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Family Wellness Challenge: Eliminate Toxins in Your Home
writes, "You may have been focusing on making healthier choices around food in your family, but if the environment in your home is filled with toxic chemicals then you are negating all of your hard work.

In the United States there are over 80,000 chemicals in circulation and only a fraction of those have been tested for safety. It is our responsibility as parents to become more conscious of these chemicals and find healthier alternatives.
"
"Most people don't realize that the products they're using to construct, furnish, or clean their homes - even the items used to entertain their children - can be causes for airborne chemical exposure concern," explains Dr. Marilyn Black, president of Air Quality Sciences. Exposure to toxins has been linked to ADHD and learning disabilities, autism, obesity and childhood diabetes, allergies, asthma, early puberty and cancer.

Here are a few ways you can reduce the toxic load in your home:

1) Switch from plastic to glass containers for food storage. You can recycle pickle and other glass jars or purchase a set of glass food containers. The Bisphenol A (BPA) in plastics are known hormone disruptors which mimic estrogen in the body.

2) Eliminate microwave popcorn as it contains artificial ingredients and a chemical called diacetyl which is linked to cancer. Manufacturers often coat microwave popcorn bags with chemicals known as fluorotelomers which break down into perfluorinated acid, or PFOA. Microwave popcorn is the quickest way to get PFOAs into your system.

3) Switch to organic produce if possible. Studies have shown within 3 days of transitioning to organic that the pesticide load in the body is reduced by 80%. If price is an issue, purchase off of the Dirty Dozen list (http://www.ewg.org/foodnews/) or consider a local Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) share.

4) Choose non-toxic cleaning products for your home. The vapors and fumes can linger in the air for a long time and chemicals sprayed on counters are touched by children and eventually get into their mouths. These products contribute to indoor air pollution which is much more toxic to our children's bodies than being outside in air pollution.

5) Look for healthier personal care items for your family. Castile soap is very mild and versatile as an everyday body wash, facial cleanser, shampoo, and shaving lather. It is also excellent as a mild laundry detergent. The skin is the second most common way that toxins enter your body after inhalation.

6) Throw out your nonstick pans. PFOAs damage the liver, affect thyroid hormones, cause birth defects, and cause cancer in animal studies.

By becoming conscious of the toxins around us and reading labels, we can make dramatic changes in our family's health. If you need a science degree to figure out an ingredient then it is not a healthy choice for your family. The World Health Organization reports that environmental toxins can cause every chronic disease including cancer. Don't wait for a disease to steal your family's health and well-being, get the toxins out today!

Emily Barker, CHHC
Eat to Thrive



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