We are exposed to environmental toxins daily. Toxins are in our drinking water, food, air, and our homes. Some of these things are realistically not in our control like what we encounter at our workplace or in the air when we go out for a run but others are becoming more easily avoided. One thing that is definitely in our control is what products we choose to purchase and use in our homes. Below you will find information on the most common places you’ll find toxins in your household products, how these toxins are affecting your fertility and how to find safer products to replace them.
Starting in the kitchen the most widely used items are what we want to replace the food we eat (yes that can contain toxins), the cookware we use, and the containers and other products we use to store our food. The food we eat can contain all sorts of toxins including pesticides, herbicides, as well as industrial waste that is absorbed by the animals and plants, we are consuming. While we can’t immediately do anything about industrial waste, we can easily avoid pesticides and herbicides by choosing organic foods. We don’t however want to ruin this beautiful organic food by adding toxins to it while cooking. This is why it’s important to avoid non-stick cookware. Non-stick cookware contains PFC’s which transfer to your food while cooking and also can become vapor that you breathe in when under high heat. The best and safest cookware is stainless steel, cast iron, ceramic, and glass. We also need to look at what we are using to store our foods: plastic tupperware, aluminum foil, and plastic wrap. Plastic food containers and cling wrap both can contain toxic chemicals like BPA and phthalates. Instead use glass containers and natural covers like bees wrap! Finally, we have aluminum foil. Aluminum foil is often used when we store food as well as to make clean up easier after cooking. I already covered some of my favorite storage options and my favorite easier clean-up/sticking prevention to replace foil is parchment paper!
Moving out of the kitchen (sorta) there are the products we use to clean our homes. These products range from surface cleaners, to dish and handwashing soaps, and laundry soap. A few common ingredients in all of these are phthalates, fragrances, and glycols. These are just the major endocrine disrupting ingredients there are others that should be avoided for other reasons like triclosan which is an antibacterial ingredient which is widely known to cause issues in gut microbiota as well as increasing antibiotic resistant bacteria. Another common ingredient in laundry soap that is troubling for fertility is boric acid (hydrogen borate). This is not to be confused with borax which is sodium borate these are not chemically the same and borax is safe to use as long as it is diluted, and not ingested.
Lastly, we have beauty care products. Things like hair care, face and body wash, lotions, and make up all commonly include toxic ingredients like phthalates, fragrances, and parabens. Like other cleaners there are a lot more ingredients that cause concern for reasons other than fertility. For example, the ingredient BHT is commonly used as a preservative in both beauty and food products but this ingredient is linked to tumor growth in studies and is banned in other countries.
The ingredients listed above can affect fertility in many ways but the most commonly they can be classified as xenoestrogens, hormone disrupters, or can signal cell death. Xenoestrogens like ingredients found in fragrances, phthalates, and BPA, cause issues in the body because they are recognized by the body as estrogen and can often link up to estrogen receptors in the body. This can lead to estrogen dominance and/or the downregulation of estrogen production. Phthalates are doubly concerning because not only do they cause issues with estrogen in the body but also have been shown to cause death induced signaling issues in cells throughout the body. While it’s common, natural, and healthy for old and/or damaged cells to die off, phthalates cause even healthy cells to die off creating issues with tissue building and other organ and system events. PFC’s pesticides, and boric acid are all general endocrine disruptors. These ingredients have been linked to hormone imbalances in studies but the general mode of disruption is unknown. It is suspected that they may cause issues in the microbiome, cell communication with hormones, or inflammatory responses. Finally, boric acid, aluminum, and glycols are all connected specifically to issues with male fertility. These ingredients have been linked to issues with sperm and testicular issues in many studies.
I know it can be very overwhelming to learn that all of these everyday products could be causing issues with your fertility and overall health. I do not feel it is necessary to replace every single product at once because that would be unrealistic and stress full. I would advise that you tackle one thing at a time. Start in the kitchen and replace your most used pan with a healthier option like stainless steel. As for cleaning and beauty products, replace them as they run out. This way you have time to decide on which products you want to replace them with. Finding healthier products can also be an overwhelming task I have linked some of my favorite products below (some of these are affiliate links) or you can also go to the Environmental Working Group’s website (ewg.org) for more resources. They also have an app you can download!
Favorite kitchen products:
My favorite pan that I USE EVERY DAY! 12″ everyday pan
Storage Solutions- glass containers, silicone baggies, bees wrap
Favorite Cleaning Products:
I haven’t used it yet but I’ve hear good things and am going to switch to Branch Basics
Laundry: biokleen sport, dryer balls
Hand Soap: everyone
Dish soap: hand wash, dishwasher
Floor and Surface Cleaners: hardfloor cleaner, wood polish, all purpose surface cleaner, wipes, toilet, surface scrub.
Favorite Beauty Products:
I love beauty counter for face washes and face oils/lotions. I also love their sunscreen.
Make-up: W3ll People is much cheaper than beauty counter and just as clean.
Body soap and shave soap: Dr. Bronner’s body, shave
Hair- I have yet to find something super clean that works for my curly hair but this is what I use that’s mostly clean… hairstory