Unfortunately, our modern world is full of environmental toxins. Sometimes it can feel overwhelming to “clean up” our products at home, but I’m here to tell you the easy steps you can start taking today! I also want to dive a bit more into the “why” behind cleaning up our household products and how it can support our health and our performance!

Why Should We Care About Cleaning Up or Household Products?

Two of the biggest ways we “absorb” toxins is through our skin and into our bodies via our lungs and gut. You skin is your largest organ and easily absorbs anything that comes into contact with it – think soaps, lotions, serums, cleaning products and even chemicals in the water we swim and shower in. And what we breathe goes right into our bloodstream. And of course there are toxins in food but that will be less of the focus for this discussion.

Plastics, perfumes, and solvents contain chemicals called endocrine disruptors, also referred to as endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDC’s). The endocrine system is a messenger system to various glands (and tissues) that create and release hormones. This system uses feedback loops to keep the body in balance (homeostasis). Some examples includes your thyroid gland, adrenal gland, and the ovaries and testis. Unfortunately these EDC’s have been shown to negatively impact our estrogen levels, our androgens (sex hormones), create disruptions in our thyroid function and also impact our steroid hormones.

Did you know that a single product might contain 100-300 chemical substances and that fragrances are the biggest offenders of EDC’s and can greatly (negatively) impact our health?! “Exposure to fragrance products such as air fresheners, deodorant agents, and scented laundry products can trigger a variety of health effects, including respiratory problems, mucosal symptoms, headaches, asthma, and allergic contact dermatitis.”¹ Not only does this list of symptoms sound awful; over time it can impact your hormone function and when that gets disrupted and your toxic load becomes too much, you could have a host of other health impacts – gut imbalances, weight gain, low thyroid function, low libido, eczema…the list goes on and on. The study cited above deep dives into over 11,000 different household chemical products and over 1700 different ingredients found in them and identified nearly 300 chemicals that were related to endocrine disruption! Geesh!

And even more concerning is that “The low-grade estrogen effect from the plastics, perfumes, solvents, and hormones in our foods and personal care products has been linked to early menstruation in girls as young as 7, falling sperm counts worldwide, increased problems with erectile dysfunction in men in their 20s… and infertility in women due to polycystic ovary syndrome. They are also implicated as contributing to the development of obesity, metabolic syndrome, and diabetes.”²

So How Do You Avoid EDC’s?

Ok, I think you see where I’m going now. So where do you start? For the love of all things good, PLEASE walk up to any “Plug In” type air freshener you see and throw it into the trash! For real, these things are literally wrecking your health!

And after your done with that, here is a longer list of options to detox your cleaning products!

• Discard any and all products that contain fragrances that do not come from essential oils.
  • Laundry detergent and Fabric Softeners are big ones here! Look for those scented only with essential oils or the fragrance free versions which are available most everywhere now.
• Purchase a diffuser and utilize high quality essential oils for fragrance in your home or office. Its not just more healthy, its also a much more affordable way to freshen a room!
• Shop Revive Essential Oils for some great priced oils (not an MLM) as well as diffusers and cleaning products. I also love some of their blends!
• Shop a small business like Earthly Wellness who values natural products (I’ve recently become obsessed with their products!).
• Shop at Thrive Market (an online grocer) which carries only natural and safe personal care and cleaning products at great prices! Use this link to get 40% off your first order!
• Look for products that have been certified safe by the Environmental Working Group (EWG) “EWG Verified”
  • Skin Care Products
  • Hair Care Products
  • Makeup
  • Sun Care – I’m a big fan of ThinkSmart Sunscreen!
  • Cleaning Products
• Try making your own cleaning products using white vinegar and essential oils. I have some “make your own” recipes below.

By the way, I am not affiliated with any of the companies below. However, if you use my Thrive Market link and decide to become a member, I do receive Thrive cash for the referral.

Homemade Cleaners

All-Purpose Cleaner

• 1/4 cup of white vinegar
• 15-20 drops of essential oils (tea tree + lavender is a great combination)
• 1 tsp of phosphorus-free dish soap, castile or washing soda
• 2 cups of filtered water
• Fill 1 cleaning spray bottle with ingredients above and shake well before each use.

Glass Cleaner

• 1 cup white vinegar
• 1 cup filtered water
• 10 drops of essential oil (peppermint is an option)
• Fill 1 cleaning spray bottle with ingredients above and shake well before each use.

Toilet Bowl Cleaner

• 1/2 cup of borax
• 1 gallon hot water
• Mix solution and squirt into basin, then scrub.
• Borax will help remove stains better than baking soda.

“Chemicals are not currently tested for their endocrine disruption potential before they are approved for use and enter our environment, and there are endocrine disruptors in a vast array of products we come into contact with every day, including organochlorine pesticides, plastics, fuels, and other industrial chemicals.”
Joel Fuhrman

I hope you will try some of the recipes above and start to cycle out some of the toxic products you may have defaulted to because you grew up with them. Smelling of synthetic scents is unhealthy and unnecessary. Lean into natural essential oils and fragrance free options to support you and your families long-term health. I have only scratched the surface here, but I hope this will spark you to do some research and look for healthier products for you and your family.

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1. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0147651322005176?via%3Dihub#bib46 ↩︎
2. The Wahls Protocol: A Radical New Way to Treat All Chronic Autoimmune Conditions Using Paleo Principles, Terry Wahls, M.D. (p 276) ↩︎