Ditching Toxins in your Household Products

Do you know what the largest organ in your body is? 

It’s your skin.

What have you put on your skin today? Have you ever really thought about that, everything that touches you or your skin all day. Even things that you didn’t plan on touching your skin.

Household cleaners, pesticides, and fertilizers on your plants, cosmetics, soaps, paints and everything else that you probably don’t realize touches you every single day.

Most people don’t think twice about the things that touch them every day. That’s what our skin is for right? To protect our sensitive inner tissues from the outside world. But while skin is great at blocking bacteria and viruses from entering your body, it soaks in a lot of other things as well. Especially when we touch or put them on our skin repeatedly.

Grab a piece of paper right now. And write down everything that has touched your skin today. What makeup did you put on today? Fragrance? What did you clean with today? 

According to an ABC News article, many women put an average of 168 chemicals on their skin from cosmetics alone. Now, I know that chemical can sound like a scary word. But not all chemicals are inherently bad. Water is a chemical. And we need water to live. (Though also, too much water is toxic it is for you.) 

So out of all of these chemicals, how many are actually good for you? And how many are bad for you?

That’s a hard question to answer, though you would think that it would be easy. The answer should be that all the chemicals that companies tell you is ok to put on your body are just fine. But unfortunately, there is a large chance that each chemical has never even been evaluated for safety. Many have even tested to be irritating to skin or harmful on your respiratory system, yet since there is no ruling that they can’t be used, many companies use them every day.

How do these chemicals affect your fertility journey?

Two words. Endocrine disruptors. This means that these types of chemicals can mess with your body by increasing hormones, decreasing hormones, imitating hormones, and basically just messing with your natural balance. When your hormones are messed with by outside forces, it not only can affect your fertility but has a chance to cause other disorders and problems as well that have nothing to do with your fertility. 
It is believed that the rising amount of endocrine disruptors has led to a decline in fertility that is being seen worldwide.

What is one of the easiest ways that you can downsize the number of possible toxins that touch your skin every day?

By switching what you use to clean your house. 

And fun fact, many of these things you might already have in your home! Are you a DIYer? Check out our Pinterest board for some toxin-free homemade recipes. 

But there are also some companies that provide safe products as well. The best way to check if your product is actually safe is with third party research. I personally love using the app Think Dirty to check anything that I pick up off the shelf. I also recommend learning to start checking the labels on everything you purchase and knowing what to watch out for.

KEYWORDS TO BEWARE IN HOUSEHOLD PRODUCTS

1|| Fragrance 

Seems pretty harmless right? It’s just a smell. But fragrance isn’t usually a single ingredient and is considered “proprietary” information that doesn’t need to be divulged to consumers. So consumers are unaware of whatever chemicals, toxic or not, might be used. Ever walked down a laundry aisle and had your senses automatically overwhelmed? Headaches, sneezing, the works? It’s most likely the phthalates found in most “fragrances.” Which is a known endocrine (think hormones!) disruptor as well.

2 || Butyl Cellosolve

3 || Chlorinated phenols

4 || Diethylene glycol

5 || Nonylphenol ethoxylate

6 || Butane

And many others.

BEWARE OF GREENWASHING

Consumers becoming more aware is creating another problem. Many companies have taken to “greenwashing” to make a product seem like it is a better choice than those nasty old cleaners. Where they haven’t actually changed the formula very much at all, but boy does the wrapping look great with its green and white “clean” new look and words natural plastered all over the place. 

Even if a product says that it is “natural” or a “green alternative” check the ingredients. Know what you are putting on your body.

Don’t think there is anything wrong with the cleaners that you have already been using? Print of this toxicity quiz and see how you score! Score high? Contact us for a purification program while you get rid of the cleaners doing the most damage!

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