A decade ago, almost nobody had heard of VOC's or phthalates, let alone thought about how they were affecting personal health. But we've all heard the aphorisms "an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure", "better safe than sorry", and "look before you leap".

The first decade of the 2000's brought a new awareness of the hazards of everyday chemicals that we willingly (and unnecessarily) brought into our lives, and with the new information about the cumulative effects of toxins in our lives growing every day, many people are practicing the Precautionary Principle, which states "..if an action or policy has suspected risk of causing harm to the public or to the environment, in the absence of a scientific consensus that harm would not ensue, the burden of proof falls on those who would advocate taking the action."

Basically, it's the idea that if something might cause harm, it's best to avoid it if there are alternatives.

Vorsorgeprinzip, translates into English as precaution principle, and it the concept "evolved out of the German socio-legal tradition in the 1930's." Even today, the European Union's rules take the Principle into consideration when making rules about allowed and banned substances. 

Usually, the Precautionary Principle is used in reference to policy decisions made by goverment health agencies when they don't have 100% scientific proof that a chemical is causing a health problem (but it has been proved in animal tests, or studies are ongoing). But ever since I heard about this idea, I've been practicing it in my own life, in a personal way.

Practicing the Precautionary Principle in everday life means thinking through the exposures to toxins and eliminating or minimizing those that you can control.

For most people, air quality- and to some extent water quality- are hard variables to control, and we know that a part of modern life includes exposures to carcinogenic, disease-causing toxins in our air and water. However, indoor air quality and the factors that effect it, including household cleaners, cigarette smoke, and candles/deodorizers can have an even larger impact on our health as we are exposed to them every day and on a regular basis (and sometimes at very dangerous levels). But it can be hard to know HOW to keep these toxins out of personal care, cleaning and other household products.

Here are some questions you can think about to help practice the Precautionary Principle in your own life: 

-Does this product contain toxic chemicals? (Tip: If it contains a warning label and the advisory to call poison control if you ingest, it probably does) You can also look up products for safety and ingredient info using the Cosmetics Safety Database or the Health and Human Services' Safety Database

-If the given product contains toxins, is there an alternative that's toxin free? Or can you do without it? 

-Is this product going to add to my toxic burden over time, not impact it, or reduce it? 

Asking questions like these can reduce your toxin exposure over time and with it, your chance for disease. Keep an eye on this space in coming weeks as we explore some specific ways to detox your life!