5 Places Environmental Toxins Hide
👋 Raise your hand if you think that minimizing your risk of developing a chronic illness sounds like a really great idea.
When it comes to disease prevention, most people know they need to eat healthy foods and exercise. You know you should drink lots of water and not lots of alcohol. Right?
But what about environmental toxins?
Environmental toxins lurk all around us and in products we use every day. If these exposures overwhelm our detoxification systems, they can drive disease.
So, if avoiding environmental toxins is not yet part of your wellness routine, I suggest you start now. Here are some common places where environmental toxins hide:
☠️ Carpet, upholstery, and manufactured wood can off-gas volatile organic compounds (VOCs like formaldehyde), which can be irritants or cause headaches.
☠️ Furniture, carpets, and bedding that contain flame retardants can release hormone-disrupting polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PDPEs) into the air and house dust.
☠️ Cleaning products commonly contain ammonia, synthetic fragrances, and other chemicals that can act either as irritants or health disruptors.
☠️ Personal care products (rubbed directly into your skin!!) commonly contain hormone-disrupting parabens and phthalates.
☠️ Plastics and food containers often contain hormone-disrupting bisphenol A (BPA).
So, what can we do?
✅ Dust & vacuum regularly
✅ Minimize plastics as much as possible
✅ Choose non-toxic personal care products and cleaning supplies
✅ Place air purifiers in key areas of the house, especially in bedrooms
Minimizing our exposure is key, but we can also support our body in detoxifying these chemicals every day. Next up I’ll be sharing some of my favorite foods to support detoxification. Stay tuned!
Tracey Mixon is a certified Family Nurse Practitioner, certified functional medicine health coach, and Founder of Desire To Live Now. After a lifelong battle with autoimmune disease, Tracey was introduced to Functional Medicine in 2012 which not only transformed her health but her life. Tracey became a nurse practitioner to help anyone who desires to optimize their health with lifestyle medicine and combat health disparities amongst minority communities.