The fact that toxic exposures will influence your risk for disease and early death should come as no surprise. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), toxic environments are responsible for at least 1 of every 4 deaths reported worldwide.¹ Recent research² also reveals the greater your total pollution exposure, the higher your risk for cancer. As reported by Reuters:³

“While … previous research has linked individual pollutants to increased risks of specific types of cancer, the current study focused on how the combined effect of exposure to a variety of environmental contaminants may influence the risk of tumors …

Compared to counties with the highest environmental quality, counties that ranked the lowest had an average of 39 more cancer cases each year for every 100,000 residents. ‘We do not experience exposures in a vacuum but rather are exposed to several exposures at any one time,’ said lead study author Jyotsna Jagai, [Ph.D.,] of the University of Illinois at Chicago.

‘We considered a broad definition of environmental exposures, which included pollution in the air, water, and land and also (man-made) and sociodemographic environmental factors … We found that counties with poor overall environmental quality experienced higher cancer incidence than those counties with good overall environmental quality’ … Prostate and breast tumors were strongly associated with environmental quality …”

Four Major Sources of Toxic Pollution in Your Home

According to Dr. Lee Cowden, a board-certified interventional cardiologist who has developed an exceptional teaching program for the Academy of Comprehensive Integrative Medicine (ACIM), more people die from cancer treatment than from cancer itself.

He may well be correct, considering how toxic most conventional cancer treatments are. Without a doubt, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure when it comes to cancer, and cleaning up your living space can go a long way toward lowering your toxic burden. While the sources of environmental pollution are many, four major sources of toxic exposure in your home are:

1. Indoor air pollution
2. Contaminated water
3. Toxic lawn care
4. Flame retardant furnishings

Beware of Toxic Dust

Indoor air pollution is thought to be one of the greatest hazards. According to WHO, 92 percent of the world’s population is breathing polluted air,⁴ and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has warned that poor indoor air quality is one of the top public health risks.

In fact, studies demonstrate that indoor pollution levels may be two to five times higher than outdoor levels,⁵ and poor air quality can cause serious damage to your lungs, heart and other organ systems. The materials found in your home are often a significant contributor to poor indoor air quality. Flame retardant chemicals, for example, commonly found in furniture and carpeting, do not remain inertly bonded within the foam or fabric. They escape in the form of dust.

One study⁶ found every dust sample collected from American homes contained Tris phosphate (TDCIPP) and triphenyl phosphate (TPHP); 91 percent of urine samples from the residents also contained metabolites of TDCIPP, and 83 percent had metabolites of TPHP.

Other tests have also shown that 90 percent of Americans have flame-retardant chemicals in their bodies, and many have six or more types in their system.⁷ Disturbingly, children have been found to have levels of flame retardants that are as much as five times higher than their mothers’.⁸