Clean Air Starts in Your Shower!
If you’re trying to create cleaner air in your home, then the first place you want to focus is in the bathroom. No, not because of the foul odors that can come from that room! But because your shower curtain or shower curtain liner can be a major cause of indoor air pollution in your home.
A study by the Center for Health, Environment & Justice found that 108 different Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) were released into the air after unwrapping a new vinyl shower curtain – VOCs such as tolulene, which is used in nail polish remover.
Even though VOCs have the term “organic” in the name, don’t be fooled – they are bad! VOCs are remnants of potentially toxic chemicals that escape from a product and become air borne – which means you start to breathe them in.
VOCs have been linked to many health problems, ranging from eye, nose and throat irritation, headaches and nausea to liver damage and reproductive problems.
These nasty chemicals can come off of vinyl shower curtains because they are made with PVC (polyvinyl chloride). PVC is horrible for the environment, because it produces carcinogenic substances during the production and disposal of PVC. It’s also not too kind to your health, because PVC plastics can off-gas chemicals that can harm your health, especially substances known as phthalates, which have been shown to mess around with your hormonal systems.
So how can you create clean air inside your home by focusing on your shower curtain, of all things? Simply choose a PEVA plastic shower curtain, instead. PEVA looks and feels just like vinyl, but it doesn’t off-gas nasty chemicals. Even better? Use a cloth shower curtain and shower curtain liner and wash frequently to remove mold and mildew.
Great tip and such a simple thing to do to reduce VOCs in a home.
Thanks, Jessica. It is SO simple, yet so many people aren’t aware of it!
I run a green B&B and only have shower curtains made of cloth. I used to buy the other kind, as a young woman. They had rubber duckies all over them. Now I know better, thanks to Slow Death by Rubber Duck. Have you read this book? It taught me so much about toxic chemicals in the environment.
I know…the rubber duckies are so cute, though! Slow Death By Rubber Duck is a fascinating read and I highly recommend.
Wow. We are trying to remove as many toxins from our home as possible before we conceive. For whatever reason our shower curtain never came to mind as something that needed to be replaced! Thanks for the thought provoking post.