Health Matters Fact Sheets – Tips and Tools for Health and Home

The Connection Between Your Health and the Environment:
Tips and Tools for Health and Home

(Updated December 2009)

You want to make sure you and your home are safe and healthy. You have heard the warnings about many everyday items being unsafe. Where should you start?

We all come into contact with toxins (another name for poisons) in the environment. Some are in our food, our homes, and where we work and play. There are things you can do to limit contact with them. Here are some suggestions to make your food, home, and community safer. Remember that toxins are different depending where you live, so find out about those in your local area.

Choose personal care and baby products with fewer toxins:

Check the safety of your personal care products, like shampoo, soap, and deodorant

• The Campaign for Safe Cosmetics
  www.SafeCosmetics.org
• Skin Deep Cosmetic Safety Database
  http://cosmeticsdatabase.com

Limit exposure to toxins in and around your home:

Check your home health IQ

• WebMD Health eHome: How Healthy is Your Home?
  www.webmd.com/health-ehome-9/default.htm

Look up the safety of everyday products

• Healthy Stuff
  www.healthystuff.org

Choose fish and seafood that is healthy, lower in mercury, and better for the environment

• ARHP Fact Sheet: Healthy Fish, Healthy Families
  www.arhp.org/healthyfish
• EPA Advisories Where You Live
  www.epa.gov/waterscience/fish/states.htm
• Seafood WATCH
  www.montereybayaquarium.org/cr/cr_seafoodwatch/sfw_recommendations.aspx

Reduce your exposure to pesticides

• Shopper’s Guide to Pesticides
  www.foodnews.org/walletguide.php
• Pesticides Action Network: What’s on my food?
  www.whatsonmyfood.org/iphoneapp.jsp

Research local water quality and filters

• EPA Local Drinking Water Information
  www.epa.gov/safewater/dwinfo

Find recipes for non-toxic cleaners

• Non-Toxic Cleaning Recipes
  www.womenandenvironment.org/campaignsandprograms/SafeCleaning/recipes

Check toy safety rankings and recommendations

• HealthyToys.org
  www.HealthyToys.org

Treat pests with non-toxic and least-toxic alternatives

• Beyond Pesticides
  www.Beyondpesticides.org
• Pesticide Action Network Pesticide Database
  www.pesticideinfo.org

Prevent exposure to lead and radon in your home

• A Citizen’s Guide to Radon
  www.epa.gov/radon/
• Other Available Radon Resources
  www.radonresources.com/resources/

Reduce toxins in your work place or school:

Learn about the chemicals, hazards, or exposures in a particular industry or job

• Haz-Map
  http://hazmap.nlm.nih.gov
• National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
  www.cdc.gov/niosh
• TOXNET
  http://toxnet.nlm.nih.gov

Create a healthier school environment

• Healthy Schools Environments
  http://epa.gov/schools/index.html
• Healthy Schools Network, Inc.
  www.HealthySchools.org
• PVC-Free School Supplies
  www.chej.org/publications/PVCGuide/PVCwallet.pdf

Reduce toxins in your community:

Find tools and tips for your community

• Alliance for Healthy Homes
  www.cehrc.org/index.htm
• Healthy Building Network
  www.healthybuilding.net
• Women’s Health & Environment: What We Can Do: Community Efforts to Protect Our Health Tool Kit
  www.womenshealthandenvironment.org/downloads/WHE_3WhatWeCanDo_lowres.pdf