Simple Ways to Reduce Your Daily Exposure to Toxins

We live in a world where exposure to chemicals is almost impossible to avoid. Toxins are present in the products we use to clean our homes, the air we breathe, the foods we eat, the water we drink, the personal-care products we put on our skin, and many of the materials that surround us every day.

That doesn't mean we should go into fear of everything around us or believe that every chemical we encounter is harmful. A completely chemical-free life is just not realistic. The goal is to reduce unnecessary exposure whenever and wherever you can.

Our bodies are equipped with sophisticated systems that continually process and eliminate substances we encounter. The liver, kidneys, lungs, digestive system, skin, and other systems all play important roles in maintaining the body's internal balance. While we cannot control every environmental exposure, we can make choices that reduce unnecessary exposure to toxicants, creating a healthier internal environment for systems to function optimally.

The good news is that you don't have to replace everything in your home or completely change your lifestyle to get started. Many of the most useful changes are simple, inexpensive, and easy to incorporate into your existing routine.

1. Pay Attention to What You Put on Your Skin

Your skin is your largest organ, and most people use multiple products on it every day without giving much thought to how many ingredients they are actually being exposed to. Think about your morning routine: shampoo, conditioner, body wash, lotion, deodorant, moisturizer, makeup, perfume, sunscreen, and hair products can all add to the number of substances that come into contact with your body.

This doesn't mean you need to stop using personal-care products altogether. Instead, start becoming a better label reader and look for opportunities to simplify. Products with long ingredient lists aren't necessarily dangerous, but if a product contains unnecessary fragrances, dyes, or other additives, you will want to reconsider using them. Use the Yuka app to check the safety listing for the products you are currently using. Then as you shop, check other products to see their rating. This will help you make better choices.

Fragrance is one area to pay particular attention to because it is found in an enormous number of personal-care and household products. The term "fragrance" can represent a mixture of ingredients rather than one specific substance, which makes it difficult for consumers to know exactly what they are being exposed to.

A simple approach is to reduce the number of fragranced products you use rather than changing everything at once. When your shampoo, lotion, detergent, or other product runs out, replace it with a fragrance-free or better rated product.

2. Improve the Air Inside Your Home

We often think of pollution as something that exists outside, but indoor air deserves just as much attention because most of us spend the majority of our day inside. Household cleaning products, fragrances, smoke, cooking, building materials, furnishings, dust, and other sources can all contribute to indoor air pollution.

One of the easiest things you can do is simply bring in fresh air. When weather and outdoor air quality permit, opening windows and doors improves ventilation and helps reduce the concentration of pollutants inside your home. Use your kitchen exhaust fan when cooking and your bathroom exhaust fan while showering, particularly when those fans vent outdoors.

Air filtration can also be useful. We highly recommend that everyone have an air purifier in their home because indoor air is rarely as clean as we assume it is. A properly selected and maintained air filter will reduce unwanted particles and pollutants while enhancing circulation, particularly in areas where you spend a significant amount of your time, like your bedroom.

3. Simplify Your Cleaning Routine

You may use an entire collection of cleaning products: one for the kitchen, another for the bathroom, another for glass, another for floors, another for disinfecting, and perhaps several products that exist primarily to make the house smell clean. But clean and leaving your home heavily fragranced are not the same thing.

In many everyday situations, soap, water, and physical cleaning are sufficient. Disinfectants certainly have an important role when someone is sick or when a particular situation requires disinfection, but routinely disinfecting every surface in your home isn't necessarily needed.

Consider reducing the number of products you use and choosing simpler, more natural alternatives when they are appropriate. Simple ingredients such as white vinegar, baking soda, and unscented castile soap can be useful for many everyday cleaning tasks. These alternatives can reduce the number of heavily fragranced and unnecessary products you're bringing into your home while also making your cleaning routine easier and less expensive.

4. Take Your Shoes Off at the Door

This is one of the simplest changes you can make, and it costs nothing.

The bottoms of our shoes come into contact with whatever is on the ground outside, including dirt, dust, soil, pesticides, and other contaminants. When we walk through our homes wearing those same shoes, some of those substances can be transferred onto floors and carpets — particularly relevant in homes where children spend a lot of time playing on the floor.

You can make this easier by creating a designated place near your entrance for shoes, such as a small rack, basket, or bench. Once it becomes part of the routine, no one will think twice about it.

5. Buy Organic When You Can — and Wash Your Produce

Fruits and vegetables are an important part of a health-supportive diet, but when we're trying to reduce unnecessary exposure to pesticides, it's worth paying attention to how the produce is grown as well as how we prepare it. When possible, choosing organically grown fruits and vegetables is one way to reduce exposure to certain agricultural chemicals.

That doesn't mean you need to buy every single item organic or avoid produce altogether if organic isn't available or doesn't fit your budget. Prioritize the foods you eat most frequently or choose organic when the price difference is reasonable. The important thing is not to let the pursuit of perfectly "clean" food discourage you from eating plenty of fruits and vegetables.

Even when you buy organic produce, it's still important to wash it thoroughly before eating. For an additional cleaning step, you can use a diluted 3% hydrogen peroxide solution — 1 part 3% hydrogen peroxide to 10 parts water. After soaking briefly, rinse the produce thoroughly under clean running water. The FDA's standard recommendation remains to wash produce thoroughly under running water; it does not recommend soap, detergent, or commercial produce washes.

6. Be Thoughtful About Plastics and Food Storage

Plastic has made modern life incredibly convenient, and there is no reason to panic about every plastic item in your home. At the same time, it is reasonable to think about how you use plastic, particularly when food and heat are involved.

Some chemicals used in plastics and food packaging can migrate into food under certain conditions, and heat can increase the potential for migration. One simple way to reduce unnecessary exposure is to avoid heating any food in plastic containers. Transfer food you plan to warm into a glass or ceramic dish before heating. Glass containers are also best for storing leftovers and preparing meals.

You don't need to throw away every plastic container you own. Start with a few glass pyrex food storage dishes for refrigerated items and gradually replace all your plastic food containers.

7. Think Twice About Pesticides in Your Home

Pesticides aren't limited to agricultural fields. They can also be used inside homes, around lawns, gardens, and other areas where insects or rodents become a problem. Because these chemicals can contribute to unnecessary exposure in the home environment, we recommend taking a thoughtful approach to pest control.

At An Oasis of Healing, we do not recommend the use of toxic chemical pesticides in or around your home. When pest control is necessary, choose products that are considered green, environmentally friendly, or derived from natural sources. Even with these products, it is important to follow the manufacturer's directions and use only what is necessary.

Before addressing a pest problem, consider whether you can eliminate the conditions that are attracting pests in the first place. Sealing cracks and openings, fixing leaks, removing standing water, keeping food properly stored, maintaining clean areas, and addressing places where pests are entering can all help reduce the need for pest-control products.

8. Don't Forget About Dust

Dust is easy to think of as nothing more than a housekeeping problem, but household dust can contain a mixture of particles and chemicals that originate from furnishings, consumer products, outdoor soil, and other sources.

Regular cleaning can therefore serve a purpose beyond simply making your home look better. Using a damp cloth rather than a dry duster helps capture dust instead of simply moving it into the air, while regular vacuuming and mopping can reduce the amount that accumulates on floors and surfaces. This doesn't mean you need to obsessively clean every corner of your house — consistent, basic cleaning is enough.

9. Look at Your Laundry Products

Laundry products are another area to examine because we spend so much time in contact with the fabrics that we wash in them. Detergents, fabric softeners, dryer sheets, scent boosters, and other laundry products can all add fragrances and other ingredients to your household environment and to the clothing and bedding that remain in contact with your skin for hours at a time.

Your clothes don't need to smell strongly in order to be clean. To reduce unnecessary exposure, choose a fragrance-free detergent and reduce or eliminate products that are used primarily to make laundry smell.

10. Don't Try to "Detox" by Buying More Products

Perhaps one of the most important things to understand when thinking about environmental toxins is that reducing exposure and buying a "detox" product are two very different approaches.

When people become concerned about chemicals in their environment, they often start researching online supplements, powders, teas, cleanses, and other products that promise to remove toxins from the body. The problem is that this can turn the desire to live more healthfully into another opportunity to sell you something.

Before purchasing an expensive detox program, start with the basics:

• Improve the air in your home
• Eat a diet centered around whole organic foods
• Wash your produce
• Drink adequate clean water
• Move your body
• Get sufficient rest
• Reduce unnecessary chemicals in your environment
• Avoid smoking and limit alcohol consumption

The body already has systems designed to process and eliminate many substances it encounters. Supporting those systems begins with not exposing them to additional toxins unnecessarily and providing the basic healthy conditions they need to function.

You Don't Have to Change Everything at Once

One of the biggest mistakes people make when trying to develop a healthier lifestyle is attempting to change everything overnight. They replace every cleaning product, throw away all their plastic containers, completely change their diet, buy expensive supplements, and try to make a perfectly "clean" home all at once. Usually, this can be very costly and challenging to maintain.

Instead, choose one area and start there. Maybe this week you replace your fragranced laundry detergent. Next week, you switch to glass food-storage containers. Then you start taking your shoes off at the door or make a habit of opening your windows when the outside air is good.

Over time, these small decisions can change the environment in which you live every day.

At An Oasis of Healing, we know supporting health involves looking at the whole environment in which the body exists. That includes the food we eat, the air we breathe, the water we drink, the products we use, how we move, how we rest, and the many environmental factors we encounter throughout our lives.

We cannot eliminate every exposure, and we shouldn't live in fear of the modern world. But we can become more aware of what we are bringing into our homes and putting on and in our bodies.

The goal isn't perfection. The goal is to reduce unnecessary exposure wherever practical and establish an environment that better supports health.

You don't have to change everything today. Start with one thing you can change, make it a habit, and then move on to the next.