14 Ways Toxins Are Sneaking Into Your House

By Kelly Bryant for Reader's Digest

Our previous research has shown that exposure to contaminants in outdoor and  indoor air can affect respiratory health, especially in children.  This is important because diseases such as asthma, bronchitis and other conditions are very common and affect many families. 

We have also previously written about how children show exposure to endocrine disrupting chemicals from personal care products and other sources.   Recently, I was interviewed by Kelly Bryant for an article in Reader's Digest.  The article lists 14 ways in which toxins "sneak" into our homes in ways that may be unexpected or surprising for many people.  I was quoted in the article as follows:
It feels good to put dry-cleaned clothing back in your closet, crisp and pressed for your next outing. But the process which made them look brand new could carry some trouble. “Perchloroethylene is a chemical used in dry cleaning,” says Luz Claudio, PhD, professor of environmental medicine at the Icahn School of Medicine in New York. “Although it’s not known how much of it may be released in the home when you bring dry-cleaned clothes in plastic bags, it may be best to open the bags and aerate them outdoors before bringing inside.”
The other 13 sneaky ways toxins may be entering your house, according to the article, are: 

• Through the floorboards in the form of radon, a gas that can lead to lung cancer after prolonged exposure.
• With new carpets that emit volatile organic compounds, especially during the first 72 hours after installation.
• Your mattresses when they are treated with toxic flame retardants.
• Air fresheners as the perfumes and scents can contain toxic chemicals.
• "Natural" products with labels that can be misleading.
• Indoor air products that are intended to perfume or mask odors in the air.
• Household dust can accumulate and concentrate many of the non-volatile toxins that exist in the home.
• Self-care products such as nail polish, shampoo, and others may release formaldehyde, which causes cancer.
• "Safe" ingredients such as polyethylene glycol are very common in cosmetics and cleaning products.  The Environmental Working Group and others question the safety of these ingredients.
• On your shoes you can bring anything that you walked on outdoors including bacteria and other organisms.
• In your walls can be lurking mold which can be an asthma trigger, especially in children.
• From the tap water in as many as 33 states have been found to have unsafe levels of several chemicals.  
• Through your air conditioner, when not well designed or maintained, can contribute to concentrating polluted indoor air. 

To read the full article, visit the Reader's Digest website.  Click below.

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