Inside: 4 Toxins in your home that are potentially hurting your thyroid, which should be acted upon immediately. Interstingly these are preseant in the most common used items in our lives, ones we use every single day, so the exposure to these chemicals is very high in ammount.
Thyroid disorders especially the Hashimoto’s and Graves have been linked to environmental triggers.
It has been proposed that a lot of environmental chemicals might have endocrine-disrupting properties and can ultimately lead to autoimmune disease development.
With the modern-day advancements, we are constantly getting exposed to chemicals, however, if we know about the worst chemicals that we are constantly getting exposed we can make better choices.
In this post, we are going to review chemicals that might be present in your immediate environment and disrupting your thyroid and contributing to Hashimoto’s or Graves disease.
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4 Household Items That Are Making Your Thyroid Worse
Furniture
Your furniture can be a source of these endocrine-disrupting chemicals.
Some furniture might have a category of chemicals called flame retardants. Studies have shown a reduction in thyroid hormone when exposed to these chemicals.
The major source of flame retardant chemucals is — upholstered cloth furniture. But these flame retardants can be present in accessories too like pillows, mattresses etc.
The way these chemicals worsen your thyroid issues is — as times goes on the furniture breaks down and release these chemicals into your home environment.
You get exposed to these chemicals in your home air and dust and ultimately they make their way into your body.
The Major flame retardant that we know that can cause disruption of the thyroid gland is polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PDBE). The use of this chemical is declining and some of the states in the US have banned the use of this chemical. But it still exists in the environment and not all the companies follow these standards. Also, the furniture manufactures outside the country are not required to comply with these regulations.
Same goes for the mattress that you might be using. Majority of the mattress due to the regulations will have to use fire retardants as safety precautions.
Again the newer manufacturers are not using the PDBE in the mattress but the older mattress might still have those, and the same issue here too, the mattress manufactured in other countries might still have these chemicals.
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BPA in Plastic
Bisphenol A (BPA ) is another chemical which has endocrine-disrupting properties.
BPA is being used in clear plastic bottles, water dispensers and food can linings, plastic food wraps.
BPA can disrupt your thyroid hormone levels, especially it affects the levels of T4 hormone levels. And it seems like the most concerning exposure is to children, especially infants.
When most people think of BPA-free they usually think about food storage boxes that are used in microwaves, but people often overlook the bottled water that everyone drinks. Most water bottles have BPA in them, which leaches in the water, and since these water bottles don’t have an expiry date, you never know how old the water is and how much BPA has already leached into your water.
The other source of BPA often overlooked is the plastic food wrap used to save food before storing.
Non-stick Cookware
The non-stick cookware that you use in the kitchen is coated with per- and poly-fluoroalkyl substances (PFAS).
Studies have shown that these chemicals have been linked with thyroid disorders and affect the production of thyroid hormones in your body again especially the T4 hormone. Some of these chemicals have been banned in the US but not worldwide. Unfortunately, after banning some of these chemicals, the industry has introduced new chemicals which are very similar in chemical composition and might have the same health-related issues with them.
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Hand Sanitizer
Your hand sanitizer might have triclosan in it which again can affect the thyroid glands, especially in infants and young children. A study showed that higher maternal exposure to triclosan led to lower thyroid hormone levels in their neonates and children.
How to Reduce Your Exposure to Thyroid Disrupting Chemicals in your House
- Buying furniture which does not have PDBE in them or other flame retardants. A lot of good furniture companies are either creating labels for furniture which is free from these chemicals or have that information provided if you ask their customer representative. Environmental Working Group and Natural Resources Defense Council have good information regarding this.
- Regular vacuuming and mopping of your house, and using a HEPA filter for vacuums so that reduces your exposure to the toxic chemicals in your house dust.
- Less use of plastic bottles for your daily routine, instead replace with reusable glass bottles. Again replacing your plastic containers in the house with glass containers. Or at least using plastic bottles and containers which are labelled BPA free. Here is the water filter I use in my house, instead of filtered water bottles.
- Try not to buy non-stick cookware and look for other alternatives. Either using cast iron, or stainless steel or ceramic cookware for your cooking needs.
- Less use of hand sanitizers and using them when you absolutely need it. People often get concerned that they will get infections from people around them when they are sick but hand washing with mild soap can be a very effective way of preventing infections. And try to reduce the use of hand sanitizer all the time.
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Summary
So as you see there can be chemicals laden things that we use in our house regularly which can result in thyroid dysfunction and looks like children and pregnant women are the most susceptible to these exposures. They might also be contributing to the development of Hashimoto’s disease or Graves disease. But if you become vigilant and take some precautionary measures, then your house can become safe for yourself and your kids.
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Association between Gluten and the development of Hashimoto’s Disease.
Research-Based Hashimoto’s Diet.
Research References for things in your house that hurt your Thyroid.
MaleneBoasaUllaFeldt-RasmussenbKatharina M.Maina Thyroid effects of endocrine disrupting chemicals. Molecular and Cellular Endocrinology. Volume 355, Issue 2, 22 May 2012, Pages 240-248
Hoffman K1, Sosa JA, Stapleton HM. Do flame retardant chemicals increase the risk for thyroid dysregulation and cancer?Curr Opin Oncol. 2017 Jan;29(1):7-13.
M.E. Turyk, V.W. Persky, P. Imm, L. Knobeloch, R. Chatterton, H.A. Anderson. Hormone disruption by PBDEs in adult male sport fish consumers.Environ. Health Perspect., 116 (2008), pp. 1635-1641
R.T. Zoeller, R. Bansal, C. Parris. Bisphenol-A, an environmental contaminant that acts as a thyroid hormone receptor antagonist in vitro, increases serum thyroxine, and alters RC3/neurogranin expression in the developing rat brain. Endocrinology, 146 (2005), pp. 607-612
D. Melzer, N. Rice, M.H. Depledge, W.E. Henley, T.S. Galloway. Association between serum perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and thyroid disease in the U.S. National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. Environ. Health Perspect., 118 (2010), pp. 686-
G.W. Olsen, L.R. Zobel Assessment of lipid, hepatic, and thyroid parameters with serum perfluorooctanoate (PFOA) concentrations in fluorochemical production workers Int. Arch. Occup. Environ. Health, 81 (2007), pp. 231-246
Braun JM1, Chen A2. Associations of early life urinary triclosan concentrations with maternal, neonatal, and child thyroid hormone levels.Horm Behav. 2018 May;101:77-84. doi: 10.1016/j.yhbeh.2017.11.009. Epub 2017 Dec 6.
