You’ve gone green: you’ve installed a shower filter, you religiously read labels for potentially toxic ingredients, you have an air purifier, and whenever you can find it affordably, you buy organic produce.
You’re still not safe.
Common household items you might never consider, like air fresheners and toothpaste, come loaded with noxious substances that can potentially harm you. Those fabulous non-stick pots and pans that make scrambling eggs so easy? They might leach unwanted chemicals into your delicious foods. Even so-called healthy foods, such as microwave popcorn, can be dangerous. Worst of all, that teething ring you use to pacify your baby could create detrimental health for the rest of her life.
Don’t freak out, but don’t think they – whoever they are – will protect you from the toxins invading your home and creating potential illness and disease. Follow these five strategies and take control of your ever-increasing toxic environment.
1. Don’t Smell That! Air fresheners can deodorize stinky bathrooms and give your living room a fresh, clean smell. What commercials don’t tell you is that fresheners contain Volatile Organic Compounds (VOC), chemicals that release into the environment as gas. Studies link VOCs to different types of cancer, developmental problems, as well as neurological, reproductive, and respiratory health issues.
You don’t have to settle for a stinky house. Natural alternatives include essential oil nebulizing infusers and your favorite essential oils. You can buy both at many natural health stores or online.
You can also make your own nebulizer. Simply mix ½ – 1 teaspoon of your favorite essential oil(s) to ¼ cup of cider vinegar (or vodka) in a 10 fl. oz. spray bottle. Once the ingredients have dissolved add purified or filtered water to top off the bottle and enjoy!
Other air-freshening alternatives include ionizers and air cleaners. They effectively clear out bacteria, dusts and pollens, smoke, smog, and odors from animals.
2. A Sticky Situation… That non-stick surface makes your frying pan so easy to clean, but you’re also a little uneasy about how, well, easy it is to clean that pan.
Here’s the scoop. Kitchenware often contains an antibacterial agent called Triclosan. While Triclosan isn’t a dioxin, “it may be degraded by organisms or may react to sunlight creating other harmful compounds including dioxins” (according to Wikipedia). Dioxins can suppress immune and endocrine system function. Furthermore, studies link dioxin exposure to cancer and birth defects.
Most metal pots and pans leave metal residues in your foods. However, some metals (such as iron) may actually be okay. Others, like aluminum, can be harmful. At high temperatures, Teflon-coated cookware and other non-stick surfaces breaks apart and emit toxic particles and gases. Tests commissioned by the Environmental Working Group (EWG) link these toxic particles and gases to “hundreds, perhaps thousands of pet bird deaths and an unknown number of human illnesses each year.”
So what to use? For safety purposes (and better-tasting food), stainless steel, enameled or well-seasoned cast iron and porcelain cookware prove your best bet. And don’t count out silicon; it can be a good alternative to toxic non-stick surfacing.
3. Don’t be stupid and docile… Despite what your dentist might say, skip the fluoride. Here’s what the website InformationLiberation.com had to say about fluoride:
“At the end of World War II, the US government sent Charles Eliot Perkins, a research worker in chemistry, biochemistry, physiology and pathology, to take charge of the vast Farben chemical plants in Germany. The German chemists told Perkins of a scheme which they had devised during the war and had been adapted by the German General Staff. The German chemists explained of their attempt to control the population in any given area through the mass medication of drinking water with sodium fluoride, a tactic used in German and Russian prisoner of war camps to make the prisoners ‘stupid and docile’”. (Stephen 1995).
Did you get that? Stupid and docile!?
Like kitchenware, toothpaste also contains the antibacterial agent Triclosan. Furthermore, fluorine – the poisonous substance from which fluoride is derived – builds up in the body when you use it regularly, and causes irreversible damage to the immune system.
You can find plenty of fluoride-free and natural toothpastes at Whole Foods that taste great and fight cavities. If you’d rather control exactly what you brush with, you can also make your own toothpaste or toothpowder at home by mixing three parts baking soda with one part salt. Place the mixture into a small-mouthed container for easy pouring onto your toothbrush. Add a few drops of wintergreen or peppermint essential oil for better taste and blend well.
4. Popping outside the “box.” Don’t be duped with the healthy image microwave popcorn conveys in commercials. The chemical coating in microwave popcorn bags breaks down when you nuke the bag into a substance called perfluorooctanoic (PFOA).
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) identifies PFOA as a “likely carcinogen” linked to many different types of cancer as well as developmental problems in children.
You can still have your popcorn. If you don’t have one of those old-school air poppers, you can make delicious popcorn on your stovetop. Use good quality oil like coconut oil and some organic popcorn kernels. Delicious and toxin free!
5. Chew on this… That plastic teething ring certain pacifies your baby and gives you relief. But to make plastic products pliable, manufacturers use chemicals called Phthalates, which studies link to endocrine, reproductive, and developmental problems. Manufacturers use Phthalates to make baby teething rings and other soft, flexible children’s toys.
Another concern for teethers involves the leaching of Bisphenol A (BPA), a synthetic sex hormone that mimics estrogen. Studies conducted on lab animals and cell cultures have linked low doses of BPA to obesity, diabetes, thyroid disease, breast cancer, prostate cancer, and other illnesses.
If that’s not enough, children’s toys and teethers contain polyvinyl chloride (PVC) plastic, often known as vinyl. According to the Campaign for Safe, Healthy Consumer Products, “When produced or burned, PVC plastic releases dioxins, a group of the most potent synthetic chemicals ever tested, which can cause cancer and harm the immune and reproductive systems.”
To avoid these dangerous poisons, look for toxin-free baby teethers online or in fine baby stores.
© 2011 JJ Virgin & Associates, Inc. Celebrity Nutrition & Fitness Expert JJ Virgin helps clients lose weight fast by breaking free from food allergies. She is the bestselling author of Six Weeks to Sleeveless and Sexy, a Huffington Post blogger, creator of the 4X4 Burst Training Workout & co-star of TLC’s Freaky Eaters. Visit her at http://www.jjvirgin.com to take the quiz & find out if Your “Healthy” Habits are Making You Tired, Bloated & Age Faster?
.png){kind=small}
