Where to Find Toxins and Pollutants in Your Home  

Most of us aren’t aware or have the knowledge to know where toxins are in our homes, how seriously we’re being impacted or what warning signs to look for. The steps to take and how to prioritize everything can get overwhelming very quickly because of the sheer volume of toxins we’re exposed to and all the ways we can absorb them.

Toxins are found in these five main areas:

• Air we breathe
• Water
• Products and things we buy to put inside our home
• Electronics and electricity
• Building materials

We can absorb toxins into our bodies by:

• Inhaling or breathing them in
• Direct touch (absorption)
• Resonance (electronics)

We are impacted by the amount of toxins in our environment, how long we’re exposed to them, how toxic they are, and how strong our immune system is. 

Below are examples of where you’ll typically find toxins in your home we can help with. 

Toxins in the Air 

Air inside your home is usually two to five times worse than outside, especially if you aren’t taking steps to manage your air quality. Other things that can increase the pollution levels in your home are pets, children, and things sources outside of your home. 98% of the toxins and gases in the air are so small they will bypass your immune system and sit in your lungs which is why it’s critical to know how effective your current methods are for removing toxins and particles are working and how to keep it that way.   

Symptoms and triggers from pollution inside your home can take many shapes and forms and varying degrees of intensity. If you have a weak or compromised immune system, pollutions in the home can add complexity because they may be masking underlying root causes and preventing other steps you’re taking to help you. Here’s what they can look like from the different sources.

Water Pollutants

Toxins in your water is often overlooked because we know that our water is treated and goes through a process to remove toxins and contaminants. The downside of this is that this process creates chemical byproducts which are toxic to our system and linked with many diseases and cancers. Most of the tap in the US still exceed the recommended guidelines and contain forever chemicals known as PFAs even though they meet the EPA regulation limits.  

In 2022, 1.7 billion people worldwide drank tap water contaminated with feces and it’s not all third world countries. The US ranked 23rd behind all western European countries in a recent water quality study and at least 45% of US tap water contains PFAS (forever chemicals). 

Chemicals in Household Items and Products

Formaldehyde, benzene, toluene, and many other chemicals known to cause serious illness including cancer are found in most of our common household products such as furniture, textiles, toys, personal care products, cleaners, and cookware to name only a few examples.  

Some products aren’t under regulation, making this even more difficult to know know what your exposure is. For example, companies don’t need to disclose what chemicals used in their “fragrance” with the justification that it’s part of their intellectual property, or trade secrets and does not go through FDA review. The challenge is that many fragrances are petroleum-based products which have known health effects, including hormone disruption (pthalates), cancers (styrene) as well as multiple chemical sensitivity triggers.  

Another example is bottled water, even though it’s regulated by the FDA, bottled water companies are not required to go through certified water testing laboratories and report those results.   

Electronics

Electronics, Wi-Fi and fields from our electricity and power lines are all toxins in our homes, commonly called “EMFs” (electromagnetic fields). Our cells and organs in our body communicate through electrical pulses and when we are around manmade EMF fields such as power lines or electronics, our body can’t interpret these foreign signals from the various manmade EMF fields.  

One of the challenges with this toxin is that there are different kinds of EMF fields that behave differently and require different mitigation steps to reduce or eliminate. In addition, some EMF fields cannot be mitigated.  

One common mistake or assumption is that people don’t realize that there are different kinds of fields that need to be addressed, and it’s the cumulative exposure that needs to be addressed, not just the one field that they may know about.  

Because our body doesn’t know how to interpret these fields, it triggers the body into the stress response because it thinks it’s being attacked, affecting our mitochondrial cells – the cell membrane hardens to “protect” which prevents nutrients from entering the cell and as well being able to release toxins. The result is toxins are released directly into the blood stream and the cell is both energy and nutrient deficient cell when it divides into two daughter cells during mitosis.  And, for one type of EMF field, the blood brain barrier opens up for a split second as it’s trying to interpret the unfamiliar electrical signal.   

Building Materials

Most conventional homes are loaded with toxins from the materials that are used throughout the process from start to finish with the framing, insulation, flooring, drywall, and finishes. Homes are currently built to have a tight building envelope to prevent moisture and humidity from coming inside and causing structural damage. This creates a problem because it prevents pollutants and toxins inside of the home from escaping, keeping them inside for you to absorb.