Simple 6 Step Plan to Reduce Toxins in Your Home

by Stephanie Karozos, MD

One of the easiest ways to contribute to your overall health is to reduce toxins in the home. Our homes are where we spend a great deal of our time: sleeping, eating, spending time with our loved ones, and particularly in the last few years working from home. The sheer volume of time we spend there and the agency we have in our homes to choose what products we use can make it an extremely impactful place to improve our health and wellness. 

Why is reducing toxin exposure important? Many chronic medical conditions, autoimmune diseases in particular, are thought to require multiple “hits” to fully develop. For example, one may have a genetic tendency toward developing rheumatoid arthritis and never develop the disease. Oftentimes, second and third “hits” are required to unmask the genetic tendency toward disease and to cause the disease to develop. It’s now known that multiple environmental factors impact the manifestation of disease. Exposure to harmful chemicals in cleaning solutions, added odors in detergents, and outdoor pollutants over time can contribute to the development or worsening of chronic medical problems such as asthma, autoimmune diseases, hormone dysregulation and certain cancers. The American Lung Association even has a page on the potential hazards of household cleaning products and how they contribute to chronic lung disease, allergies and other health issues. We often underestimate our daily exposure to these toxins, and there are many simple interventions that can reduce toxin exposure in our homes and daily lives. 

1. Make your own cleaning spray: 

Please don’t be daunted by my opening this list with a DIY task! I wanted to lead with this one, because I genuinely love doing it and it’s SO easy and quick. This recipe came from a friend who made her own spray and from many internet sources - I melded recipes to make something that would be extremely easy for me to do in my busy life. Simply combine 1/2c vinegar, 1/2c water, ½ tsp SalSuds (optional), and an essential oil or two of your choice to a measuring cup. I like to add them in this exact order for less mess. Gently stir to combine, and then pour the mixture into a spray bottle. The vinegar has antimicrobial properties, and if you add a concentrated soap like SalSuds it breaks up grease as effectively as a commercial cleaner. This has 4 ingredients, is safe to use and make, and contains no potentially noxious chemicals. It’s great for cleaning counters and other hard household surfaces (for a glass cleaner, skip the SalSuds), and it’s fun to add your own essential oil scent profile! I like lemongrass right now, but I’ve also used eucalyptus, citrus, and peppermint in the past. Be mindful of avoiding essential oils with additional chemicals added to them- always read the labels. If you don’t like this recipe, there are many very easy household cleaner recipes online that you could use instead. 

2. Go odor-free:

Added scents typically consist, at least in part, of chemicals that break down into volatile organic compounds (VOCs) that can cause airway inflammation, eye irritation, and are associated with certain types of cancers. Avoiding added scents in laundry and dish detergents and self care products reduces your exposure to these compounds. Air fresheners are notorious for emitting VOCs into the air, so switching to a reed diffuser can be a safer option to avoid toxin exposure. Tip: If you want to have some scent on your clean laundry, instead of using dryer sheets with added scents and scented detergent, sprinkle essential oils on a dryer ball before you put your clothes in the dryer. 

3. Invest in an air purifier

Air purifiers can remove allergens and environmental pollutants from the home, reducing your toxin exposure. As a bonus, they are also great odor-eliminators. Keeping one in your bedroom ensures that the air in the place you spend the most time in your home is kept relatively toxin free. Make sure that you replace the filter as directed by the manufacturer so that it can function appropriately. Over the years, I’ve acquired three and keep one in the bedroom, one in the guest bedroom, and one by our cats’ litter boxes.

4. Take off your shoes 

Though culturally the norm in many other countries, it is not common to habitually take our shoes off when we enter our own homes in the US. As we walk around, we accumulate pollutants, toxins, and microbes on our shoes that we then spread around the floors of our homes. It’s such a simple change to put a shoe rack by the door if you can (I’ve made this work even in tiny spaces) and leave shoes at the door when you come inside. Even just you and your immediate household members doing this would reduce toxin exposure considerably, so I’m not super strict about asking guests to do this if we have a few people over every once in a while, but most people just follow what you do and will take their shoes off at the door if they see a rack there anyway.   

5. Shower before bed 

This is a more allergy-specific tip that I use with my patients who suffer from chronic seasonal/environmental allergy symptoms, but it makes sense to reduce pollutant exposure as well, particularly for readers who live in bigger cities with more pollution. Rinsing off before bed keeps pollutants and toxins that you may have encountered out in the world out of the bed, where you spend ideally 8+ hours a day, considerably reducing exposure. 

6. Disconnect at bedtime

This is less overt than the other steps. Exposure to blue light before bed can interfere with our body’s melatonin production. Melatonin is a hormone linked to sleepiness, but it is also an antioxidant which helps to support the body’s innate detoxification abilities. We want to enhance our body’s natural melatonin release as much as possible, so eliminating blue light from the bedroom and stopping screen time at least 30 minutes before bed (more if possible) can be a great way to detox without spending any money or making any huge changes. As a bonus, you’ll almost certainly sleep more soundly and fall asleep easier. Turn your phone on airplane mode or get it out of your bedroom completely to reduce screen time before bed. 

Start with these 6 interventions and you will immediately considerably reduce the amount of added odors and environmental toxins that you encounter in your daily life. With the exception of the air purifier, these are extremely inexpensive swaps and easy to implement changes. What else do you do to reduce toxin exposure in your daily life? Sound off in the comments! 

If you’d like to work on improving your health and wellbeing, schedule an Integrative and Functional Medicine consultation with Dr. Karozos by submitting our inquiry form here.