Plastics are in everything. It feels almost impossible nowadays to keep harmful products away from your children. Plastic is ubiquitous, and even families that make a conscious effort to keep plastics out of their home can still find significant levels of plastic chemicals in their bloodstreams - it’s just impossible to avoid in day to day life. Chemicals like bisphenol A, or BPA, and diethyl phthalate, or DEP, are found in virtually all Americans.

And the worst part is, despite the fact that these chemicals are everywhere, you do have to care about them. They’re not harmless - chemicals like BPA and DEP are having measurable impacts on the human population. They’re known as endocrine-disrupting chemicals, and they’re linked to everything from increased rates of obesity to puberty coming earlier and earlier in girls in the United States.

There are serious health consequences to being exposed to excessive amounts of these chemicals, and the United States has been suffering the effects on a wide scale. Trying to keep these chemicals out of your home is important, but how do you begin to tackle such a seemingly enormous challenge?

Use natural solutions when possible

You can avoid letting endocrine-disrupting chemicals into your home by using products with as few chemicals as possible. Look for fragrance-free cleaning products, or look for bottles that say they’re phthalate-free. Alternatively, you can start making homemade cleaning products that only contain natural ingredients.

Use ingredients like vinegar, lemon juice, oils, baking soda and other pantry ingredients to make your own cleaners, shampoos and conditioners and disinfectants. You can use ingredients like hydrogen peroxide and bleach as well. Making your own products can save you money and save you from bringing harmful products into your household. You can make more when you’re running out, so long as you keep the stock ingredients on hand, and you can use the product-making as an opportunity to explain basic chemistry to your children. Teach them why a particular ingredient is used to clean or sanitize or condition, show them how to make their own and demonstrate how to store it - you’ll protect them from harmful chemicals that can cause personal injury and teach them valuable life skills.

Research products you’re buying

Now you can do your best to replace products with home-made goods and natural substances, but unless you plan on abandoning modern society and retreating to the woods, chances are you’re not going to have time to replace absolutely every convenience in your life. Whenever you do buy something, make sure you research what it’s made of, where it’s made and who made it in order to decide if it’s appropriate to bring into your house. Use resources like healthystuff.org to determine if something is made with harmful substances, and don’t be afraid to reach out to the manufacturer and ask them about products they make. It’s not unusual for everything from furniture to foods to be coated in chemicals as a sealant, so make sure you thoroughly research everything you’re buying.

Avoid cans and plastic in the store

Some of the biggest culprits of EDCs are the plastic containers and cans that our foods come in. These products contain BPA and DEP and a host of other chemicals that can leach into the food contained inside them, entering your body during meals. The best way to avoid this is by avoiding foods that come in plastic entirely. Look for paper containers, ceramic containers, stainless steel cans, glass containers and other reusable or chemical-free alternatives that won’t affect the food inside them. Avoid plastic tupperware; opt for glassware instead. Skip the Chef Boyardee and go for homemade ravioli instead.

And the chemical risk doesn’t just come from the material food is stored in - you also have to pay attention to what you’re cooking with. Don’t cook using non-stick cooking materials, which are often coated with a chemical spray that can get into the food, particularly at high temperatures, and avoid using cheap plastic mixing bowls, spatulas and cooking equipment.

In many ways, cutting chemicals out resembles returning to a more simplistic time of living, when foods were canned for the winter and your cast-iron pan was the only non-stick product you owned. It turns out there were some upsides to that style of living. Go natural whenever you can, and you’ll be able to keep harmful products out of your home and away from your children.