Meet the Seventh Generation Dirty Dozen, our list of top hazardous chemicals. Though it's nearly impossible to completely avoid all toxins in today's world, watching out for the key troublemakers will go a long way toward protecting your family's health.

• Alkyl phenoxy ethanols (APEs) & nonylphenol ethoxylates (NPEs)
• Bisphenol-A
• Chlorine
• Formaldehyde
• Glycol ethers
• PBDE flame retardants
• P-dichlorobenzene
• Pesticides
• Phthalates
• PVC
• VOCs (as a class)
• Triclosan

Alkyl Phenoxy Ethanols and Nonylphenol Ethoxylates

WHAT

Also known as alkyl phenoxy polyethoxy ethanols and nonyl phenoxy ethoxylate (APEs and NPEs), this family of chemical surfactants is used keep oily ingredients dispersed in water-based products and in cleaning products where it allows oils and water to mix for more efficient cleaning.

WHERE

Laundry detergents, all-purpose and hard surface cleaners, floor care products, degreasers, deodorizers, contraceptives, personal care products, hair colorings, shampoos and conditioners.

WHY

APEs and NPEs break down quickly into toxic by-products that harm aquatic creatures. They have been linked to cancer, endocrine disruption, and reproductive, developmental and neurological disorders.

HOW to keep APEs and NPEs away

• Where possible, scrutinize product label ingredient lists carefully for these chemicals.
• Don't purchase products listing octoxynol or nonoxynol (two related chemicals) as ingredients.
• Be wary of non-specific ingredients like "cleaning agent" or "nonionic surfactant". These terms are often used to indicate the presence of APEs and/or NPEs.
• Choose laundry, cleaning, and personal care products made from natural, non-toxic ingredients.
• If you can't tell whether a product you're using contains APEs, write to the manufacturer and ask.
• Avoid spermicides and other contraceptives containing nonoxynol-9

Bisphenol-A

WHAT

A building block of polycarbonate plastics and a sealant used to protect metals and other surfaces from acidic environments.

WHERE

Polycarbonate (#7 plastic) water and baby bottles, #7 plastic food containers, food and soda can linings, toys, and dental sealants.

WHY

BPA readily leaches out of materials that contain it. When absorbed by the body it mimics the hormone estrogen to promote cancer, and reproductive and developmental disorders.

HOW to keep BPA away

• Buy soda in plastic bottles not cans.
• Keep your use of acidic canned foods, like tomato and citrus products, to a minimum.
• Use metal water bottles and glass baby bottles instead of bottles made from #7 polycarbonate plastic. See our special web feature on Kitchen Plastics Safety to learn more.
• By the same token, don't store food in #7 polycarbonate plastic containers.
• Ask your dentist about the sealants he or she uses. If the practice's sealants contain BPA or if they're unable to verify whether or not this is so, refuse the treatment.

Chlorine

WHAT

Chlorine is used to bleach paper, fabrics, and other materials. It is also used as a disinfectant and to create a family of chemicals called organochlorines, many of which are highly toxic.

WHERE

Chlorine laundry bleach, dishwasher detergents, cleaning products, and municipal drinking water supplies. Organochlorines are found in cleaners, pesticides, and many other products.

WHY

Chlorine itself is a caustic toxin. It can combine with organic matter naturally present in the environment to create carcinogenic trihalomethanes. Organochlorines cause cancer, endocrine disruption and other conditions.

HOW to keep chlorine away

• Use a non-chlorine bleach in your washing machine. These are based on safe hydrogen peroxide and sometimes called "oxygen" bleaches.
• Use a chlorine-free dishwasher detergent.
• Buy unbleached or hydrogen peroxide-bleached paper products whenever possible, including things like coffee filters, household tissues and paper towels, and writing papers.
• If your water supply is treated with chlorine, install a water filter containing activated carbon on either your home's water main or on its individual fixtures, including showerheads.

Formaldehyde

WHAT

A colorless volatile organic compound with a sharp odor that's used in a variety of products including adhesives, urea foams, textiles, and pressed wood products.

WHERE

Industrial glue and resins; particle board and composite woods like those used in cabinetry and furniture; carpets; wrinkle-free, permanent press, shrink-proof and other "easy-care" treated fabrics, wallpapers, room deodorizers, germicides, personal care products.

WHY

Formaldehyde is allergenic and carcinogenic. It is also a severe mucous membrane and respiratory irritant that can cause asthma, difficulty breathing, headaches, and other ailments.

HOW to keep formaldehyde away

• Choose solid wood furnishings instead of those made from particle board and other pressed composite wood products.
• Use natural untreated linens and other fabrics instead of treated products. (Note that older treated fabrics are generally safe; formaldehyde treatments generally disappear with repeated washings and use.)
• Don't use cleaners, personal care, and other similar products containing DMDM hydantoin, MDM hydantion, formalin, diazolidinyl urea, quaternium-15 , and/or imidazolidinyl urea. These "formaldehyde donor" ingredients release formaldehyde when products containing them are used.
• Air out your house on a regular basis to rinse out any formaldehyde that may be present. (Formaldehyde is a very common indoor air pollutant.)
• Install new carpeting with mechanical methods like tacks not glues. If possible, first loosen the roll and let the carpet air out in a garage or other remote, well ventilated location for a few weeks.
• Don't use urea-formaldehyde insulation when and if you renovate or reinsulate.
• Avoid synthetic air fresheners, deodorizers, and other similar products.

Glycol Ethers

WHAT

Volatile organic compounds used as solvents to dissolve grease and oils, and to help products evaporate
quickly.

WHERE

All-purpose cleaners, window and glass cleaners, spray cleaners, scouring powders, brake fluid, perfumes and cosmetics.

WHY

Exposure to glycol ethers can damage the liver, kidneys, blood, bone marrow, and brain, especially with repeated contact. They have also been linked to reproductive problems.

HOW to keep glycol ethers away

• Don't use or buy any product that contains any ingredient with "ethylene glycol" as part of its name. Propylene glycols are also varieties of glycol ethers. While these are believed to be safer than ethylene glycols, precautionary consumers will want to watch out for them as well.
• Brand names for glycol ethers include Cellosolve, Carbitol, Dowanol, Oxitol, and Ektasolve. These should also be avoided.

PBDEs

WHAT

Polybrominated diphenyl ethers added to foams, plastics, and electronics to make them flame retardant. Also called brominated flame retardants.

WHERE

Electronic devices and gadgets, furniture foams, mattresses, carpet pads, household appliances, household wiring, automobile seats, and imitation wood products.

WHY

PBDEs easily leach out of products that contain them. Once loose, they tend to collect in household dust. PBDEs have been linked to endocrine disruption and other ailments.

HOW to keep PBDEs away

• Replace, cover, or re-upholster older foam-containing products, especially if pregnant women or children are present in the home. (As foam ages, it decays and becomes crumbly, which promotes the release of PBDEs.)
• Exercise caution when removing and/or replacing foam padding beneath any carpeting. Carefully clean up any dust left behind.
• Dust your home regularly and cautiously. Use damp cloths so that dust is captured and removed rather than simply stirred back into the air.
• Use a HEPA filtration vacuum cleaner, which filters fine particles from exiting exhaust.

P-dichlorobenzene

WHAT

Also known as 1,4-Dichlorobenzene , para-dichlorobenzene, or p-DCB, p-dichlorobenzene is an aromatic white chemical solid with a strong, pungent odor. It's used as an insecticidal fumigant, a deodorant, and as an insecticide.

WHERE

Mothballs and other strong-smelling chemical insect repellents, urinal cakes and toilet bowl deodorizers, solid room deodorizers.

WHY

P-dichlorobenzene is a respiratory irritant, and a liver and a blood toxicant. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has declared that p- dichlorobenzene is likely to be a carcinogen.

HOW to keep p-dichlorobenzene away:

• Don't use mothballs or other similar products. Instead, store woolens and other vulnerable materials in cedar chests and/or with cedar blocks, chips, oil, etc.
• Choose natural insect repellent methods instead of pesticide products. See our dirty dozen entry on pesticides for things you can do. .
• Avoid room and bathroom deodorizers, especially those that come in brick or other solid forms.

Pesticides

WHAT

A broad class of highly toxic synthetic chemicals used to kill unwanted organisms. "Pesticide" is an umbrella term that encompasses herbicides, fungicides, and insecticides. May pesticides are also classified as persistent organic pollutants.

WHERE

Insect sprays, baits, traps, and repellents, weed killers, rodent poisons, mildew treatments and preventatives.

WHY

By design, pesticides are designed to kill living things. They're capable of causing a wide range of serious negative health effects in people including nerve and organ damage, reproductive and developmental disorders, cancer, and endocrine disruption.

HOW to keep pesticides away

• Emphasize natural preventative pest control strategies in your home. It's easier and safer to prevent a pest problem that it is to reverse one that's already occurred.
• Safe ways to prevent pest invasions include the use of diatomaceous earth and boric acid powders, essential oils like peppermint garlic, and fixing conditions that attract pests like unclean kitchen areas, poorly stored garbage and foods, leaking pipes and fixtures, and moisture or dampness. For more information, visit Beyond Pesticides, which maintains a database of non-toxic solutions organized by pest.
• Don't use chemical flea and tick preparations on pets, including flea collars, shampoos, and treatments.
• Avoid mosquito repellents that contain DEET. For some alternative strategies, read our special web feature.
• Don't use anti-lice treatments that contain lindane.
• Don't use paints with anti-mildew additives.
• If you must use a chemical insecticide, choose one whose active ingredients are pyrethrins, chemicals obtained from chrysanthemum flowers. While not without exposure risks, pyrethrin-based insecticides are generally significantly safer than most other kinds.
• Learn to live with weeds in your grass. Such an attitude is far healthier than the products used to maintain perfect lawns!
• In the garden, use biological pest control methods like ladybugs, nematodes, and natural bacterial controls like Bacillus thuringiensis (commonly called "B.t."). Weed by hand instead of by chemical.

Phthalates

WHAT

Phthalates ("tha-lates") keep plastics like vinyl flexible, disperse ingredients in consumer products, and help lotions penetrate skin.

WHERE

Soft plastics, toys and polymer clay products, cosmetics, personal care products, perfumes, inks, adhesives, and insect repellents.

WHY

Exposure to phthalates has been linked to reproductive and developmental disorders, cancer, organ damage, endocrine disruption, and asthma and allergies.

HOW to keep the phthalates away

• Don't buy products containing any ingredient with the letter combination "phth," like di-2-ethylhexyl phthalate or phthalic acid.
• Be wary of soft plastic and vinyl products, especially toys. Responsible manufacturers are phasing out phthalates, but call them to be sure the product you've picked is phthalate-free.
• Use natural cosmetics and personal care products, but remember: the term "natural" is unregulated so caveat emptor! Synthetic hair sprays, gels and mousses; antiperspirants and deodorants; nail polishes; and perfumes in particular should be avoided.
• Don't buy polymer play clays. You can find safe, non-toxic recipes online that you can easily make at home.

Polyvinyl Chloride (PVC)

WHAT

A type of versatile plastic made by combining chlorine with hydrocarbon chemicals.

WHERE

Shower curtains, product packaging, cling film, bottles, credit cards, vinyl records, imitation leather, window frames, cables, pipes, siding, flooring, wallpaper, window blinds, car interiors, disposable medical supplies.

WHY

With the exception of varieties that use phthalates to create a more flexible product for use in things like shower curtains and toys, PVC is generally a safe and inert material. We've included it on our Dirty Dozen because its manufacture and incineration are two of the most polluting processes ever engineered. PVC contains about 57% chlorine, and its creation and destruction release large amounts of highly toxic dioxins into the environment, pollution which ends up in our food, our homes, and our bodies. When we refuse to use PVC, we prevent this pollution.

HOW to keep PVC pollution away

• PVC products are labeled by the #3 plastic recycling symbol. Whenever possible, don't buy any product that uses this symbol or contains elements that do.
• Similarly, avoid all soft vinyl products wherever possible and choose other options instead.
• If you have existing vinyl products in your home, leave them there! Soft vinyl aside, the material itself is generally inert and its healthier for living things to leave it in use rather than to dispose of it where it will cause dangerous incineration pollution or clog landfills.
• Whenever you renovate or build new construction, choose materials like copper piping, vinyl-free windows, and linoleum floors over PVC. The Healthy Building Network maintains a list of PVC alternatives.

Volatile Organic Compounds

WHAT

Chemicals that are able to form vapors at room temperature. There are hundreds of different VOCs that fall into many chemical categories. Most solvents are also VOCs.

WHERE

Oven cleaners, paint removers and strippers, degreasers, all-purpose cleaners, polishes and waxes, glass cleaners, spot removers, air fresheners and odor removers, perfumes and fragrances.

WHY

Though there are many different kinds of VOCs, each with their own specific associated health effects, VOCs in general are known to cause respiratory problems, allergies, cancer, and liver, kidney, and neurological damage.

HOW to keep the VOCs away

• Air out your dry cleaning in a garage of other well-ventilated area far from your home's living spaces before bringing it inside. This will allow any traces of perchloroethylene, the VOC solvent used by dry cleaners, to evaporate safely.
• Avoid products with the following warnings or labels, which generally indicate the presence of VOCs:
  • "Combustible" or "Flammable"
  • Statements warning that the product can cause respiratory irritation and/or should be avoided by people with asthma, respiratory illnesses, emphysema, etc.
  • Recommendations that the product only be used with adequate ventilation or in a well ventilated area.
  • Recommendations that users avoid breathing product vapors.
  • A warning statement that says the product should not be stored in temperatures above 120° F.
  • A warning statement that says the product should not be used around flame or open fires.
• In those cases where products do list their ingredients, you may find a specific listing of one or more of these common solvents:
  • 2-butoxyethanol
  • Acetone
  • Alcohols (methanol, isopropyl, etc.)
  • Benzene or benzol
  • Butoxy ethanol
  • Butyl cellosolve
  • Ethylene glycol
  • Glycol ethers (See our separate Dirty Dozen Entry)
  • Kerosene
  • Napthas
  • n-Hexane
  • Methylene chloride
  • Petroleum distillates
  • Propylene glycol
  • Toluene or toluol
  • Trichloroethylene
  • Xylene or xylol

Triclosan

WHAT

A chlorinated compound used as an antibacterial agent in a wide array of consumer products.

WHERE

Soaps, cleaning products, dental products, deodorants, shaving cream, cosmetics, first aid supplies, antimicrobial kitchenware, textiles, clothing, toys, and other consumer items.

WHY

Triclosan is made from chlorine. It's manufacture creates dioxins, which contaminate the final product. Triclosan also converts to dioxins when released into the environment and exposed to sunlight. It is a specific biocide and therefore may contribute to the growing problem of antibiotic-resistant bacteria. Triclosan is a relatively new chemical and so has not been studied extensively. However, there is some evidence to suggest that it is absorbed by and stored in the body's fatty tissues and can promote allergies and can cause immune system and endocrine disruption, and neurological dysfunction.

HOW to keep triclosan away

• Scrutinize product ingredients carefully and seek alternatives to any that have triclosan listed as an ingredient.
• In general, don't buy antibacterial or antimicrobial products. Restrict their use to situations in which protective measures for those with weakened or vulnerable immune systems are required.
• Wash your hands with soap and water instead! 30 seconds of hot water washing will safely remove 99% of any present bacteria.
• Wash other objects of bacterial concern, like toys and kitchen surfaces, with soap and hot water, too.
• Use natural general biocide antibacterials like tea tree oil and grapefruit seed extract. A 5% solution of vinegar, the same concentration sold in grocery stores, will kill 99% of bacteria, 82% of mold spores, and 80% of viruses.