Wednesday, February 5, 2014

Toxins in Your Indoor Air

I mentioned in another post my husband had brought me the book Toxic Free: How to Protect Your Health and Home from the Chemicals That Are Making You Sick home from the library awhile back.

One of the things I read in it was about how there is formaldehyde in so many of our every day items. In our beds, bedding, clothes, shoes, furniture, rugs, and more. So, how did it get there? Alot of our clothes are synthetic, this is one way, also through making them fire retardant.There's no way to wash them out, oh and there is formaldehyde in other products you use, cleaning products, tooth paste, nail polish, and on, and on, and on.

You can do something about your cleaning products, go organic. Along with changing our food to real food we also changed all our cleaning products from what we clean our floors with, to what we clean our selves with. However, we have not gone organic with our clothing, shoes, towels, or bedding.

Not to fret our heavenly Father has created plants that actually clean formaldehyde out of the air, how cool is that. While there are various plants for indoors that can provide cleaner indoor air, we chose the following ones due to easy maintenance.


The plant above is an Ocean Spider this one hangs in our living room. I'm hoping it will cascade over the pot as it grows, if not I will buy a floor pot for it.


Next we chose  Golden Devil's Ivy, this plant should not be easily accessible to small children or animals, it is poisonous if eaten. As you can see we also put this one in a hanging basket, but in the kitchen, it's also a climber, and can be trained.

  

The last one is a Heart Leaf Philodendron it is also a climber. We chose all these plants because they clean the air in our home, and not just formaldehyde, but other toxins as well.

There are no windows in our house that get alot of sunlight, and all of these do not require sun. As a matter of fact at least one should not be in direct sunlight. They also do not require alot of watering, for one of them it can cause root rot.

While we are living in a very toxic world we should do all we can to protect our loved ones, and pets from harmful toxins in our homes.

To learn more about these plants or find others go to House Plants, great site for information.

While the formaldehyde within our household products is small considering how many we come in contact with every day leaves us exposed to its toxins.

So, what kinds of health issues are we looking at? Everything from insomnia to cancer, signs of formaldehyde poisoning resemble allergies, itchy eyes, sinus issues, coughing and others.

This my friends is just another reason to detox, for other reasons to detox, and what we use read my post Why Detox. Don't take my word for it research it for your self, or better yet buy the book. I was surprised at what I read, and how toxic our world really is.

This post was featured on the Pintastic Pinteresting Party #8, thanks for the feature.

10 comments:

  1. It is amazing how God made plants to help clean the air. Does it have to be specific plants, or do they all help?

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    1. While most plants are beneficial in some way, not all will clean the air.

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  2. I have lots of plants in my house - many types of spider plants, ivy, and other air cleaning plants. They not only clean the air they help you feel better just from their beauty. thanks for sharing Joyce.

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  3. I am so glad you wrote a post about formaldehyde and our indoor air quality. So many household products contain this chemical. When we built ten years ago, I learned about all the toxins in our household decor and building products. Formaldehyde takes a long time to off-gas unlike other VOCs. Plants definitely help. Being mindful of what you bring into your home is a must.

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    1. You are so right Anna, they are every where, I wish more people would research what they are building their houses with, good for you.

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  4. Thanks for the reminder of how plants can help with toxics eliminated in the air, I love the list! We have lots of plants but its handy to have a specific list. Thanks for sharing!

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  5. Hi
    I am delighted to discover and explore your blog via the Fabulously Frugal Linkup!
    Improving our indoor air quality is crucial so I really appreciated your post!
    I don't have great luck with plants but I am going to try again to keep some of the plants you have suggested alive in my home. Wish me luck!
    I enjoyed reading your wonderful sustainable living blog posts.
    I blog about healthy, green and natural living at www.UrbanNaturale.com
    We have a lot of interests in common. Let's stay in touch.
    All the best, Deb

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  6. Plants are magic. This quiet creatures of God can save humans' life frim the toxin. It is agreat idea to get certain plant to absorb toxin in the air. Thanks a lot for sharing.

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  7. WOW - I never knew that there was formaldehyde in toothpaste - YUK (I use a natural toothpaste but will check anyway - scary). Thanks for linking this wonderful post up to my “Themed Blog & Shop Hop!” http://www.godsgrowinggarden.com/2014/05/themed-blog-shop-hop-colorful-gardens.html
    Angie

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