“Child proofing” a home usually implies locking up dangerous tools or substances to prevent accidental handling or ingestion by children. What many parents don’t realize is that even after the home has been thoroughly secured under this traditional definition of child-proofing, there are still many common products that can be having dangerous toxic effects on your child’s health. Some of these dangerous products are required by law to indicate health risks. But many others are not, and even those that are often don’t make this information readily obvious. Any parent concerned about making their home safe for their children should be aware of the environmental health risks of even the most common household products.

Over the past few decades, human exposure to synthetic chemicals in the environment has risen. More than four million distinct chemical compounds have been identified since 1965. These chemicals, many of them toxic, have been emitted into the air, land and water as a byproduct of the manufacturing process, in the creation of energy or as additives to products. We have replaced organic and natural ingredients with chemicals and we now use more than 50,000 chemicals in daily living.  Many of these chemicals have inadvertently ended up in our food and water. In addition, more than 3,000 chemicals are deliberately added to food.

Consequently, toxic chemicals accumulate in our bodies every day—resulting in immune deficiency, lowered mental performance, endocrine disruption and life-threatening cancer. The worst harm is to our children, whose small bodies and underdeveloped immune systems are especially susceptible to today’s chemicals. The challenge for us today is to figure out how we can protect ourselves and our families and to be part of the effort to create a safe and healthy future.

Clearly, decision-makers in government and in corporations hold a great deal of sway in what ends up on the market and in our environment. They have an enormous impact on the product choices available to us and the impact those products will have on our lives. But that doesn’t mean we are powerless.

As the manager of your household and as a consumer you can play an important role. In addition to making your home safer, you can exercise the power of your pocketbook by “voting” with your money. Your purchases can send signals to manufacturers and retailers that they should eliminate toxic chemicals from their products.