Where are the chemicals in our homes? They are in the air, in the dust, in water and on our skin. They come from

• our clothes
• furniture and furnishings
• electronics
• personal care products
• cleaning products
• soil we bring in from outside on our feet.

Click here for a table of a sample of groups of chemicals of concern to human health and the environment as included in the House of Commons Environmental Audit Committee report entitled Toxic Chemicals in everyday Life, 10 July 2019.

Chemicals are pervasive in modern society and contribute to improved health and quality of life globally. However, current regulation does not account for the cocktail of chemicals we are exposed to. Hazardous chemicals and other pollutants are now ‘ubiquitous in humans and the environment’.

Toxic Chemicals in Everyday Life House of Commons Environmental Audit Committee
10 July 2019

Chemicals in our homes – In the dust

Until recently I hadn’t really given the dust in my house much thought and then someone asked me what my policy on dusting was. I’d be the first to admit I didn’t really have one; it wasn’t my first priority of even my second. Now that I know that the chemicals in our homes collect in the dust, hoovering just moved up the agenda.

Chemicals in our homes – In the air

Dr Stephanie Wright in the TV documentary ‘War on Plastics with Hugh and Anita’ said tests show that we are shedding tiny micro fibres from our synthetic clothes and textiles into the air. We know that high exposure to fibres in industrial settings causes health problems. What we don’t know is what low exposure over a lifetime does. Tests, conducted in two homes, proved that these tiny particles are in the air and that they are small enough to end up in our lungs. The effects of this on our health are unknown (War on Plastic with Hugh and Anita – Episode 2, 17 June 2019).

An episode of Grand Designs focused on the building of a ‘health house’. The couple were building ‘the health house’ because their sons were suffering from life-threatening allergies and were in and out of hospital. The house was built with low toxin materials and painted with solvent free low VOC paint. It had a ventilation system that filtered the air. The number of attacks the children experienced fell once they moved into the ‘health house’. The most ambitious series yet? Grand Designs returns with a toxin-free ‘health house’ and a family home built entirely from concrete.

Are you worried?

In 2017, a survey by the European Commission found that 90 percent of Europeans were worried about the environmental impact and 84 percent were worried about the health impacts of chemicals in everyday products.

Toxic Chemicals in Everyday Life – House of Commons Environmental Audit Committee
10 July 2019

Chemicals in our homes – In food

In an effort to reduce my exposure to chemicals I’ve started eating organic vegetables.

Strictly speaking I started buying organic vegetables from The Prospects Trust, because I wanted to support them. They offer horticultural work placements to people with learning difficulties and they produce organic vegetables.

Then I started cutting back on plastic. I stopped buying vegetables in supermarkets because they are often wrapped in plastic. Instead I ordered a weekly box of organic vegetables from Riverford. They keep packaging to a minimum and take it back. I am glad I did because I now realise that chemicals from the plastic packaging may be leaking into our food. (Safer Materials in Food Packaging March 2019).

One way or another I have ended up buying mainly organic and/or locally produced food.

Organic versus conventional vegetables

I appreciate that organic food can be expensive but if you buy it loose you can buy only what you need and waste less.

Every year the Environmental Working Group in the US creates two lists – the Dirty Dozen and the Clean Fifteen. The Dirty Dozen are the fruits and vegetables they claim have the highest amount of pesticides when grown conventionally versus organically. The New Dirty Dozen and Clean Fifteen Are Here – But Should You Care? Jaclyn London (20 March 2019) If money is an issue they recommend buying more of the vegetables from the Clean Fifteen list.

Don’t stop eating fruit. Nutritionists argue pesticides or no pesticides its important to keep eating fruit regardless. The New Dirty Dozen and Clean Fifteen Are Here – But Should You Care? Jaclyn London (20 March 2019).

I live in the country, where I enjoy walks with my dogs. However I worry when I see farmers spraying their crops. What are they spraying? What is doing to the farmers? Is the wind blowing my way? What effect will it have on me? And perhaps most important of all – what is it doing to the dog?

Chemicals in our homes- In food packaging

We worry about plastics because they pollute the oceans. (Say No to Plastics).

We worry about single-use packaging because it is wasteful.

But there is third concern about the potentially harmful chemicals in food packaging which can get into our food. Safer Materials in Food Packaging March 2019 commissioned by the Forsythia Foundation.

In the same report the authors distinguish between two types of materials. The basic materials which cause pollution and the chemical additives which cause most of the exposure to harmful chemicals.

Chemicals in our homes – In our Clothes

Pesticides

Farmers use pesticides to grow cotton. The cost of the pesticides is so high that many farmers are forced into extreme debt. Love your clothes. It also makes them ill – The True Cost, a documentary directed by Andrew Morgan (2015).

Water pollution

Greenpeace wrote a report Dirty Laundry (2011) looking at toxic water pollution caused by textile manufacturers releasing hazardous chemicals. Detoxing Fashion with Greenpeace’s Kirsten Broode.

Chemicals on our skin

Our clothes themselves contain chemicals and are coming into contact with our skin.

There is a growing scientific consensus that chemicals – like those used to create stain repellency and anti-wrinkle clothing are potentially hazardous.”

It’s time for fashion to remove toxic chemicals from clothing By Rachel Cernansky May 2019 Vogue Business.com

These chemicals include

• Fluorinated chemicals which make fabrics stain, oil and water repellent
• Formaldehyde used in finishing and anti-wrinkle treatments
• Phthatates used in screen printing and some footwear. These are used in body care products.
• Chemicals used to fight odours.

Some brands have decided the environmental and health costs are too high and have accepted that clothes will stain and/or crease (Levi’s and Patagonia). It’s time for fashion to remove toxic chemicals from clothing By Rachel Cernansky May 2019 Vogue Business.com

Chemicals in our homes – In furniture

When I started my interior design business I handmade curtains for my customers. Curtains, for a domestic home, can be made in non flame retardant fabrics, but chairs and sofas on the other hand have to be covered in flame retardant materials. One of my customers returned a new bed to his supplier because it smelled so strongly of chemicals.

Some flame retardants, including the most commonly used – aluminium hydroxide are generally considered to be safe.

Those causing the most concern are brominated flame retardants.

These chemicals are persistent in the environment and tests have detected their presence in air, dust, soil, water, food and wildlife.

Toxic Chemicals: How safe is your furniture – BBC News 16 July 2019

In the “health house”, Grand Designs (2018), the couple opted for second hand furniture in the hopes that the chemicals had seeped out of the furniture already.

In the event of fire flame retardants make smoke more toxic, increasing the volumes of carbon monoxide and hydrogen cyanide. How Safe is your furniture, BBC News 16 July 2019.

Chemicals in our homes – In Cleaning products

I’ve always wondered what is in cleaning products. I am not a heavy user, and that is not because I don’t like cleaning. I was taught how to clean my house by someone who relied heavily on vinegar. Again in War on Plastic with Hugh and Anita participants in the street study made their own cleaning products. One of which was 50 per cent vinegar, 50 per cent water, some orange or lemon peel and ‘a sprinkling’ of bicarbonate of soda (War on Plastic with Hugh and Anita Episode 2). I’ve tried it and it proved effective.

Conclusion

I have several new projects on my list.

• Reviewing my wardrobe and swapping and donating what I no longer wear
• Replacing clothes and furnishings, when required, with clothes made out of organic fabric from a sustainable source
• Avoiding plastic packaging – not just because it pollutes the environment but because of the chemicals it may be releasing into my food.
• Hoovering more frequently to which end I have invested in a Dyson V8 to keep on top of the dust and the pet hair.