5 Ways to Reduce Your Exposure to Toxins

About 700 new chemicals are introduced into the U.S. market every year. Seven hundred. Almost none of which are tested for toxicity or safety.

This means that whenever you buy new toys, clothes, household products or even food, you may be exposed to toxic chemicals without even knowing it.

Is there any way to reduce your exposure to these chemicals? Thankfully, yes. By paying attention to what you buy, eat and bring into your home, you can better protect yourself and your family.

Below are just five (of many) ways to reduce your exposure to toxins.

1. Cook with stainless steel or cast iron pots and pans. Nonstick cookware can contain perfluorooctanoic acid, a possible carcinogen, that gets released into food when a pan is heated to above normal cooking temperatures. 
2. Don’t recycle receipts. Though they look like paper, receipts can contain BPA, which might contaminate other recyclables. Toss receipts in the trash, or even better: ask to have receipts emailed to you instead of printed.
3. Use glass containers for food storage and packed lunches. Many plastics can leach harmful substances into your food. Since it’s hard to know which type of plastic your food containers are, go with glass instead. (Bonus: glass lasts longer and doesn’t hold on to old food odors).
4. Drink your coffee out of a mug. Disposable coffee cups are an enormous source of unnecessary garbage. They go straight into a landfill after just one use. Find a coffee mug – or reusable to-go mug – you love and stick to that instead.
5. Beware: unscented is not the same as fragrance-free. Did you know that “unscented” soaps, lotions, and household cleaners might contain toxic chemicals whose scents have been “masked” by other toxic chemicals? Ew! Choose fragrance-free dish, laundry and body soap, plus fragrance-free or naturally-scented lotions, shampoos and household cleaners.

Adapting these tips will mean fewer toxins in your home and our environment. Fewer toxins in our homes and environment means a safer, healthier food supply.

These tips are from Seventh Generation’s Campaign for a Toxin-Free Generation.