Toxic Chemicals in the Home

Toxic Free Home Guides & Downloads

Let's take a closer look at the toxic chemicals in the home. TopEco Green researches the research, so you don't have to. Here you can find helpful guides and downloads covering the severe issue of dangerous chemicals and harmful materials lurking in your home or office.

We are all exposed to a cocktail of toxic chemicals in the home from the minute we are born and are placed in our cot. Not just from the outside environment but also from INSIDE our homes. There are genuine concerns about chemical soups seeping from home furnishings.

How to Get a Chemical-Free Home

There are many ways you can minimise toxic chemicals in the home. Here's a few we suggest:

• Avoid Synthetic Air Fresheners
• Clean Regularly
• Choose Green, Non-Toxic Cleaners
• Open Your Windows
• Always Remove Your Shoes
• Keep Humidity Levels in Restraint
• Use Houseplants in Every Room
• Furnish/Remodel the Green Way
• Buy a Carbon Air Purifier
• Move to the Forest and Live in a Wigwam

or

• Download, read and implement our helpful tips and ideas! 

Our helpful guides examine some of the most unsafe toxic chemicals in the home and explain why they are harmful. Our guides show where to find these poisonous chemicals, how to clean them from your habitat, and how to avoid further hazardous elements coming into your environment in the future.

Ask Yourself...

Before you chose which resource is best for you, ask yourself these questions:

Are my children really safe in my home?

What are the worst toxic chemicals in the home?

Is living without chemicals possible?

Is there such a thing as no chemical furniture?

How do you know if you have toxic chemicals in the home?

What are the top 10 most dangerous chemicals in the home?

TopEco Green has listed some of the most common toxic home chemicals for you to wrap your head around. While we do not want to alarm anyone, we would like our readers to know that these chemicals may be familiar.

Are My Children Really Safe in My Home?

Many of us don't stop and think about the fundamental questions of toxic chemicals in the home. We assume that our home is our haven, sanctuary, and castle. But you'd be shocked to know that aside from the everyday chemicals under your kitchen sink, there are a lot more dangerous chemicals lurking in your living room and bedrooms too!

And, if you have a new baby, chances are their room is the most polluted one in the home as it's often newly renovated and furnished.

Did you know the air inside our homes, schools, and workplaces, can be five times more polluted than our outdoor environment?

Have you checked your child's furniture for off-gassing? TopEco Home specialises in child-safe, toxin-free furniture to keep your growing family safe and in a toxin-free environment.

Poor indoor air quality has links to stillbirths, SIDS (Sudden infant death syndrome or cot death), congenital disabilities, lower IQ, asthma and other respiratory infections, hormone disruptions and neurological disorders, cancer, and other life-threatening illnesses.

Between 1995 and 2013, a cot death prevention campaign began in New Zealand. At least 235,000 babies slept on a wrapped mattress. There were zero reported SIDS deaths on the covered mattresses. There were 1,020 deaths reported on unwrapped mattresses. Statistically, there "should" have been several deaths in babies sleeping on the wrapped mattresses. But there were none.

Read the article, 'Toxic Gases in Baby Crib Mattresses', by Jane Sheppard. Here she explains that the 1995 cot death campaign is the only one so far with SIDS prevention advice that has ever been 100% successful.

What Are the Worst Toxic Chemicals in the Home?

Among the home's largest indoor polluters are:

• furniture
• finishes
• paint
• wallpaper
• pressed wood
• and the glues that hold down flooring and tiles.

All these basic things in your indoor environment contain volatile organic compounds (VOCs), such as the known human carcinogen formaldehyde. Plus, there are dangerous amounts of toxic chemicals in PVC products, curtains, foam, and fire-resistant fabrics.

Many organisations are battling the powers that be to get these toxic chemicals out of our homes and offices. Still, while the battle rages on, you can do a lot to make sure only safe, chemical-free furniture and decor come through your front door in the first place.

TopEco Green has listed some of the most common toxic home chemicals here for you to wrap your head around. While we do not want to alarm anyone, we would like our readers to know that these chemicals may be familiar. They are some of the worst you will ever encounter. We believe that being forewarned is also being forearmed. After all, knowledge is power.

Can We Live Without Toxic Chemicals in the Home?

Yes! If We Know What and Where they Are!

Toxins could be lurking inside your favourite sofa, beds and even in your bookcases and cabinets. 

Toxic furniture, furnishings, carpet, paint and floor and wall coverings are all severe problems, especially if you live in the UK. Choosing the most toxin-free furniture you can is the right choice for your family and the environment. Knowing what you need to avoid is a great start in keeping your family safe and healthy.

TopEco Home - Safe, Non-Toxic Furniture & Decor

Take a look at the completely sustainable range of safe furniture and decor from TopEco Home.

We are all exposed to a cocktail of chemicals from birth. Not just from the outside environment but also from INSIDE our homes. There are genuine concerns about chemical soups seeping from home furnishings. In particular, those toxins from flame-retardant materials. 

As we are all aware, the world is polluting itself at an alarming rate, and the scary thing is that most of the time, we don't even know it. However, we can all do our bit to save the environment and ourselves by merely making ourselves aware of the dangers and acting accordingly.

We can make our homes safer one step at a time.

Does No Chemical Furniture Exist?

Decorating and furnishing your new home is exhilarating and fun for many. Buying new furniture is an exciting time. You could be completely redecorating, moving into a new home, or simply treating yourself to a modern bed.

Remodelling, furniture purchasing and moving home are all significant expenses. The family can take weeks or even months to prepare for all the right furniture, fixtures and fittings.

But beware... There's a side to furniture shopping many consumers do not know.

Many companies are taking advantage of the 'cash cows' that are 'green', 'eco-friendly' and 'sustainable'. We know because we encounter them daily when researching these pages and stocking our safe toxin-free home store.

So, the answer to whether no-chemical furniture exists or not, we can say 'yes', it does, but beware of the packaging!

Our advice is to always unpack your goods outside in the fresh air and discard the packaging immediately (preferably get the delivery company to remove it for you). Plus, make sure you wash and air the item(s) before bringing them into your home.

We were caught out several times with purchased, supposedly toxin-free furniture. Only to discover the third-party delivery company has wrapped all the items in plastic, polythene or toxic foam.

Be extra vigilant, especially if you live in the UK or Ireland, as the Government is slow on the uptake about the dangers of flame retardants.

Many no-chemical furniture manufacturing companies are creating wonderful toxin-free and safe pieces. Unfortunately, to sell them in the UK, they must be coated in hazardous flame retardants to comply with the fire regulations.

The simple way to combat this archaic rule is to brush the chemicals off outside, wipe down all accessible surfaces and make sure items are aired in the fresh air whenever possible.

One step further is to write to your MP or find petitions that stop this crazy behaviour. 

Do You Have Toxic Chemicals in Your Home?

Are Toxic Chemicals in the Home Worrying You?

The meaning of the term "toxin" has become less intimidating due to overuse. However, please don't be misled by the term and think how most homeowners believe.

The reality is that if you are sitting on a foam-filled chair with a fabric upholstered cushion, staring at your computer or TV screen, then you are exposed.

But that's if you are in the UK or Ireland. If you live anywhere else in the world, you will not be subject to the same legislation that requires furniture and household products to be loaded with chemicals. 

When you purchase furniture or goods for your home, have it delivered and unwrap the packaging for the first time, you understand now that you could be releasing a whole host of dangerous chemicals. And, not all toxins are created equal. 

• Have you ever measured the toxic chemicals in the home?
  
  
• Have you become sick after purchasing new furniture, wall-coverings or carpet?
  
  
• Do your children get rashes or have breathing difficulties after their Birthday, Christmas, or when new gifts come into the home?

All the above are valid questions that make you think there might be toxic chemicals in the home that you may not have considered before. 

Most carpeting contains unacceptable material, especially the backings. Elements include Styrene Butadiene, a rubber backing found in 95% of carpets, which off-gas both styrenes, a carcinogen and 4-PC, a form of polycarbonate, both of which cause cancer.

So What Are These Toxic Chemicals in the Home?

The toxins we are most concerned about here are the chemicals that can cause severe health damage, even in small amounts.

Out of the minefield of chemicals you interact with daily; these three factors are among the worst:

1. Hidden chemicals in glues, glosses, and fabrics
   
   
2. Flame retardants, polishes, laminates, and some veneer glues
   
   
3. VOCs (Volatile organic compounds) - These compounds are toxic gases that pollute the air in your home and vehicle, causing nasty side effects when inhaled. Side effects include eye, nose, and throat irritation, headaches, coordination loss, nausea, liver, kidney, and central nervous system damage. Some are even known to cause cancer.

Please don't panic.

We know several ways to limit exposure to these chemicals, especially furniture. 

But first, why don't you download our 'Top 10 Most Dangerous Toxic Chemicals in the Home'. Discover where some of the worst hidden toxins are in everyday materials. Understand where to find them and what to do about them...

Top 10 Most Dangerous Toxic Chemicals in the Home

Free Download Guide

Download the TopEco Green Free Guide and Discover The Top 10 Most Dangerous Chemicals in the Home.

This list is not 100% inclusive. Still, it gives you an idea of how many chemicals are lurking in furniture. Considering the Environmental Science and Technology journal reported findings of over thirty toxic chemicals just in mattresses alone, you can imagine our Top 10 Dangerous Chemical List is just the tip of the toxic iceberg. To learn more about additional toxic chemicals in the home, look at the EPA's factsheet.

Click here to read our Top 10 Most Dangerous Chemicals in the Home List...

FREE eBook

Short on Time?

If time is running away from you and you need a quick 'take-away' from this page, don't worry...

Get a free toxic chemical guide as an ebook download, to read at your convenience. You'll be amazed at toxic chemical No. 3 - it will really make you think twice about your buying habits!

Get Your FREE eBook & Discover...   4 TOXIC CHEMICALS IN THE HOME THAT WILL LEAVE YOU COMPLETELY SHOCKED   First Name * Email *   Yes, Please Send My Free Book

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What Can You Do Now?

Here's Something That Will Help Find Toxic Chemicals in the Home

All-In-One Handheld Rotor Current Meter Environmental VOC, Particulate Matter, Humidity & Formaldehyde Detector

The All-In-One Handheld Rotor Current Meter RCM 12 monitors air quality to a very high standard enabling an effective and uncomplicated measurement of CO2, fine dust, temperature, formaldehyde and relative humidity in your environment, making it easy to detect dangerous VOC's (Volatile Organic Compounds) in your home or workplace.  Learn more...

All-In-One Handheld Environmental VOC & Formaldehyde Detector

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