DETOXING YOUR HOME= A GUIDE TO WHERE CHEMICALS MAY BE HIDING IN EVERYDAY PRODUCTS

Home is associated with sanctuary, safety, ideally relaxation, and comfort. Many products sold on the everyday market are filled with toxic chemicals from cookware, to cosmetics, to containers to furnishings.

I am unraveling the darker side of the “Plestoocene Era” of which we are in peak of, where plastics and petro based chemicals form the constituents of our convenience based lifestyles.

With this comes a demystifying of what we may see as great additions to our home. Lets break this down by category.

Understanding the chemical composition of plastics is not a bad idea, as they have been engineered to create seemingly durable products. Many of these combinations have lethal impacts on human health, primarily disrupting:

Endocrine systems, nervous system, metabolism, reproduction, sex organs, skin, kidneys, and the brain.

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COOK WARE

Non stick products have been all the rage, anything to remove hours of scrubbing a pan sounds miraculous. I’ve gone into many friends' homes to find kitchens full of non-stick pans, scratched up. When the material beneath the non-stick surface is exposed, so are the toxic chemicals, into our food, then our bodies, and the air. PFA’S and PFC’s, PFOA’s, the latter being linked to thyroid disease, and various cancers. These chemicals are “persistent”, meaning they don't go away. According to the EPA, ‘PFC’s are filled with toxic properties to an extraordinary degree.’

WHAT IS SAFE TO USE:

+ Cast Iron: the age old cookware, its actually easy to use and is great for cooking meats and omelets

+ Stainless Steel

+ Ceramic

Many Phthalates are banned in Europe, due to their toxicity: DEHP, DBP, BBP, DIBP. These show up in products from baby products, toys, adhesives, sealants, surface coatings.

BPA you will start to see on labels as “BPA free”, but some products its still hidden in such as can lining, and lids of products, plastic water or drinking bottles.

The harm is two fold as when we ingest products containing these, they bioaccumulate in our cells. The second is during disposal, when and where the plastics are breaking down, they infiltrate the environment, affecting air quality upon incineration, aquatic species, and land masses.