Many of us have done a detox in order to eliminate internal toxins from our body, but how many of us do anything about the toxins in our homes? Common household and body care products are increasingly being found to have negative health effects on the nervous and immune systems, and on our reproductive, endocrine, cardiovascular, and respiratory systems.
Why is detoxing your home essential?
The average home contains up to 1,000 chemicals,
many of which we're unable to see, smell or taste. While these
chemicals may be tolerated individually and in small doses, problems can
arise when one is exposed to them in combination or in larger doses.
Everyone’s
tolerance level is different depending on genetics, nutritional status
and previous contacts with chemicals, but the negative effects of
household toxins are often compounded by the use of other drugs,
especially the habitual use of alcohol, or prescription or recreational
drugs.
Indoor air is about three times more polluted than outdoor air.
Home insulation, so wonderful for keeping our homes warm in winter and
cool in summer, doesn’t allow fresh air in, so we’re constantly
breathing in the same stale air. Wall to wall carpeting keeps us cozy,
but can introduce a myriad of toxins to our well insulated homes. It can
also trap dirt, fleas, dust, dust-mites and lead.
Many
of the cleaning products we use to clean our furniture, bathrooms, and
windows are full of toxic chemicals, some of which do not even appear on
the labels. Similarly with the many personal-care care products we put
on our skin and the pet-care products we use on our pets.
Most
tick and flea products contain active ingredients and solvents that
might cause cancer in animals. Also, substantial human exposure is
possible by absorption through the skin, while playing with and handling
the pet.
The pesticides we use on our gardens
eliminate not only plant pests, but also most of the insects that are
beneficial to help control these pests. Of the 30 most commonly used
lawn chemicals, 19 have studies pointing toward cancer and 15 are known to cause nervous system poisoning.
This
is not to say that we should not keep our houses comfortable and clean
and our yards looking good. What’s important is to understand that how
we do this can have an important impact on our health. Abundant toxins
can and do lead to health problems.
Taking more care to reduce our exposure to both internal and external toxins, by detoxing our bodies
and our living space allows the body’s own detoxification to function
more efficiently. This strengthens our resilience to the daily onslaught
of factors impacting our health.
There are many things you can do to detox your home, some more practical than others. Here are 20 tips to get started:
1. No shoes in the house! That's
how a lot of household dirt, pesticides and lead come enter, via your
shoes. Go barefoot or wear slippers once you're home.
2. Place floor mats vertically by your entryways to wipe your shoes. This way, more dirt and residue from your shoes stays outside on the mat
3. Keep the air clean. Keep
your windows and doors open as much as possible to ventilate. Use green
plants as natural air detoxifiers. Remove odors with baking soda. Use
fresh flowers or bowls of herbs like rosemary and sage to add a pleasant
fragrance to rooms. Have your air ducts and vents cleaned with nontoxic
cleaners. Get a portable air purifier, especially for the bedrooms.
4. Switch from the standard household cleaning products to cleaner and greener ones. These don’t damage your health or the environment’s as much and work as well as the mass marketed ones. You can also use basic ingredients you have around the house,
for instance, vinegar in place of bleach, baking soda to scrub your
tiles and hydrogen peroxide to remove stains. According to Annie Bond,
the author of Better Basics For The Home, she can clean anything with water and these five basic ingredients:
- Baking Soda
- Washing Soda
- Distilled White Vinegar
- Vegetable based liquid Soap (eg Dr. Bronner’s Peppermint Soap)
- Tea Tree oil
5. Replace your skin care and personal products with less toxic and chemical free options. Deodorant, toothpaste, cosmetics, hair products, nail polish and perfumes are often loaded with toxins. Learn how to identify them and avoid them.
6. Use plastics wisely. Some contain Bisphenol A (BPA),
which is linked to cancer, and Phtalates, which are linked to endocrine
and developmental problems. Avoid plastic food packaging (when you
can). Don’t wrap food in plastic, and don’t microwave food in plastic
containers. Choose baby bottles made from glass or BPA-free plastic.
Avoid vinyl teethers for your baby. Stay away from children’s toys
marked with a “3″ or “PVC.” Avoid plastic shower curtains.
7. Avoid non stick pans, pots, bakeware and utensils. Teflon contains perfluorinated chemicals (PFC’s), which have been linked to cancer and developmental problems. Here are some better options.
8. Keep house dust to a minimum, as more dust means more toxins. Mop
all surfaces at least once a week. Use a vacuum cleaner (with a HEPA
filter, preferably) for your carpets. HEPA-filter vacuums capture the
widest range of particles and get rid of allergens.
9. Avoid excess moisture, as it encourages the growth of mold and mildew. Check
areas for moisture accumulation or leaks, particularly basements. Clean
surfaces where mold usually grows, such as around showers and tubs and
beneath sinks.
10. Get a shower filter, as many of the contaminants in tap water become gases at room temperature. A shower filter can help keep these toxins from becoming airborne.
11. Get a water filter, as more than 700 chemicals have been identified in drinking water. Filtering your tap water is better than drinking bottled water.
12. Avoid stain-guarded clothing, furniture and carpets, due to the presence of PFCs. Wrinkle-free
and permanent press fabrics (used in clothing and bedding) commonly
contain formaldehyde. Opt for untreated fabrics whenever possible.
13. Be conscious of toxins in carpeting, especially in products made from synthetic materials.
Use natural fiber wool and cotton rugs. If possible, replace your
wall-to-wall carpeting with hardwood floors, all natural linoleum or
ceramic tiles. Use nontoxic glues, adhesives, stains or sealers for
installation.
14. Use non toxic sealers. Or
replace particleboard walls, floors or cabinets (which often contain
formaldehyde, which can emit irritating and unhealthy fumes for
decades). Avoid plywood, fiberglass, fiberboard and paneling.
15. Go green with pet care. Avoid harmful pet-care products and avoid toxic pest control, including traditional termite exterminators.
16. Keep your lawn safe. Replace toxic lawn and garden pesticides and herbicides with less harmful natural ones.
17. Tell the dry cleaner not to use the plastic wrap or remove it as soon as possible. The
plastic traps the dry cleaning chemicals on clothes and in your closet.
Let your dry cleaning air out (preferably outside) before storing it.
Use “wet cleaning” if you're lucky enough to have it in your area.
18. Use low VOC, low odor latex (water based) paint. Open all windows to ventilate properly when painting indoors.
19. Have your house checked for carbon monoxide leaks. These are most commonly found in leaking gas stoves, gas fireplaces, furnaces, chimneys, and gas water heaters.
20. Check radon levels in poorly ventilated basements that have cracked walls and or floors. Radon is an odorless gas that forms as uranium in rocks and soil breaks down. Radon is linked to lung cancer
21. Avoid toxic people. And
finally, no amount of environmental toxins are as important as
emotional toxicity. You can do all the above, but if your house is full
of anger, resentment, jealousy, unhappiness and a lack of love,
compassion and forgiveness, the house will remain toxic.
