Kids get exposed to toxic chemicals on a daily basis and most parents don’t even know about this. By now many people know that there are a number of bad ingredients lurking in our food unless we cook from scratch. But the thing that is often overlooked is that also our homes are packed with dangerous chemicals. To help you reduce toxins in your home, we made a list of some the most dangerous products to avoid.
- The mattresses
Our kids spend about 8-9 hours a day in bed and even though this seems like one of the safest places there is some danger with that. Conventional mattresses are covered with flame retardants that are constantly released into the air, especially if your kids like to jump up and down on their beds.
Here’s what you can do: get a natural mattress instead that is made out of organic cotton or wool. A more economic solution is to buy a food-grade plastic cover in order to keep the toxins inside the mattress.
- Laundry chemicals
We all love the fresh smell from our laundry detergent, but have you ever thought about what it is made of? That nice smell comes at a price. Most of our indoor air pollution comes from laundry detergents and the impact they have on our health is devastating.
They mess with our children’s endocrine system, causing everything from cancer, to asthma, and even fertility problems by the time your children have grown up. To protect your kids it is better to get a green detergent from your natural grocery store that does not contain dangerous chemicals.
- Soaps
Most likely you tell your kids to wash their hands before every meal and while you are doing a great job preventing them from eating with dirty hands, you are also exposing them to a number of chemicals that is hiding in conventional soap.
And this is not where it ends.
Most likely you will have used some kind of dish soap to wash the plates, cups, and the silverware that your kids will be eating with. These two soaps might come in different packaging but they have one thing in common: they are made with a bunch of dangerous ingredients.
They usually include chemicals like phthalates (often found in fake fragrance ingredients), sulfates, and parabens. These toxic substances may cause mood swings, early/abnormal puberty, and fertility issues.
Once again, the best solution is to switch to brands that offer purely natural formulas. This is important for both types of soaps – the one that you use on your body and the one that you use on your dishes. In both cases you do not want your skin to get in touch with the chemicals that are lurking in these soaps.
But especially in the case of dish soap you want to prevent any chemical residue to remain on the dishes that your kids eat from. If toxic chemicals remain on the dishes they mix in with your kids’ food and ends up directly in their bodies where they will harm their young organs over time. There are some great natural solutions available that are perfectly safe for your and your kids’ health.
Keeping your kids healthy is not an easy task, but if you follow the three steps in this article you are decreasing their chemical exposure significantly.
