The Dangers of Indoor Air Quality

Have you ever considered the air quality in your home? If you're like most people, the answer is probably no. But did you know that the air inside your home could be up to five times more polluted than the air outside? And if you're a woman in her midlife years, that's something to take very seriously.

 

Therese Forton-Barnes is an indoor air quality expert and she's joining us today on the Hormone Prescription Podcast to talk about the dangers of indoor air pollution and what we can do to protect ourselves.

 

Therese is the Household Toxins Health Specialist and the Head Guru at The Green Living Gurus. She spreads the awareness of chemical exposure that could cause many autoimmune illnesses, cancer, and other ailments through her Green Living with Tee weekly podcast, her blog, the Green parent pioneer coaching program for families with children, and Tee’s organics line of household cleaners and products.

 

In this episode, you will learn:

• The dangers of indoor air pollution
• The things that contribute to indoor air pollution
• The toxins and carcinogenic chemicals found in indoor air
• How to protect yourself from indoor air pollution
• What you can do to improve the air quality in your home

 

So if you're concerned about the air you're breathing, make sure to tune in and learn everything you need to know about indoor air quality and take action to protect your health.

 

(00:00): Plan your life. Like you will live forever and live your life. Like you may die tomorrow. Therese's mom.

 

(00:08): So the big question is how do women over 40, like us keep weight off, have great energy balance. Our hormones in our moods feel sexy and confident and master midlife. If you're like most of us, you are not getting the answers you need and remain confused and pretty hopeless to ever feel like yourself. Again. As an OB GYN, I had to discover for myself the truth about what creates a rock solid metabolism, lasting weight loss, and supercharged energy. After 40 in order to lose a hundred pounds and fix my fatigue. Now I'm on a mission. This podcast is designed to share the natural tools you need for impactful results. And to give you clarity on the answers to your midlife metabolism challenges, join me for tangible natural strategies to crush the hormone imbalances you are facing and help you get unstuck from the sidelines of life. My name is Dr. Kyrin Dunston welcome to the hormone prescription podcast.

 

(01:04): Hey everybody. Welcome back to another episode of the hormone prescription with Dr. Kyrin. I'm so glad that you've joined me today. My guest today is Therese Forton Barnes and she is a toxin guru, or we're gonna be talking about the dangers of indoor air quality will be detailing the potential hazards to your indoor air quality and talking about what you can do about it. Her mom is the one who shared that quote that I offered in the teaser plan. Your life like you will live forever and live your life. Like you may die tomorrow. And I absolutely love that. I think it really speaks to addressing toxins in your life. They are long acting, and their effects temporarily are very delayed. So you wanna plan like you're gonna live forever, but you wanna live like you may die tomorrow. So we're gonna tell you the things you need to go in and get rid of to improve your indoor air quality and your health. I'll tell you a little bit about her and then we'll get started. Therese is a household toxins health specialist, and she's the head guru at the Green Living Gurus. She spreads awareness of chemical exposure that could cause many autoimmune illnesses, cancer, and other elements through her green living with tea weekly podcast, her blog, the green parent pioneer coaching program for families with children and teas organics line of household cleaners and products. Welcome Tee. Thank you for having me today. Looking forward to our chat.

 

(02:42): I love talking about toxins because there's so many of them and I think that it can be overwhelming when people hear about this topic to think, oh my God, how do I even begin to detoxify my life? My home, my car, my work, all the things that they need to detoxify. And I love that we've decided to focus on indoor air quality. I don't think that a lot of people realize how vital this is. Why is this so important Therese?

 

(03:14): So our indoor air is potentially two to 100 times more polluted than the outdoor air. And these are reports that have been put out by the environmental protection agency. And the reason why our indoor air in our homes, our offices, you name it is because our homes are now built to be airtight. Everybody wants to keep the air in to conserve energy. And the problem is you're not getting enough circulation throughout the home and enough clean air coming through your home. But the worst part about it is the amount of products that are being used in your home. Whether it's cleaning supplies, laundry, detergent, dry cleaning, coming in furniture. That's been sprayed with anti fire retardants and it goes on and on and on. And you're breathing these chemicals in all day long in your home. And so the indoor air in your home is just as important as your outdoor air or as important as a food you're eating too. So these are just things I love to focus on because it's something that people don't realize it, that they need to really look at their indoor air.

 

(04:29): I think that's so true. And you, you highlighted a couple points. I wanna just emphasize that most people focus on aspects of the environment. They have no control over, which is outdoor air quality mm-hmm can you move? Sure. I had a patient a few years ago who lived in the middle of Iowa in the middle of farm country, and there were pesticides in her air and she knew it was a problem. And there was really nothing she could do about it other than move from where she lived while she wasn't paying as much attention to the air quality inside. And oh, when we did, she found out she had moldy things in her house that were affecting her health. So I think this is really where you have a large degree of control to change the outcome. And I also wanted to highlight when you were talking, I was thinking about a lot of people are very familiar with the discomfort that comes from rereading air inside a mask over and over again, since we've had to do it for the past few years.

 

(05:33): And so think about that, your house is really like a mask, a big mask that you live in. And so if you have bad breath and you're breathing it in and out through a mask, you're getting that bad breath over and over again. It's the same in your house. If you have poor quality air, all the windows and doors are shut and they builders pride themselves on a well sealed home. That's energy efficient that really can have detrimental effects for us in terms of if we have poor air quality, we're rebreathing it over and over and over again. So let's start tea with the biggest offender. What is the number one offender you would say in the indoor air quality space that could potentially harm people?

 

(06:21): Well, in my mind, it is the cleaning products people are using because the cleaning products, people are using them every day, potentially spraying some cleaning products on counters almost every day to clean up your kitchen, whether it's to floor. And then if you have children or dogs, so they're even cleaning more. And many of the chemicals in these commercial cleaning supplies have extremely toxic ingredients in them and many have cancer-causing ingredients in them. So those are getting into your lungs. They're getting into the dust, that's on the floor in your house, that's regenerating throughout your home, and you're not getting rid of those chemicals in your house because you're using them. It's not like you're washing with water right afterwards, too. That, and goes along with that is also cleaning supplies in a SA in a different category, but it's your laundry detergent. So that's a, another cleaning supply, right?

 

(07:27): But that is now in addition to the chemicals that you're potentially using to clean your clothes, you're also breathing in potentially chemicals coming from your clothes, from your sheets. They could be out guessing all day long in your home. You could be breathing them in when you even leave the house. And they're venting. They're also venting into your house at some point, at some level, I know they vent outside, but you still can get those fumes inside your house. So those products, those chemicals, and if you think about walking down a laundry, I mean, a supermarket aisle where all your cleaning supplies are and you smell that smell. Those are all chemicals out guessing from all of those cleaning products that literally that's, what's happening in your home, too. Those chemicals just about gas.

 

(08:21): So let's dive into specifically, what are the toxins and carcinogenic agents in cleaning products? Let's start there. And I will add that, you know, I read that that years ago, Madison avenue was trying to figure out how to increase sales or promote their product above others in terms of cleaning products and particularly laundry. And they discovered that the first thing that people did when their laundry came out of the dryer to see if it was clean, was they smelled it. And that's how this whole perfusion of yeah. Smells. And so when you walk down the aisle, you can smell it. But I think most people smell that and they go, oh, that's the smell of clean . Yeah, right. So can you break down? What are the toxins and carcinogenic agents and cleaning products and laundry detergents?

 

(09:14): Well, one category is VOCs VOCs of volatile, organic compounds. Now there are hundreds, if not thousands of different chemicals that make those volatile organic compounds up, and those are ones that are just dangerous to get into your system. And you're breathing them every day. Now, the list of chemicals that potentially are made up of those VOCs and also all the other com is endless. I mean, there's been ammonia. Everybody knows ammonias in some cleaning products. There's, I mean, I can't, I'd have to pull up my, I have a list of all the chemicals that I could tell you that are in there. And I actually have that those chemicals that you can avoid in my free guide on my website, that I know you're offering your listeners. And it's a great guide because it lists what ingredients you should look for. The top ingredients you should look for in these cleaning supplies that are potentially getting into your house.

 

(10:15): So, and benzene is another one that has been known to be in some products. The biggest thing, if anybody wants to make a change to look for in cleaning products and in laundry detergent, and you hit the nail on the head is when they smell something, they think that that's a fresh smell. Unfortunately, that's the word fragrance. And that's a fragrance that is in those products. That is, they think that that's a lemon fresh smell or a lavender fresh smell. But unfortunately there is most likely no lavender and no lemon in there. And if there is, and they say that it's ascended with lavender oil, they only have to have 2% lavender in there. Unfortunately, many of the cleaning products, many of the laundry detergents have so many chemicals in them. They have to put fragrance in them to kill the smell of the chemicals that you're cleaning with.

 

(11:12): So you're getting twice as many chemicals as you really need to be cleaning with and putting in your laundry, but the word fragrance and people don't understand this when they buy products. And even it's in shampoo, it's in deodorant, fragrance is a trade secret. And it goes back that in 1940s, when the perfume industry and specifically Chanel number five was one of the companies that got our government to create this trade secret, because they did not want anybody knowing what was in their perfume. And so they said, okay, well, if you put the word fragrance on there, you do know how to detect, say what is in your product. This holds true today, still that law, that anybody can make a product, put the ingredients in there. But if you put the word fragrance on there, you do not have to tell them what's in there.

 

(12:00): Well, fragrance is made up of a laundry list of different chemicals in it. And lately three different studies were done that they found benzene in fragrance. And benzene is a common ingredient in fragrance and benzene is a known carcinogen. So some of them potentially cause cancer, but that causes cancer and they found it in a sunscreen recently. So the list goes on and on and on. But if you can get away from the fragrance, you're making a great step in the right direction to reduce your toxic load inside your home. And that goes with candles too. I mean, everybody wants something that smells fresh. We all associate with that freshness with probably growing up and our mothers and whatever they cleaned with. But unfortunately in the past 40, 50 years, clean is not what clean should be. And the chemical company has really created this mess in my mind to make us think that that is the way a house should smell. And it's, unfortunately that's not clean. That's unfortunately making your house more toxic and dirty for your body.

 

(13:18): So true. And everybody loves a new car smell, new house smell. And I say, run from the new car and the new house. So yes, the VOCs ammonia, benzene fragrance, which are mostly made from petroleum byproducts. So you wouldn't sit there sniffing gasoline at the gas station, nor do you wanna spray it on your fabrics at home or clean with it. And a question that I don't think a lot of people get is. And my kids used to say this to me all the time when they were growing up, when I kind of got on the bandwagon. Finally, when I saw the light about my own health at midlife, and I became trained in anti-aging metabolic and functional medicine and realized that toxicity was a problem. Cuz as a regular MD, we are taught, these are not issues. And that's how most of America and most industrialized countries are operating that this isn't a problem. But can you talk about cuz the next question my kids used to say, well, they wouldn't allow it. They wouldn't allow it. If it was toxic, they wouldn't allow it. If it caused cancer and I'd say, well, who's they to my kids first off. But I find this is the case with a lot of adults. They really think that there's some regulatory body that would not allow dangerous chemicals to be in our cleaning products. Can you address that?

 

(14:40): Yeah. And this is a very common, I hear it all the time and what I try to get people to understand is a little bit of history. Cuz sometimes history helps people understand why things are the way they are today. You know the fragrance thing. Oh. And people start understanding, wow, I can see where that happened, but why did that happen? Well, in the United States, we have a law here that your product is safe until it is proven guilty in the European union. It's opposite. They have to prove a product is safe before it can even go on the market. So you take these products, let's just take the sunscreen. I mentioned that many sunscreens actually for that matter, they got pulled off the market last fall. They were all on the market with benzene in the product. Now that would've never passed in the European union because they would've never been able to prove that that was safe.

 

(15:38): But unfortunately these companies here local in us, they now their back paling like, oh, we didn't know benzene was in our product and denying it. Of course they're gonna deny it. But so that is the biggest problem I see with products that is not food. Food has to be proven, safe and pharmaceuticals in that matter before it goes onto the market. So we have to be our own watchdogs here in the United States. We have to look at our labels. We have to read our ingredients. We have to know, unfortunately, no EPA is not protecting us when it comes to that. They are not. The FDA is when it comes to the food because as best they can, you know, I battles, I pick with that too. But with the EPA and all these products that are on all the shelves that we are buying in the grocery store, in the pharmacy, we have to look and see what we are using because either you are going to trust the company or you have to trust yourself because this, these have not been approved for human consumption or for cleaning. They might be say that they get rid of bacteria, but they are not going through all the ingredients and all those products and making sure that they are safe and the companies are not either.

 

(16:57): Yeah. The other thing I don't think a lot of people get is that even the individual ingredients that could potentially be toxic may have a low level of toxic potential, but nobody has studied the cumulative additive effect of these toxins together. And a hundred years ago, we might come in contact with just a couple chemicals in our lifetimes. And now we have 85,000 new chemicals since 1950. And no one has looked at the effect on newborns or uh, fetuses or women who are pregnant or children or adults, the cumulative additive effects and interactive effects of these toxins. So I remember that being one of the most impactful sources of information that I learned during my fellowship training was just, we're kind of in the wild, wild west when it comes to chemicals, we're in a live human experiment. Yeah. Where we're saying, okay, let's take the population of the world and let's dump 85,000 new chemicals and let's see what happens because they really haven't been vetted. So now we've talked a little bit about the cleaning products, the double problem of not only are they, the cleaning products, agents themselves potentially toxic or carcinogenic, but then you add on top the fragrance. When I see that word, I run and laundry detergent. Now talk about other laundry substances like dryer sheets and bleach and things like that.

 

(18:39): Dryer sheets, oh, dryer sheets. Oh, I can smell dryer sheets when I walk by vent. And when I walk by a person, I now have my husband. He can smell them on people these days, but dryer sheets are another one dryer sheets. You will not find the ingredients on a dryer sheet. Dryer sheets have known carcinogens in them. They are all chemicals that basically coat your clothing with these chemicals. So they don't stick together. Unfortunately they're loading them with other chemicals' fragrance to put them in there because those chemicals that they are coating your clothes with, they have to offset those to the smell of that chemical. So it's just like one bad thing after the next with dryer sheets. So that's another definitely bleach another, I mean you have to pick your poisons right. To try to get rid of everything right away. No, but you start with the most important things like getting rid of the dryer sheets, replacing them with wool dryer balls and some essential oils in those wool dryer balls. If you really want some sense and slowly getting rid of things that could potentially be affecting your breathing, which is our most important thing I'm addressing here because the indoor air in your home right now is so polluted potentially. So definitely dryer sheets are a big, big no-no in my book.

 

(20:05): So what dryer balls, can you talk a little bit about what those are and what they do and how they work and also the use of essential oils if people really love that fresh scent?

 

(20:17): Yeah, absolutely. I mean, I use dryer balls. I don't have much static, fortunately, because I don't have any chemicals in my laundry and washing machine or dryer because the chemicals will make your clothes tick even more. It's just a double edged sword.

Speaker 3 (20:35):

I have to say. I don't think that's a coincidence, right? So the more problems Madison avenue can give you the need to solve. And if they make your clothes, if the chemicals make them more static clingy, oh, well then you need something to treat the static clinging. I mean, that's true with women's hormones after they started using E equivalent or horse estrogen also known as Premarin in the beginning of the 19 hundreds for women, while then they created the problem of, um, uterine cancer. And instead of going back and saying, well, probably this was misguided, they just created a pro Jin to counteract the effects to prevent uterine cancer. So that is the way of industry, right? We live absolutely in that type of a capitalist society. That's always looking for advantage. So I wouldn't be surprised if there was some engineering to actually increase the static clinging. So you actually have to have dryer sheets.

 

(21:33): Absolutely. And it all goes all big circle of money and pharmaceutical industry and the chemical companies. And they're all tied into one another and it's a monster and it toxic. And we have to really, again, rely on ourselves and people like you and me and many other people out there that really are knowledgeable stepping back and looking at the whole big picture. Why is all this happening? I look at cancer. I mean, my aunt had ovarian cancer and this is originally why I really got so involved in this. And she was so healthy, but she used baby powder every single day in her private parts. And she got ovarian cancer and now low and behold baby powder causes ovarian cancer and it's still on the market. So I always look at where cancer has came from, look at where it is now. Do you hear any big cancer Institute talking about preventing cancer?

 

(22:34): We have a major one here. No, cause it's such a humongous industry. And the pharmaceutical industry feeds that industry. And I personally don't think they want it to go away because it would put out so many people out of business. I try talking about cancer prevention all the time, because I want people to prevent using chemicals in their lives that potentially can cause cancer or are known to cause cancer. But they don't talk about that. Unfortunately. And same it with Endocet disrupting chemicals. We could talk about that forever too. And what they're doing to kids, hormones and boys and the mess that's causing with kids' bodies and mimicking their estrogen and progesterone. So I think people get scared and I even have some best friends who are like, oh, it's so overwhelming. And I try to talk them through it. And it's just, you make little changes and the people that I've helped and a lot of different clients, you just take one step at a time.

 

(23:37): And it usually is starting with your cleaning, starting with your laundry, detergents, getting rid of that fragrance. Once you start there, then you're gonna be, be more aware. You're gonna start. I get people sending me, oh look, you told me about these PFAS chemicals in my non-stick cookware that and they see an article and then they start making changes on their own, which I love seeing. I sort of get the ball rolling with them and then they're aware of it. And then they start seeing more and more things reports coming up. Luckily now it's all over the place. There's so many things going on out there that people are starting to realize how toxic so many of these products are, but it's taking those baby steps and really just reading ingredients and knowing what you're putting on your skin. You wouldn't eat those chemicals. Why would you be putting them on your skin?

 

(24:29): So, and you made it such a great point. It's the cumulative effect. They might say that these chemicals in the lotion you're using is fine because it's, you know, low dosage. But how is that mixing with the chemical you're putting on your hair or your deodorant? They're all getting into your system somehow and through your skin or breathing or eating and how are they mixing in your body? I don't wanna know that, but I just think that this is just time for people to start looking at how they are in taking any of these chemicals. And you really have to look at everything you're using because we are living in a toxic world and it's getting worse.

 

(25:13): Yeah. I think the other thing most people don't realize is the temporal nature of toxin exposure to time to disease is so long. The lead time that nobody associates that, oh, when they get cancer, they're not thinking about the 30 years that they use dryer sheets and a toxic laundry detergent. Nobody that doesn't flash before your eyes. Right? Most of us think genetics, which is really only five to 10% of cancer. It's what, whether we turn our lifestyle, turns those genes on or not. So there's so many exposures and they are over such prolonged periods of time that no one gets this Eureka moment of, oh my God, it was the dryer sheets. Right. Which is fortunate and unfortunate. I mean, you know, think toxins that are that quickly, identifiable are usually not legal for human use or consumption, but it makes it challenging for us. Let's step onto. So you said cleaning products, laundry, detergents, and laundry agents. What would the next category in the indoor air quality space?

 

(26:29): Well, I mentioned candles candles. I'd like to bring up candles. And Kyrin on that last note that you just said, it's just this past weekend. I was at one of my best friend's homes and I was trying to get her to get a reverse osmosis system and, and talking her through how toxic our water can be, which we could talk about that too. But, and then I always am helping her at her house. She's like, oh, we're fine now. I mean, none of us have cancer now. And that's exactly what you just said. You don't wanna think about, you wanna prevent as much as possible. And I had to convince him like Kathy, so all the kids are going away to college, blah, blah. And like, you have to, if you really want to try to decrease your toxic load, you've gotta look at everything.

 

(27:12): So it just hit me when you said that, like, that's so true. I mean, even though you're, we're, I'm almost 60, but you don't want cancer when you're 70, do you? I mean, we all don't want cancer. We all don't want illnesses and it's trying to prevent all these illnesses and not just, I feel like it's Russian roulette, we're all playing Russian roulette with all these products we're using. So candles. Yes. Candles. So many people love candles. Almost everybody loves candles. So many candles can be same thing. The chemicals that they're using in the wax, even if it's soy. So people think, oh, I bought a soy candle. It's okay. That's not necessarily true. And also the wick can be led. So if you're burning fragrance in your house with a lead wick, you are burning chemicals in the air while these candles are lit in your home.

 

(28:08): I did not know that the wicks could be lead. Oh my gosh.

 

(28:11): I'm yes. That's

 

(28:12): Crazy.

 

(28:13): Okay. It is crazy. And the fragrance, oh my God. When I'm in somebody's home with the candle, people are kind of scared for me to go in their home period.

 

(28:21): Me too. Don't it's a compliment.

 

(28:24): Oh totally. I enjoy it. I mean, my friends are always like Curring around. I'm like, don't you worry? I'll look it around, but get rid of that candle immediately over there. Cuz I look for candles. They're out gassing. Even if they're not lit with the chemicals that are in them. And again, people have to be careful because many of them will say SCED with essential oils. That's not necessarily fragrance free. So again, it only has to have 2% essential oils for them to say that on there. So cuz essential oils, which I love, I don't know if I told you this, but I have a cleaning product line. Very basic one that I use essential oils. They're very powerful. They're wonderful. Their cleaning properties are great, but you have to know what you're doing with essential oils too. And they are great and they're great to use in many products. So,

 

(29:14): So what kind of candle should we be using Tee?

 

(29:16): Well, there's some good ones out there on the market. Fontana is a great line. Look up Fontana. Fontana is a made safe product. Made safe.org is a fabulous organization. Environmental working group, EWG. Many of your listeners may have heard of them. They're fabulous. ewg.com. You can look on their website and plug in your products to see on a scale of one to 10, what kind of chemicals are in them? But a whole other step up from that is the made safe organization. They analyze products and they, if it's a made safe organization like anything made safe certifies, I don't even look at the label because I know it is made safe. And I know that organization inside and out, so font has gone through the process of having their candles certified. So love Fontana, but there's other ones out there too, but you just have to be careful what you're buying. There's so many sold at farmer's markets. I know that because I'll talk to the people that are making them and what is in it. What are you using? And you just wanna know what you're burning in your home. It's almost the same thing as an air freshener that you're spraying. You gotta look at those chemicals, anything you're spraying in your home, a candle will do the exact same thing.

 

(30:36): Oh my gosh. Please tell me the next category is

 

(30:42): Air freshers, air freshers. How about the ones when you get in an Uber or a Lyft and they put those plugins in their vents, almost every single one does it. It makes me insane. I've tried complaining to Uber and Lyft endlessly. It doesn't work, but those or plugins in your house or any kinda spray aerosol can be toxic in itself. But anything you're using to spray in your home is you're breathing it in, period. So if you're smelling anything that can potentially be cancer-causing chemicals or other chemicals that can cause other illnesses.

 

(31:22): Yeah, this is really my pet peeve. I mean, partially because I had multiple chemical sensitivity a few years ago when I was made sick by a building and breast implants. But also because they're ubiquitous and they're highly toxic. And actually the studies do show that up to a third of people react. But the majority of them do not associate any health reaction with the air freshener, plugin, whatever, wherever the sense comes from because they're ignorant of the causal relationship. And I, I like to say that we're in the air freshener stage of where we were with cigarettes back when I was a kid in the sixties and seventies, right? Yes. Secondhand smoke. Wasn't a thing. Nobody was up in arms about it. And people freely smoked around their kids in the home. And now I know you probably can't go to jail or get a ticket for it, but it's not allowed.

 

(32:20): Yeah. Yeah. Can't

 

(32:21): Smoke, endorse. And so I think in another few decades, we'll get there when people wake up to the air freshener problem.

 

(32:28): Yeah, I totally agree. And some of the same chemicals in cigarettes are also used in air fresheners and cleaning supplies. You are spraying chemicals in your home. I mean, there's no difference to me whatsoever. And you brought up, I often hear, oh, I have a sore throat, or I have a sniffles headache. I know I'll get a sore throat, sniffles headache. If I sleep in a bed with fragrance sheets, like I go to Airbnbs, I have to bring my own sheets, open up the windows. We just went to one and it was so toxic. I couldn't. And they used, I don't oh, she told me they used gain with lavender and that it, it wasn't toxic. It

 

(33:08): Wasn't. Yeah.

 

(33:09): I was like, uh, anyway, so I'm just used to bringing my own sheets and pillows and towels now

 

(33:15): Towels I do too. Oh,

 

(33:16): Absolutely. A hundred percent. And if I forget them, I go by them. I'd rather have, you know, the new ones than the ones washed in laundry detergent anyway. So we were getting air fresheners.

 

(33:28): Yes. And I wanna add here, cuz I think you brought up a great point that we should highlight. Some people are sitting here. Going to Kyrin I have no idea what you're talking about. How would I even know if I had a problem in my house? And so I'm wondering if you can expound on that. I mean, I usually tell people, well, if you go out and spend a day at the beach or in the forest, camping or hanging out with friends, and then you come home in your locked envelope, and you notice certain things, nasal stuffiness, sore throat, itchy, watery eyes, itchy skin, maybe even rashes, stomach upset. It can show up as, or irritation. It can show up as mood irritability. I mean, it can be so subtle, and you think, oh, I'm just in a bad mood. Must have been that news report I listened to. And it may very well be that you are getting exposed to toxins in your home.

 

(34:31): Two other big ones, snoring and also terrible sleeping patterns. And habits are two big ones. I hear all the time and your body has to work so hard, getting rid of these toxins and processing them. So your organs are constantly fighting off toxins. They're made that way. Right. But to do that. And so our bodies are not made to fight off all these chemicals that are coming at us left and right, you walk out the door, you can't help what you're going to encounter, but you can when you're inside. And we like to say, you don't know, you feel bad until you feel better and until you right. They don't know. They really don't. And they think it's the pollen. They think it's, you know, they'll make excuses, or they just have allergies or it's allergy season or a headache. Why do I have a, well, you got a headache for a reason and you gotta listen to your body, even acne for that matter.

 

(35:36): Your skin's telling you something. And so many of these chemicals, I mean, I talk about cancer all the time, and we hear about them disrupting hormones. They can also be obesity, gens, too. Obesity. Gens are just like what they sound like. They cause obesity. So many of these chemicals make you fat. Many of them could potentially make your skin look older. You look older. So acne, many of them cause, but they all work differently in all of our bodies. Again, we don't know what they're doing to us and how they're mixing, but until you start getting rid of them and starting to clear the way for cleaner, fresher air, cleaner, fresher, and products in your home, I guarantee you especially get rid of fragrance. You will start to feel better and start realizing I hear it from every single person. Like I can't believe, I thought that was lemon fresh. I thought, I can't believe I slept in fragrance sheets for 20 years. Yeah. Okay. You might have felt fine, but what was it doing to your skin? What was it doing to your organ? So

 

(36:38): Right. What are the other big categories that we need to take a look at in our homes?

 

(36:43): Well, I mention what you cook your food with what you cook your food with what you store your food in. And of course food is huge. That's a whole, we could talk about food and organic food and making sure you eat as much organic food is possible and stay away from the pesticides that are being sprayed on all these non-organic foods that because once they start spraying them with pesticides, they gotta spray 'em with a lot more. And it's just a terrible cycle out there with Roundup and glyphosate and other chemicals coming on the market to take the place of glyphosate. So food of course, but what are you cooking your food in? So nonstick pans, which a lot of people used to know as Teflon were made with these chemicals, it's a whole series of chemicals called PFAS, P F a S or P F O S. And they're just coming to the surface right now and how toxic these chemicals are. And they're it's inflamed retardant, um, materials that firefighters use. They've used to put it on couches. They used to put it on furniture, on rugs, kids,

 

(37:45): Kids, sleepwear,

 

(37:46): Kids, sleepwear, dental, floss, dental floss, look for PFAS, free dental floss and kids, sleepwear and furniture. This is going back to the cigarette companies. The reason why kids slept wear and furniture is being was, but some of it still is being sprayed with fire. Retardants is because the cigarette companies, people were burning, and you know, were coming from the same generation. They fall asleep with their cigarettes in their hands in bed. This is the 1950s and sixties, right? And the government went to the cigarette company said, you need to put something in the cigarette. So they don't burn while people are burning their beds. And the cigarette company came back and said, oh no, we have a better idea. Why don't we spray all the furniture with fire retardant, spray, all the kids, baby clothes to sleepwear with fire retardant, baby's beds with fire retardants. And it's crazy to think about it, but that was the law. That's what

 

(38:48): They did. No. I'm like let's stop smoking in bed.

 

(38:51): Exactly. Hello. So that is where, and now you hear about all these firemen getting cancer from this fire. Um, not only from this stuff they use to put out the fire, but these houses that are burning down are loaded with toxic chemicals. So anyway, so, but the pans, when I was getting to the pans, those nonstick pans are made with PFAS chemicals. So I've gone through more people's homes and had them get rid of those pans, especially if they're scratched, which 99% of them are because you're only supposed to use wood on them and not metal. And most people don't use wood all the time. Anyways, I'll give

 

(39:30): A hundred dollars to anyone listening who has a UNS scratched. Yeah. Uh I pan I can't for over a year.

 

(39:40): Yeah, exactly. So a green pan is okay. That's a ceramic pan. People like their non-stick pans. The only problem is they last only a few years. So I like stainless steel, the old-fashioned way and my lodge cast iron pans. And I always say your pan does not have to be sparkling clean every single time you use it. If you ever go through a kitchen and look at all their stainless steel pans, it looks used. So that is one of my big things, is what you're cooking with. Because again, people are cooking every day and also those chemicals that you are cooking, those pans, those chemicals can also get in the air in your home as well. So, and what you're storing your food in? I do not like plastic whatsoever. I only use glass to store any of our food in because the chemicals in those plastic containers can leach into your food as well.

 

(40:32): So, and of course never MWA or plastic if you ever do microwave. So those are the top things that I would do. You can take it to a whole other level. Like I have air quality monitors in my house. So I'm measuring the amount of chemicals that are in my house. It tells me if any chemical is exceeding what it should be in here. And it's usually if, uh, something's brought into the home randomly and then air purifiers are another way that people can reduce the chemicals in your home as well. Dry-clean is another one. Dry cleaning depends on where you dry-clean. But if you have the option of airing out your dry cleaning before you bring it into your house, that is great. Let it out gas in your garage or outside. Especially if you have it sitting in your car and driving with it, open up the windows, those toxic fumes from the dry cleaning can also irritate your lungs as well. And you don't even know it. So,

 

(41:31): And there are a lot of now, now environmentally friendly, nontoxic, dry cleaners, and a lot of them, you can mail your dry cleaning to them and they will mail it back to you. So you don't have to live near one. Let's talk a little bit more about the air monitor and air purifier, cuz I think if people have listened this far and most of the people in my community, they get that this indoor air quality is a situation and then they wanna know, okay, well, do I need an air quality monitor? And if so, what are my options? And what should I look for? And do I need air filtration? And what should I look for? Can you talk a little bit about that?

 

(42:09): Yeah, absolutely. So the air quality monitor that I really love, it's called hoo it's, U H O O. You can buy that almost anywhere. I love it because I can monitor it on my phone. It's hooked up to the wifi, but it measures for rayon as well. So in the Northeast where I am in Buffalo, New York, a lot of rayon is in the Northeast. And so it measures for VOCs and another series of chemicals on there for mail to hide. So in my home, it's pretty, you're not gonna find many toxic chemicals in here, but I like having that air quality monitor for a peace of mind. I take it with me too when I can just so I can see, you know, I have fun playing with it. I'll take it to people's homes and show them that,

 

(42:58): Oh, I bet you are a favored guest.

 

(43:00): Oh yeah. Oh aren't I though pulling it out of my purse. Well, I always, I'm pretty cautious. I know who I can pull it out with and who I can, but they love it because the shows them like, wow, this really measures. Where do you think the VOCs are coming from? And then we'll look around and there'll be a perfume bottle somewhere close by in the bedroom that could be out guessing into their bedroom. Or, you know, I look at the air quality monitor as for your home. It's like getting your blood work done for your body. You wanna know what's going on in your body. If you have any issues, outstanding issues or something is wrong, right? You go for a physical, the doctor sends you in for blood work. Everything comes back fine. Well this air quality monitor your home is so important.

 

(43:44): Your air is so important to have it as a peace of mind to know, okay, I'm living in a clean air in my home. So in my mind, it's just, you know, gives me a peace of mind that it's a very clean air in our house. Then the indoor air purifier, which of course was a huge thing for COVID because it was cleaning the air for people and people wanted, I sold a ton of those. I actually represent one here in Buffalo. I love the most, not because it's in Buffalo, but it's Austin air purifier. It's 100% made in the United States here in Buffalo, all the parts, you name it because you have to be careful with that with a lot of things, parts that are made overseas, some of the plastics come out gas in your air purifier while they're running. So you have to be really careful with some of that.

 

(44:35): So the, it collects 99.9% of bacteria and chemicals and VOCs and from aldehyde. So if you have any chemicals floating around, it will collect those chemicals in the filter, and it's, and there's a lot of other good ones on the market out there. I just love this one the most. And we have one in our bedroom and I'll tell you my husband. I tell people this all the time. I mean, he used to snor so bad. Like I thought the roof was gonna come off the house. And once we installed the air purifier, I can sleep with this Norrie now I barely even hear it. And I called Austin air and I said, could this be possible? It's the air pur where they're like, of course he said, you see those floating dust particles going around when the sun beams in, well, that's what it's collecting. And that can be getting in people's lungs and causing them to snort at night and dust mites and everything else, you know, that you could be sleeping and breathing in amongst the chemicals that could be out guessing in your bedroom from the sheets. So it's just being conscious of what you're taking in is the most important thing. And then trying to get to your house as clean as possible.

 

(45:45): Yeah. I didn't realize we have gone so long. We're gonna need to wrap up. I did wanna just tie in this quote from your mom that I love plan your life. Like you will live forever and live your life. Like you may die tomorrow. I think that that really speaks to the whole toxin situation. If you're gonna plan, like you're gonna live forever, you need to address these things that you can't see and live your life. Like you're gonna die tomorrow, monitor your air quality, filter the air, get rid of these products. And I think we'd be remiss if we didn't talk about new construction and the dangers there you mentioned for Malda Hyde. I was made sick by a new office that I went and worked in because of the off gassing of the VOCs and their formaldehyde. I was actually rendered where I, I had a toxic and encephalopathy. Wow. Luckily what you was reversible, but can you talk a little bit about that?

 

(46:44): Yeah. So new build is there's a lot of absolutely. And out gassing of all these products and windows is being made. So you don't have any air leaking in. I'm so happy. I live in 120 year old home where the air is leaking out and leaking in. But so you need air flow in a house. So you could be getting so tired in a home because I hear people all the time, how tired they are, not only you're being tired, but those new from paint to any kind of flooring to what they're putting on the flooring to the, uh, walls to the ceilings. I mean, those are all products that are coded in potentially, uh, harmful chemicals. Now, thank God paints. You'll see all the time, low VOC paint. There are some better products out there building materials that are better products. But I have a, a home inspector that I work with once in a while.

 

(47:43): And he'll go through and homes just to see for different berries things that you know, he does, but he calls some of the homes. He said some of the homes I go in it they're like coffins. They're sleeping in these homes that no air is getting moving around. They're loaded with all these new products that have chemicals emitting off of them and they emit for a while. It's not something you have to get them out gas for a while. So new builds, I would definitely be concerned. And definitely if you're in a new build, I would absolutely have air purifiers running all the time.

 

(48:19): Yeah. And don't bring a new baby home to a new build. Please it's just overwhelm their detoxification system. It drives me crazy when I watch HD TV, which is my absolute favorite channel. I love architecture and design and building. And when these people are like, oh, we gotta get the new bill ready. So we bring the baby home and I'm thinking, no, don't do that to your child. And most people are not aware of the dangers of that. So we would be remiss if we didn't discuss it. You know, this actually is in the mainstream information back when they had the hurricane in new Orleans and they brought in all these trailers for people to live in, in temporary housing, I think it was 30% of them got deathly ill for moving into these trailers all at one time. So this was a population study and they discovered it was from the formaldehyde. So because we all move into new homes, popcorn style there's no, it doesn't seem like there's causality, but this was very clear and undeniable. So hopefully this will lead to some building regulation changes. Thank you so much T for the wonderful information, you have a free gift that everybody can access and download top 10 toxins to avoid, uh, where it'll have the link in the show notes. Anything you wanna say about that?

 

(49:42): Oh yeah. It's a guide. If you go to the shop tab and tab down, I think it's the top one toxins to avoid. So, and just read your ingredients, start reading your ingredients and knowing your labels, just like you would reading your ingredients and any food that you would eat as well, reading ingredients that you're using in your home and treat your home. Like it's your best friend because you need it as much as it needs you.

 

(50:05): I always say that your home is your second body treat us like your second body but most people are so challenged in caring for their first body. uh, it's usually not the first thing I say, but it really is your second body mm-hmm . So T's also got a 15% off a code. Dunston two zero that you can use. Uh, we'll have that in the show notes as well. If you're interested in purchasing any of her products and I wanna thank you team for joining us today.

 

(50:35): Oh, you're very welcome. And you know what? That should have been 20% off DUNS than 20. So even better, there'll be 20% off. So I'm gonna email you that link just so you don't make a mistake on that one.

 

(50:47): Okay. We'll have it in the show notes for you. Thank you all for joining us today. Thank you for your interest in your health and for really creating the brilliant health that you deserve. I hope that you've enjoyed today's podcast episode and that you've learned something and mostly that you take the information you've learned and you take action. So I want you to think about the one change that you're gonna make based on this information, whether you're driving a car or you're working out at the gym, just make a note based on what I heard today, I am going to do X today. Just one thing. And you'll find if you hear good information and you just take action on one thing with every podcast episode you hear or blog that you read, you'll look back in a few months and you'll see how far you've come with your health and your life. So that's my instruction.

 

(51:44): To you.

 

(51:44): Thanks so much for joining me. I'll see you next week for another episode until then peace, love and hormones. Y'all

 

(51:52): Thank you so much for listening. I know that incredible vitality occurs for women over 40. When we learn to speak hormone and balance these vital regulators to create the health and life that we deserve. If you're enjoying this podcast, I'd love it. If you give me a review and subscribe, it really does help this podcast out so much. You can visit the hormone prescription.com, where we have some free gifts for you, and you can sign up to have a hormone evaluation with me on the podcast to gain clarity into your personal situation until next time, remember, take small steps each day to balance your hormones and watch the wonderful changes in your health that begin to unfold for you. Talk to you soon.

 

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