avoid using single-use straws and grocery bags and invest in a stainless straw and reusable grocery bags to help us, our health, and our planet. 

LAUNDRY DETERGENT
What’s the largest organ of the human body? Yep! You guessed it. Our skin. And anything we put on our skin is absorbed into our blood stream. You’re probably wearing some type of clothing item 24 hours a day. Even if you’re not, you’re sleeping on sheets and blankets that were washed in the same laundry detergent.
Needless to say, these toxins are being absorbed through our skin.

Commercial laundry detergents are not only hazardous to our health, but to the environment as they are passed on into the atmosphere via water waste and dryer emissions. Manufacturers aren’t even required to list all of their ingredients and the word “fragrance,” can imply hundreds of chemicals. Researchers at the University of Washington found hundreds of VOC’s in laundry detergent, none of which are listed. 

What do we use instead? There are hundreds of natural recipes you can find online to avoid all the toxins. You can also go to EWG (https://www.ewg.org/ ) and research EWG verified products that are either a 1 or a 2 on their carcinogenic
scale. 

TOOTHPASTE

We take in a lot of poison by brushing our teeth. Harmful ingredients like fluoride and triclosan can do more harm than good. In reality, toothpaste is cosmetic. We brush our teeth so our mouth doesn’t taste like… well, mouth. 
Fluoride is in 95 percent of toothpaste sold in the U.S and can cause a condition known as fluorosis. Fluorosis causes discolored tooth enamel. Are there any areas on your teeth where they look almost see through which, as a result, causes your teeth to look discolored close up? That’s Fluorosis which already affects about 40 percent of adolescents. Fluoride is already added to our water supply, but that’s another story, so opt for fluoride free toothpaste instead. 

Triclosan has already been banned from other personal care products and is associated with a decrease in thyroid hormones and an increased risk of antibiotic resistance. 

NON-TOXIC PRODUCT LIST:
This is a list of non-toxic products I have compounded over the last couple of years through research on EWG; I do not endorse any products nor have I been paid to recommend them. 

Toothpaste:https://www.amazon.com/Redmond-Earthpaste-Non-Flouride-Toothpaste-LemonTwist/
Laundry detergent:https://www.amazon.com/Planet-2x-Ultra-Laundry-Detergent/
Dish wash cleaner:https://www.amazon.com/Biokleen-Auto-Dish-Powder-Bottle/
Face Cleanser:https://www.amazon.com/MyChelle-Cleansing-Ultra-Mild-Vitamin-Enriched-Sensitive/
Mouthwash:https://www.amazon.com/TheraBreath-Formulated-Artificial-Certified-Two-Pack/
Facial SPF:https://www.amazon.com/Andalou-Naturals-Booster-Facial-Unscented/
Makeup: Mineral Fusion products
Hair conditioner:https://www.amazon.com/Natural-Conditioner-Fine-Thin-Hair/
Shampoo: https://www.amazon.com/Natural-Shampoo-Fine-Thin-Hair/
Bar soap:https://www.amazon.com/Kiss-My-Face-Soap-Olive/
Body Wash:https://www.amazon.com/Herbal-Choice-Organic-Unscented-8floz/
All Purpose Cleaner:https://www.amazon.com/Biokleen-Concentrated-Eco-Friendly-Plant-Based-Preservatives/

ARTICLE SOURCES:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1069057/
https://www.foodmatters.com/article/is-your-cookware-safe
https://plasticpollutioncoalition.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/222813127-Why-is-plastic-harmful-
https://www.naturallivingideas.com/laundry-detergent-dangers/
https://www.ewg.org/
https://fluoridealert.org/articles/50-reasons/