More than ever before our environment is polluted with toxic chemicals. One place we have control over the amount of chemicals and toxins we are exposed to is in our home. The decisions we make about everything from paint and building materials to sheets and cleaning supplies affects the health of everyone in our home. This is a list of common household pollutants and some things we can do to reduce our exposure to them.
COMMON HOUSEHOLD POLLUTANTS
- Formaldehyde off-gasses (evaporates) from cushions, cosmetics, insulation, plywood, disinfectants, particleboard and adhesives used to manufacture most inexpensive wood-based products. Carpets and carpet cushions may also off-gas formaldehyde, causing eye and upper respiratory irritation. According to the EPA, formaldehyde may even cause cancer.
- Lead, at levels once thought to be acceptable, is now known to contribute to learning disabilities and behavioral problems. Lead is found in paint in older houses, old plumbing, and soil near highways and busy roads. It can cause neurological and kidney damage, high blood pressure, disrupted blood cell production, and reproductive problems. Lead is toxic at any level.
- Hydrofluoric acid can cause intense pain and damage to tissues and bone if the recommended gloves happen to have holes in them. This highly corrosive substance is the active ingredient in many household rust removers.
- House dust can include lead, cadmium, bacteria, mites, flea eggs, pesticides, asbestos, mold spores, and dust mites. Allergies including sneezing, itching eyes, runny nose, asthma, and headache can occur due to dust exposure.
- Asbestos is a fiber particle used in insulation that is linked to lung and stomach cancers.
- Methylene chloride in hair spray, decaffeinated coffee and insect spray can cause cancer.
- Electromagnetic fields emitted by electric cords and appliances can cause miscarriage.
- Radon is the second-leading cause of lung cancer in the U.S., warns the Surgeon General. Radon is a natural, radioactive gas that can seep into homes through cracks in the basement, the surrounding foundation, and in well water. It enters the body quietly through the airway. Although radon levels in San Diego bedrock are relatively low it is simple and quick to test. San Diego county will test the radon levels in your home for free.
- Carbon monoxide will kill an estimated 660 Americans this year. The biggest culprit is the unserviced furnace burning propane, butane or oil. Attributed effects are headache and nausea.
- Arsenic is still laced in many household pesticides and is used as a wood preservative (“treated” wood for outdoor use like those used to build playgrounds). Low levels of inorganic arsenic “may increase lung cancer risk,” according to the CDC. The Department of Health and Human Services includes arsenic compounds on the list of known carcinogens.
- Vinyl chloride is the source of “new car smell”: The plastic interior of a new car off-gasses this known carcinogen. Water sitting in PVC pipes overnight may be steeping into a toxic tea. Very large exposures can lead to “vinyl chloride disease,” which causes severe liver damage and ballooning of the fingertips.
- Volatile organic compounds have well-documented adverse effects. Solvents, disinfectants, antiseptics, perfumes, mouthwashes, glues and air fresheners can contain harmful phenols and other chemicals.
- Cleaning agents irritate skin, lungs, and eyes, and throw off the ecological environment of waterways that wash them away.
- Pesticides are poisons used to control insects, fungi, weeds, and rodents. Attributed effects are nervous system depression and childhood leukemia. Pesticides such as chlordane, aldrin, dieldrin, though all banned for nearly two decades, continue to show up airborne in older houses.
DECREASING HOME POLLUTANTS
GENERAL CONSIDERATIONS
How much of your day is spent indoors? Inside your own home? If you’re like most Americans, you spend up to 90 percent of your life in an enclosed, indoor location – and when you consider sleeping, more than half of that inside your own home. Strangely enough, our concern for environmental health doesn’t always translate into a concern for a healthy indoor environment in addition to a healthy outdoor environment.
The overall health of a home is usually affected by not one, but many sources of pollutants. Heat, humidity, and modern-day, energy-efficient construction practices dramatically increase the concentrations of existing pollutants. In an effort to save energy and make our homes energy-efficient, we’ve tightened them up, which means we’re sealing in the indoor pollutants that can make us sick. The good news is that the process of detoxifying your home is simpler than you might think. While larger environmental problems loom all around us, preventing and reducing the risks associated with exposure to pesticides, household cleaners, and other sources of toxic chemicals can be done by anyone, at any time.
Cleaners, polishes, and pesticides are significant sources of toxics in the home. When these must be brought into your home, be sure to use and dispose of them according to directions on the label. Chemicals in cleaners and polishes are often a mixture of complex, unnamed compounds. Some contain strong acids (drain cleaners) or bases (oven cleaners). Others may contain petroleum distillates known as “grease cutters.”
At The Center we have TKO a powerful citrus based cleanser that is completely non-toxic! White vinegar, lemon and baking soda are also great non-toxic cleaning products.
Avoid detergents with mercury, phosphates, and heavy metals, such as arsenic and zinc, which can cause persistent problems in both indoor and outdoor environments. As with personal care products, unless you’ve already made the switch to naturally-derived, nontoxic products for housekeeping, the products you’re using are toxic. Your skin and lungs absorb those toxins.
The next time you run out of one product or another, whether it’s floor cleaner, window cleaner or bathroom cleaner, replace it with something less harmful. The replacement could be something very simple such as white vinegar or baking soda, available at any grocery store. Brands like Seventh Generation, Simple Green, Earth Friendly, Dr. Broner’s and Method provide easy to find, non-toxic options.
BATHROOM
- For tile and bathroom fixtures, use baking soda dissolved in water, applied on a damp cloth.
- For cleaning your toilet bowl, use baking soda and vinegar or lemon juice and borax. Cola that has gone flat can be poured in the bowl, left to sit for one hour, brushed, and flushed.
- Pour boiling water directly down your kitchen drain, not into the basin, twice weekly to prevent clogs. Use a drain trap/strainer to catch food or hair.
- To clear a clogged drain, use a metal snake or plunger.
KITCHEN
- Clean your oven often with baking soda (mix three tablespoons soda with one cup warm water). Rub gently with steel wool. Use oven liners or tinfoil to catch spills. Sprinkle salt on spills while oven is still warm. When the oven cools, scrape and wipe the area clean. Borax is also a good grease cutter.
- Mop with one cup of white vinegar mixed with two gallons of water to remove dull, greasy film. Add a small amount of skim milk to the rinse water. This will shine the floor.
- Wipe down countertops and other surfaces with natural TKO.
LAUNDRY AND FURNITURE
- Use dry bleach, borax, or washing soda to whiten clothes. Chlorine bleach gives off toxic fumes that are irritating to the eyes, nose, throat, and lungs. Bleach also burns the skin. Never combine bleach and ammonia together, as they produce a toxic gas.
- To clean windows, apply vinegar and water (two teaspoons vinegar to one quart water), squeegee off, and dry with a soft cloth or newspaper.
- Club soda and hydrogen peroxide work well as a stain remover, as does a solution of water and vinegar (1/4 cup each).
- Combining 6 tablespoons of mild soap flakes, 1 pint of boiling water, and 2 teaspoons of household ammonia can make upholstery shampoo. Mix and whip the mixture with a beater. Brush only the foam into the soiled upholstery. Be sure to wash kitchen utensils completely after use.
- Polish furniture with one teaspoon lemon oil or almond oil dissolved in one pint of baby oil. Wash wood furniture with oil soap or Castile soap and water.
- For spots, use club soda to remove fruit juice, tea, gravy, ketchup, and mud; cold water immediately for blood; lemon juice for ink, and perspiration; beaten egg whites for spots on leather.
- Use the oil from crushed walnuts to conceal nicks and scratches.
SHOE AND METAL POLISH
- Avoid shoe polishes that contain trichloroethylene, methylene chloride, or nitrobenzene. Instead, rub shoes with lemon juice and buff with soft cloth.
- Metal Polish (Aluminum, Brass, Copper, Silver): Soak silver in one quart of boiling water with one teaspoon baking soda or cream of tartar, one teaspoon salt, and a piece of aluminum foil. Polish with toothpaste and rinse. Pour lemon juice or vinegar and salt over copper and rub. For brass, use one-half teaspoon salt and one-half cup white vinegar with enough flour to make a paste — let it sit 25 minutes to 1 hour. Wipe clean. Soak aluminum in one quart boiling water with two teaspoons cream of tartar.
INSECTICIDES
- For an effective insect spray, blend six cloves of crushed garlic, one minced onion, one tablespoon dried hot pepper and one teaspoon pure soap in four quarts hot water. Let the mix sit one to two days and then strain it before using.
- Diatomaceous earth is a fine white powder that can be sprinkled in the garden or in the home to prevent insect infestations. It is completely safe for human consumption (although it is not recommended you eat it) but lethal to insects.
- To control roaches, place bay leaves around cracks in the room. Set out a dish of equal parts baking soda and powdered sugar or equal parts of oatmeal flour and plaster of Paris, or chopped bay leaves and cucumber skins, or crushed tobacco and water.
- As for ants, pour a line of cream of tartar, red chili powder, paprika, or dried peppermint leaves at point of entry.
- To control fleas, give your pets brewer’s yeast, garlic tablets, or vitamin B and wash them regularly in herbal baths prepared with fennel, rue, or rosemary to repel fleas from animals.
- Cedar chips, newspaper, and dried lavender are good substitutes for mothballs.
For even more information check out The Environmental Working Group at
