Endocrine disruptors are nasty chemicals that you don’t really want in your home but are likely hiding there anyway. There are ways to avoid them though.
Endocrine disruptors are chemicals that may interfere with your endocrine system. The endocrine glands include the thyroid, parathyroid, hypothalamus, pituitary gland, pancreas, ovaries, testes, gastrointestinal tract, and adrenal glands. Endocrine disruptors can cause adverse reproductive, neurological developmental and immune effects. These risks are especially high during prenatal and early postnatal development.
Endocrine disruptors are found in most of our homes. The Environmental Working Group has created a Dirty Dozen list to help us avoid the worst offenders.
Here are some places you may find the “dirty dozen” endocrine disruptors and how to avoid them.
12 Endocrine Disruptors to Avoid
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BPA
Found in: Canned food, some plastics, and receipts.
How to Avoid: Choose fresh food over canned, avoid plastics (especially those marked “PC” or with recycling label #7), and say no to receipts. -
Dioxin
Found in: Many industrial processes. The American food supply is widely contaminated. Chlorine bleach also forms dioxin after conbined with organic compounds. Triclosan, the commonly used antibacterial agent in cleaners and soaps, degrades into dioxin. Bleached paper products like diapers, napkins, tissues, and paper towels can also contain dioxin.
How to Avoid: Eat fewer animal products, avoid bleach and bleached paper products, and don’t buy products containing triclosan. -
Atrazine
Found in: It’s widely used on corn crops in the United States. It has also ended up in a lot of our water.
How to Avoid: Buy organic produce and get a drinking water filter that is certified to remove atrazine. -
Phthalates
Found in: Some plastic food containers, children’s toys (some phthalates are banned from kid’s products), plastic wrap made from PVC, PVC products which have the recycling label #3, and personal care products that contain “fragrance.”
How to Avoid: Use stainless steel or glass food storage containers, avoid plastic kid’s toys or check to see if they contain PVC/#3 plastic, avoid PVC products, and avoid personal care products that contain the catch-all ingredient “fragrance.” -
Perchlorate
Found in: Water and food.
How to Avoid: This one is really tough. You can use a reverse osmosis filter but this wastes a lot of water and can be pricey. And for food there is no good way to avoid it. Your best bet is to make sure your are getting enough iodine in your diet. -
Fire Retardants
Found in: Furniture, carpet padding, electronics, building materials, car seats, changing table pads, mattresses, and it has even been found in nail polish.
How to Avoid: Vacuum with a good vacuum that has a HEPA filter. EWG is working on release more information on which nail polishes are safe but until that is released it’s best to avoid all nail polish. As this is a complicated be sure to read EWG’s tips on avoiding fire retardants. -
Lead
Found in: Old paint in homes and on antiques, soil, water, pipes, cosmetics, and more.
How to Avoid: Keep your home cleaned and well maintained. If you have an older home consider testing the paint for lead. Use a good water filter. Avoid painted antiques and vintage ceramics. If you are growing food consider having your soil tested for lead first. Also eat a healthy diet, studies show children with healthy diets absorb less lead. -
Arsenic
Found in: Food and water.
How to Avoid: Use a good water filter. Reduce your rice consumption and learn which rice has the most arsenic, also always rinse your rice well before cooking. -
Mercury
Found in: Seafood. It’s also in some electronics and CFLs. However, if you do not break these items you aren’t at risk.
How to Avoid: Limit seafood and the Seafood Watch Guide for what seafood is safest. Dispose of electronics and CFLs properly. -
Perfluorinated chemicals (PFCs)
Found in: Non-stick pans, stain and water-resistant coatings on clothing, furniture, and carpets, fast food wrappers, microwave popcorn bags, and personal care products.
How to Avoid: Choose safer cookware, skip stain and water-resistant clothing, furniture, and carpets, eat less fast food, pop popcorn on the stove, and choose safer personal care products. -
Organophosphate pesticides
Found in: Pesticides
How to Avoid: Buy organic produce and use EWG’s Shopper’s Guide to Pesticides in Produce. -
Glycol ethers
Found in: Paints, cleaning products, brake fluid, and cosmetics.
How to Avoid: Choose safer cleaners and cosmetics. And choose safer paints and always wear a mask and ventilate the room you are painting.
Check out EWG’s Dirty Dozen Endocrine Disruptors list for more information.
Don’t let this list overwhelm you. You don’t need to do everything on it to make a difference. Take it one step at a time. Each step you take matters. We can’t avoid everything bad, we can only keep learning and doing our best.
I’d love to know if you knew about endocrine disruptors and if you have been actively trying to avoid them. Share in the comments below. And also use the buttons below to share this information with your friends and family on social media.
Rachel Osborn
October 23, 2015 at 3:42 pmWow, this post is amazing! Spot on! You aren’t by chance an Ava Anderson Non Toxic consultant, are you? I am, and I recognize much of the same info/ingredients to avoid I’ve learned about through this company.
Lisa Sharp
October 26, 2015 at 5:02 pmGlad you liked it. I’m not but i’ve heard of Ava Anderson Non Toxic.
Marianne
February 3, 2016 at 4:38 amI haven’t heard of Ava Anderson, but I’ve of Dr. Christine Farlow, “The Ingredient Investigator”, who’s website is http://www.dyingtolookgood.com. Great information! Thank you for this post.
Erica (@Erica's Recipes)
October 23, 2015 at 3:46 pmI didn’t know about the dioxin – I’ll have to research that one. I’m a microbiologist, so I use handgel constantly.
Lisa Sharp
October 26, 2015 at 5:03 pmI’d recommend checking out CleanWell, it has better ingredients than most hand sanitizers.
Rae
October 23, 2015 at 4:27 pmThis is some seriously scary stuff! I live close to a cluster of strange cancers that are thought to be due to the water. Even though the water passes every safety test. There is probable fracking 20 miles south, on the actual riverbed.
I will definitely make sure I get rid of some of this stuff!
Lisa Sharp
October 26, 2015 at 5:04 pmI live near a cement plant and we have all kinds of illnesses at high rates here. It is scary but we have just do our best to reduce the risks we can.
Jessica
October 23, 2015 at 6:26 pmWow! This is so scary!
Lisa Sharp
October 26, 2015 at 5:05 pmIt is but once we are aware of the issue we can make chances that reduce our risks. 🙂
Lauren
October 23, 2015 at 11:56 pmGreat info! As for the water, we have the ZeroWater filter, which is supposed to filter out 100% of metals. Have you heard anything about that?
Lisa Sharp
October 26, 2015 at 5:05 pmI’ve heard of it but I don’t remember what all it’s rated to remove.
Angie Scheie
October 24, 2015 at 1:40 amAs someone who struggles with infertility, I try to pay attention to these things, but they are everywhere and it really freaks me out! I try to say no to receipts, and use safer makeup, household cleaning items. It’s just so scary.
Lisa Sharp
October 26, 2015 at 5:06 pmJust do your best. Try not to let it worry you, just do what you can and keep learning.
Betsy @ Desserts Required
October 24, 2015 at 8:05 pmI did not know about endocrine disruptors before reading your article. I knew of many of the items to avoid but could not have told you, necessarily, why they made the list.
Lisa Sharp
October 26, 2015 at 5:06 pmI’m glad I could help!
Nicky
October 24, 2015 at 10:37 pmThis is a great article Lisa. I recently attended a green blogger conference and sat in on a lecture on this very subject. I was surprised to learn that BPA was found in large amounts on store receipts. You offer great advice on how to avoid each type of disruptor.
Lisa Sharp
October 26, 2015 at 5:07 pmShiftCon? 🙂 Glad you liked it!
Marjie@HomeAgainJiggetyjig.com/wp
October 25, 2015 at 2:56 amWe’ve been working hard to keep these things out of our home. I’ve been rinsing my brown rice several times before cooking it, and we use all stainless steel pots and pans. We also are eating as much organic food as we can afford. We have a very deep spring where we get our water. We are switching to organic lotions etc as well.
There is SO much to do! This is a great article!
Lisa Sharp
October 26, 2015 at 5:07 pmSounds like you have made some great changes! Glad you enjoyed the article.
Chrissa - Physical Kitchness
October 25, 2015 at 10:24 pmWOW this is fascinating. Thank you so much for the thorough and educational post! Really opened my eyes!
Lisa Sharp
October 26, 2015 at 5:08 pmGlad you liked it! Thanks for coming by.
Katerina
October 26, 2015 at 12:57 pmThis is such a great and important information! Thanks so much for sharing! I didn’t know many of these!
Lisa Sharp
October 26, 2015 at 5:09 pmGlad I could give you some more information.
Elaine Hodges
October 29, 2015 at 11:26 amGreat information. Thanks for sharing on the Healthy Living Link Party.
Lisa Sharp
October 31, 2015 at 12:12 pmGlad you like it!
Ariana
November 1, 2015 at 8:50 pmWow, it’s scary to think of all the things hiding in our houses that mess with our hormones! I try to pay attention to my nutrition, exercise and sleeping habits to keep them in check – looks like I’ve got to pay attention to more!
Lisa Sharp
November 3, 2015 at 9:59 pmIsn’t it? Sounds like you are already on the right track. 🙂
anne
November 2, 2015 at 10:33 amThere are so many things lurking in our homes that we don’t think about – thanks for sharing this great information on the healthy living link party!
Lisa Sharp
November 3, 2015 at 9:58 pmVery true! I love the link party! So many great posts.
Joanna
April 11, 2017 at 1:21 amThis is important information, not only for us, but for our children. They are still growing and they have their whole reproductive life ahead of them.
I wonder what these toxins will mean for themselves and their children?
Lisa Sharp
April 11, 2017 at 3:55 pmVery true!
Donna
May 18, 2018 at 7:49 amso is this a repost?
Lisa Sharp
May 18, 2018 at 11:58 amI made updates to the post so I shared it again.
Amanda @ Healthy House on the Block
March 18, 2019 at 2:48 pmThis is such an important list to know. It’s so eye opening to see how frequently we are coming in contact with these chemicals that affect our hormones. Awareness is one of the first steps to changing things at home. Thanks for puting this information out there!