The Hidden Chemicals in Your Home Making Your Family Sick (7 Simple Swaps That Fix It)

You've stood in front of a plastic container or your kid's bedding and wondered: is this actually safe?

The answer is no, and you don't have to be perfect to fix it. You can get 70 to 85% of the way there with affordable swaps.

In this episode, Etienny Trindade unpacks microplastics and endocrine disruptors, the chemicals quietly leaching from everyday household items, and walks through the swaps that move the needle fastest. Inspired by the Netflix series Plastic Detox.

In this episode you will learn

→ Where microplastics are hiding in your home right now → The link between endocrine disruptors, estrogen mimicry, and hormonal health → Why 80% of children's clothes are polyester (and what to choose instead) → How to create a non toxic sleep environment → The 70 / 80 / 85 Rule for stopping the perfection chase

The 7 Simple Swaps

1. Plastic food containers → glass storage
2. Plastic cutting boards → bamboo or wood
3. Heating food in plastic → ceramic or glass bowls
4. Polyester children's clothes → cotton, linen, or wool
5. Synthetic sheets and pillowcases → natural fibre bedding
6. Synthetic duvets and mattresses → natural materials
7. Plastic drinkware and utensils → glass, stainless steel, or wood

Swap as you replace. The old plastic stays until it wears out.

This episode answers

→ What are microplastics and why are they dangerous? → How do I reduce plastic in my home without spending a fortune? → What are endocrine disruptors? → How do plastics affect children's health? → What is the safest cookware to use? → Which swaps should I make first?

Quote from this episode

"You don't need to remove 100% of toxins. You just need to reduce them."

About the host

Etienny Trindade. Environmental designer with 20 years of experience. Author of Creating Healing Spaces for Children. Award winning designer of learning environments for neurodivergent children.

Ready to go deeper?

Website: www.happyhealthyhomes.au

Connect

Instagram: @etienny.trindade Book: Creating Healing Spaces for Children

Keywords

microplastics in your home, endocrine disruptors, non toxic home, BPA free alternatives, microplastics and children, non toxic cooking, non toxic bedding, plastic free kitchen, estrogen mimicry, hormonal health, polyester vs natural fibres, non toxic parenting, environmental toxins, chemical exposure children, Plastic Detox Netflix, glass vs plastic containers, safe cookware, Happy Healthy Homes podcast, Etienny Trindade

Remember. It is not about perfection. It is about one conscious choice at a time.

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:01

Hello beautiful and welcome to Happy Healthy Homes. Let me ask you something. Have you ever been in your kitchen making what feels like a normal meal for your family and something inside of you just paused? You look at the plastic container, cutting board, the kettle, and you wonder even if just for a second, is this actually safe? Lately, there's been this quiet shift happening. Maybe you felt it too. More conversation about toxins. More awareness. More questions. The Netflix series Plastic Detox opened that door for a lot of people that never heard about this topic before. But what I kept thinking while I was watching it was they showed us all the problem. They showed us what's happening, what's causing, but they didn't really show us what to do next. And today's episode it's about that. Because your home is not where you need, it's something your boy is responding to every single day. If you're new here, I'm Etienne and I help women create environments that support calm, focus, health, and emotional well being. Through science backed design, non-toxic choices and a deep connection to nature. And today we are going to gently uncover something that might change the way you see your home. Most women I speak to feel slightly on edge, not in a dramatic way, but in that quiet, constant way. They feel really tired, they feel overwhelmed, their body doesn't fully rest. Even when nothing is technically wrong, they can't identify what's wrong. And they think I just need to get more organized, I just need to do better, I just need to be better. But when I look at their homes, I see something else. I see invisible stress everywhere. I see materials, products, and everyday objects that are quietly interacting with their body. And this is exactly one of the things plastic detox started to reveal. Microplastics have now been found in human blood, in placenters, and even in breast milk, which means exposure is starting before a baby is even born. They also explored how chemicals found in plastic colours endocrine disruptors are linked to hormonal imbalances and declining fertility. I'm really glad they brought this topic up because that's something I've been reading and studying for a long time. I'm not a doctor, I'm not a researcher, and sometimes you just need to be careful with what you raise. But they explain it in a really good way. These endocrinal disruptors are linked with declining in fertility and some cancers. Because these chemicals mimic estrogen in the body. That's what they explained in the documentary that was explained by researchers and doctors. And when your hormones are disrupted, your courts always affected your sleep, your mood, your nervous system. And children are even more vulnerable for all of that because their body is still developing, they so small. Their systems are still learning what balance even is. But here's the part we need to talk about more. This is not just something happening out there. It's happening here, inside our homes every single day. Your cutting board, your food containers, your bedding, and your nervous system is reading all of that quietly constantly. And if this is landing for you, if it's something you're starting to connect the dots and connect, I'm running a live session why your home is quietly overstimulating you. Inside this webinar, I'll help you see what's been affecting your body, often without you even realizing why you have been feeling so tired, overstimulated, and sometimes even sick, unable to fully switch off. Nobody is talking about the environment and how we can start changing it, but in a way that brings you home and your body back to calm. I would love to guide you through this. Okay, let's keep going. As we've seen in this documentary, if you didn't watch yet, I really suggest you to watch. Toxins in our homes are everywhere. It has become increasingly difficult to avoid them completely. I say that because I've been researching and choosing materials and what to buy for many, many years. And what I want to say is in a way that allows you to take a deep breathe. I do not believe we can remove a hundred percent of toxins from our lives, but we can reduce them significantly. We can reduce them by 70, 80, 85% for sure. And that matters a lot because your body doesn't need perfection to start feeling better. It simply needs less load. Regulations are yes, regulations should be stronger. Yes, governments should be doing something, but we can't afford to wait. We can't wait while our children are growing, while our bodies are responding every single day to these toxins and this very overstimulating environment, to what we are exposed to inside our homes, our jobs, everywhere actually. This is where our powers come back. Change doesn't only happen from the top down. It starts at home. It starts with everyday decisions, when women began to choose different, when families start to make different choices. When we stop buying products that don't support our health, when we start asking better questions. Yes, you are allowed to ask questions. If you want to buy something and you don't have all the information, ask more questions. Things begin to shift when we start being more aware. Because when enough people change their behavior, the market will flow. Large corporations don't need this kind of change. They will respond to it, they adapt to the consumer. So every conscious choice you made today inside your home is not small. It's part of something much bigger. And now let me show you where to start. Some things you can do right now. So if there is one place to start, it's here. Heat and plastic. When plastic's heated, it releases more chemicals into whatever it's touching. So the shift is very simple. Do not heat food in plastic. I know that sometimes we go to supermarket and we need we are looking. I don't know if you like me, but sometimes you're just looking for that healthier option because you didn't have time to cook. And okay, I'm looking for this really healthy food, but it comes in plastic. So what I do when I come home, I take from the container, I put in a ceramic bowl, and I heat it up on the ceramic bowl. That one decision alone reduces a significant part of your daily exposure. And then another thing that it's really easy to change, it's your cutting board. Most people have plastic cutting boards. And as they show us, even on the documentary, how they get cutted into. And we are just ingesting all of that. So there are options out there, and they are not expensive. There are some bamboo cutting boards, wood cutting boards, and even metal cutting boards. So you could swap for any of them and look into the label. Some of them say non-toxic. Just swap from plastic. So this is this is not about being perfect. This is about choosing different ones, making some changes. In your kitchen, there is lots of swaps you can do. Plastic containers to glass containers, plastic spoons to wood spoons. I did an episode about cleaning products, so I'll put the link here that will help you as well. Um and yes, going like it's like living in a caramel. Just less plastic overall. Look into a kitchen with some time without feeling too overwhelmed. And just look what can I swap? Something that's easy and not going to be something that will stretch me. You don't need 10 cutting boards, you need two or three. And the plastic containers that you take to work and you heat your food every single day. Just look into that. I'll tell you something. I started making these changes ten years ago. And ten years ago, this was really hard, wasn't easy, and was expensive. But nowadays it's so much easier. You find options that are sustainable websites, that you can find so many good things, and the prices are getting better and better. Like I told you, the consumers are starting to realize and asking for it, so the prices are dropping as well. Let's talk about other solutions you can look into your house. This one is deeper. Years ago, my nutritionist taught me something that I'll never forget. She teaches me how to read labels. Have you ever been told how to go to the supermarket, get the ingredients from the products? And one of the things she told me, I'll never forget. Less ingredients, the better. So if you're buying a can of tomatoes, for example, and there is like 12 ingredients, that's probably not a good can of tomato. When you go to the Italian ones, that's really good, well made, they just say 99% tomatoes. Sometimes it's basil or onion, but that's it. In a glass container, there is not too many toxins. But what nobody teaches you is how to read labels when you bind things to your home. I only learned this lesson working in architecture offices for many, many years, and specify materials for construction and interior design, like finishes, furniture. When you are looking into a product for construction, there is a PDF file that usually shows everything about that material, show uh specifications. It's called a specification file, and there is a lot of information on that file, and it's really important for an architect to read everything and understand everything. Because if something happens, they'll be at fault. So when you're buying products for your home, just look for that certification PDF file. Usually, when you're buying furniture, it will have that. Some websites make it very difficult for you to see the materials into what you're buying. And when the website makes that difficult, I just don't buy from them. If you have something to hide, you're not being transparent, I'm not going to be your consumer. That's how I handle it. So, and today my friend was asking me all these questions about clothes. Same thing. You click on the clothes and you find the description and the materials. And if you go to the shop, you look into the tags. So, for example, cotton, organic cotton, and then you need to pay attention into the composition. For example, cotton. How much cotton? Some places just say cotton, but then when you go deeper into the tag on the side, it says 5% cotton, 70%, 70% polyester, and 30% cotton. No, that's not what I want. So, what I want is a hundred percent cotton. Um, understanding what something is made of, what it releases, how it behaves over time, that makes you look into spaces different, and that makes you be a different buyer as well, because you're going to start buying things a bit more conscious and thinking long term. I always ask myself, what is this made of? And if you don't know what's on the composition, on the internet, it just research. I always ask, is this synthetic? If it's a fabric, I don't know. I have no shame to tell you that a lot of fabrics up there that I have no idea what they made of. So I do a quick research on the shop while I'm looking at the tags. And also simple questions of your day-to-day life. Is this going to be heated? Will this be touched every day? For example, toys, something I really pay attention to, especially toys my daughter put on her mouth all the time. Because when you start singing a home this way, you start, you step into control, not fear, but awareness. One more solution for you that you can start today. Your bedroom and your children's bedroom. Any of your children's space, because this is where the body is most open when you're sleeping. Your body is repairing, restoring, regulating. And if you're sleeping in synthetic fabrics like polyester that she shed microplastic through friction every single night, you need to remember that ice skin is our biggest organ. So be very careful what you're putting on your skin. So start small. Don't overwhelm yourself. For example, start with your pillowcase. When you if you cannot do it right now, it's okay. But when you're going to buy a new set of sheets, just look for natural materials like cotton, linen, and some people buy silk. Something natural. One thing that I'll be honest with you is really hard to find was when my husband and I were buying a quote. I did not want a polyester quote. We went to so many shops and we read so many labels until we finally found a woo quote. And that's something we had, and that's something we had for so many years now. I don't regret paying a bit more expensive for that because now it's been so many years we have that. And also there are the options of second hand as well. And for your children, the same advice as well. Just look into their mattress if it's possible, choose a natural mattress. Nowadays it's easier to find brands that sell organic cotton mattress or just cotton mattress that's not so synthetic. Um clothes for children, if possible, 100% cotton, just be aware of the polyester, and I'll tell you something. It's really, really hard. Polyester is in everything. So I've been doing this since I got pregnant, and I got so many beautiful clothes donated to my daughter, and I was going through all the clothes and selecting the natural materials clothes, the cotton clothes. Thankfully, I was able to get so many, but I'll have to tell you: 80% of children's clothes are made of polyester. Yes, and the price is not a difference when you're buying clothes that are made from natural fabrics, from polyester. You just need to dig deeper, you need to research a bit more so you can find that. And don't be thinking that expensive brands will sell just natural material clothes. That's a question I receive a lot. So one of my friends today was like, oh, there is this brand, the very expensive brand clothes for children. I don't use them, to be honest. And I said, no, don't just trust the brands blindly. Even sustainable brands use polyester in some of their clothes, especially winter clothes. Just be very aware of that. So simple swaps, choose stainless steel for their food, glass, natural materials, anything related to their drinking and eating, that you could do simple swaps, just two simple swaps for them. But don't try to overwhelm yourself too much. Just one thing at a time, if you can. Your home is not neutral. It's shaping how you feel every single day. And now you know enough to start. That's all I wanted. I wanted to come here and show you how to start this transition. Not in a perfect way, but in a way that you can come back to this podcast and find more information. And oh, okay, I'll start with the kitchen, and then you come back to the podcast and just get more information all the way to start. Don't try to be perfect. There is no perfect, but be intentional. Be really intentional with your home. It's not about perfection, it's about one conscious choice at a time. I'll see you on the next one. Thank you. Bye.