Help, my sofa is killing me! The toxic chemicals hiding in your home – and how to avoid them | Homes

Heating and burning

The problem Whenever we burn anything inside our homes, we cause indoor air pollution, whether we’re cooking using gas, frying bacon, lighting a wood burner, an open fire, a cigarette or incense, or ruining the toast. “ We spend 80-90% of our time indoors,” says Prof Francis Pope, chair of atmospheric science at the University of Birmingham. “And there is potential to have quite high concentrations of pollution indoors. This affects your respiratory and cardiovascular systems; certain components are carcinogenic, and there’s a growing body of evidence that air pollution affects cognition. In the long term, you get awful diseases such as dementia and Alzheimer’s. But relatively short exposures to air pollution are linked to things like educational outcome, workplace productivity and general mental wellbeing.”

Gas cooking is another significant source of pollution, says Prof Frank Kelly, Humphrey Battcock chair of community health and policy at Imperial College London. “It produces both nitrogen dioxide – which is a respiratory irritant and has long-term consequences like cardiovascular disease and dementia, causes problems in pregnancy and has even been linked to asthma development – and also tiny particles, known as PM2.5.” These measure less than 2.5 microns across, making them small enough to reach the brain.

“Our nose and throat are really good at blocking out bigger particles, but these small ones can get all the way down into your lungs,” says Nicola Carslaw, professor in indoor air chemistry at the University of York.

The solution For most of us, the impact of all types of indoor pollution can be mitigated by opening the windows whenever we can, unless you live on a polluted road. Burn as little as possible indoors, turn on the extractor during cooking and clean or replace filters regularly. Most vacuum cleaners leak PM2.5 and larger PM10 particles back into the air; those fitted with a Hepa filter should not.

Sofas, mattresses, carpets and curtains

The problem The UK’s highly prescriptive fire safety rules mean that our furniture and soft furnishings contain more flame-retardant chemicals than anywhere else in the world. Our curtains, cushions, mattresses, bedding and building materials are full of toxic chemicals, and have been since the 1980s, even though they can be carcinogenic, increase the risk of conditions such as diabetes, high cholesterol and obesity, and can damage the kidneys, liver, eyes and immune system, among other harms.

“ There’s no evidence that our outdated regulations have saved more lives in the UK, and these chemicals can actually make smoke more toxic while a fire smoulders. Firefighters are developing cancer from exposure to it,” says Dr Joanna Cloy, who leads the Scottish anti-pollution charity Fidra’s flame retardants project.

“ Evidence has mounted for health effects that could be caused by flame retardants, including everything from endocrine disruption to reduced IQ,” says Prof Miriam L Diamond at the University of Toronto, whose lab researches chemical contaminants. She sees rising rates of neurodevelopmental conditions among children as potentially linked to being exposed to chemicals such as fire retardants, especially from bedding. Her lab tested children’s mattresses and sleeping environments.

“We were very surprised to find flame retardants where they were not needed, and we also found all these plasticisers and phthalates,” including organophosphate esters, di-2-ethylhexyl phthalate and benzyl butyl phthalate. Unsurprisingly, when the lab simulated a child bouncing on the bed “it accelerated the release of the chemicals”.

The solution Choose products made with materials that are naturally fire retardant, such as wool, cotton, leather or solid wood, without the need for added chemicals (it’s not yet clear whether newer “non-toxic” fire retardant chemicals really are safe), or buy secondhand furniture made before 1988, when the rules came in. Use a vacuum with a Hepa filter, regularly damp dust surfaces, and if you can’t afford a new sofa, you could replace the foam in the cushions. As of late 2025, children’s furniture and car seats no longer have to contain flame retardants, but anything made before the change can still be sold, so don’t assume new products are safe. However, a public consultation addressing reforms to the 1988 regulations closed on 23 June, so changes are afoot that are likely to reduce the number of harmful flame retardants. Meanwhile, look for labels mentioning Oeko-Tex certification, Greenguard Gold certification, the Global Organic Textile Standard or the Global Organic Latex Standard, as none allow the use of chemical flame retardants.

Cleaning products and personal care

The problem We’ve become unnecessarily obsessed with both cleanliness and our homes smelling nice (blame CleanTok, in which cleaning influencers spritz every inch of their homes with mists, foams and bleaches, and the aggressive marketing of room fragrances and strongly scented laundry detergents). Many of us live in a fog of airborne chemicals, even if we use so-called green cleaning products. “ A lot of ‘natural’ cleaning products are full of volatile organic compounds (Vocs) which we know can react with things like ozone in indoor environments to create ultra-fine particulate matter or formaldehyde,” says Carslaw.

Indoor ozone (which is highly toxic) is emitted by some electrical devices or enters from outside, and can also form when nitrogen dioxide reacts with certain Vocs. Spraying any kind of cleaning product, hair spray, deodorant or perfume just adds to the fug, as does vaping, which releases hundreds of toxic chemicals. “Plug-in air fresheners are constantly releasing a stream of volatiles into the home,” adds Carslaw, as do essential oils and fragrance sticks. Breathing in these aerosolised chemicals can damage the protective epithelial barrier inside the lungs, and getting them on the skin can cause contact reactions and worsen eczema and dermatitis, too.

Kelly says that although most of us would assume otherwise, many cleaning products are not comprehensively tested for safety, especially not over the long-term, and definitely not in combination with other chemicals. “ There’s no understanding of what these products do to us because there is no requirement for them to be tested from a health point of view,” he says. This really matters if you have small children. “A baby’s breathing zone is very close to the floor, and whether it’s PM2.5 or cleaning chemicals, they go into the air and then eventually fall to the ground,” Kelly adds. “That’s why opening the windows is so important.”

The solution You can improve your indoor air a lot simply by not spraying anything. Cut back on the range of cleaning and personal care products you use, and mist them as little as possible – dab on perfumes, avoid body sprays and other aerosols, and buy unperfumed cleaning products, as all fragrances – “natural” or not – cause Vocs. You can still use regular household cleaners, but instead of spraying them over a surface, take off the lid and tip on to a cloth (wearing gloves), then rinse off. Open windows after cleaning.

Antibacterials

The problem The pandemic saw sales of antibacterial cleaning products rise by 40-60%, and although we buy them less today, we still clean our houses and hands with antibacterials far more than we did in 2019. Plenty of evidence shows that antibacterial products aren’t safer or more effective than regular soap or detergents, and antibacterial chemicals end up diluted in large bodies of water or linger on our skin and surfaces, giving microbes the opportunity to quietly evolve stronger defences against both them and other biocides, such as antibiotics. “Using them to clean our homes and ourselves is a very stupid, ill-advised use of antimicrobials,” says Diamond. “It means our children and grandchildren may not have access to antibiotics.”

The solution Soap and water are better or as good at killing germs. Using antibacterial surface sprays on chopping boards or very close to food – as a lot of cookery influencers do – can damage the gut microbiome. Avoid antibacterials and hand sanitisers containing quaternary ammonium compounds, and look for ones made with ethanol as these do not cause antimicrobial resistance. If you really need to sanitise a surface, use a solution of water and 3% hydrogen peroxide, which breaks down harmlessly after use and can be mixed with a little castile soap or washing-up liquid.

Vinyl flooring

The problem Plasticisers are used to make rigid plastics flexible and bendy, but over time they leach out into the surrounding environment – if you’ve ever had a vinyl pencil case that cracked, that was the plasticiser flaking. Many plasticisers are phthalates, which are hormone disruptors, and some are non-phthalate plasticisers, which can cause or exacerbate problems such as childhood asthma, allergic rhinitis and wheezing. (The safety of non-phthalate plasticisers is still unclear.) “Many studies show that if you have a vinyl floor, the plasticiser that comes off it will be absorbed into dust and then inhaled,” says Paul Scheepers, PhD, a toxicologist at Radboud University in Nijmegen, in the Netherlands. “These chemicals can also penetrate the skin, and if you have small children crawling on the floor, they pick up more by hand to mouth contact than adults.”

The solution Flooring can be tricky, because laminates and engineered wood floors can be made with formaldehyde and other chemicals high in Vocs, as are some floor paints, and synthetic carpets shed polluting fibres. If you can’t change your flooring, “just be careful about dust”, says Dr Scheepers. “The best way to clean vinyl is wet mopping rather than vacuuming.”

Pots and pans

The problem The safety of non-stick pans has been debated for years, but it is increasingly clear that the per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (Pfas) used in non-stick coatings are bad for both us and the environment if they are released when a pan’s surface is scratched or overheated. Known as “forever chemicals”, they are useful because they don’t readily degrade and are oil, water, UV and heat resistant. However, that means that once they get into a body or the environment, it’s nearly impossible to get rid of them, and almost all of us now carry Pfas in our blood. Pfas are extremely hard to avoid as they are used not only in non-stick cookware, but also in food packaging, cosmetics, soft furnishings, outdoor clothing, paints, chrome plating, pharmaceuticals, fire-fighting foams and even as stain repellers in children’s school uniforms.

According to the European Environment Agency, Pfas hurt young children and elderly people the most, and being exposed to high levels of Pfas during pregnancy can cause slower foetal development and lower birth weight. But Pfas overexposure at any time of life is linked to things such as testicular, breast and kidney cancer, liver damage, thyroid disease, raised cholesterol and even obesity. In April this year, MPs on the House of Commons’ environmental audit committee called for a complete ban on all non-essential Pfas in the UK.

The solution “If you’re using metal spatulas in a non-stick frying pan, you’re accelerating the release of the non-stick surface. But if you’re using plastic spatulas, eventually the ends of them degrade, too, so they’re probably producing microplastics,” says Kelly. Avoid using plastic utensils in hot pans, and avoid using metal on non-stick surfaces. Don’t use scratched or warped non-stick pans. If you can, switch to cast-iron or steel cookware, and use wooden or metal utensils.

Bottles, cans and storage boxes

The problem Bisphenol A (BPA) and all other potentially harmful bisphenols in plastics that come into contact with food or drink were banned by the EU in December 2024 after the findings of studies analysed by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) since 2013. In 2023, the EFSA also decided the safe daily limit for bisphenol exposure should be made 20,000 times lower, as bisphenols may negatively affect the immune, reproductive, developmental and metabolic systems. In the UK, however, although BPA is not allowed in things such as children’s toys and babies’ bottles, the Food Standards Agency does allow it in food-contact products such as storage boxes, the lining of cans and reusable bottles. In another case of regrettable substitution, other bisphenols are now often used as replacements for BPA in the UK, which are potentially just as bad, or worse.

Some campaigners say bisphenols can leak from plastics into food, but not everyone agrees. “Bisphenols are part of the chemical structure of the plastic, so they are not released very easily,” says Dr Scheepers. “They’re released if you heat them up, mainly by putting them in a microwave.”

The solution “Look on the package or plastic utensil: if it says PE, which is polyethylene, or PP, which is polypropylene, then as long as they are also marked ‘microwave safe’, those can go in the microwave. If it doesn’t, don’t heat it,” says Dr Scheepers. Alternatively, decant food into glass or ceramic containers before microwaving.

Mould

The problem If a house is cold, damp or poorly ventilated, mould can grow on or in walls, ceilings and furniture. “ When we did the WellHome Study of 100 homes in west London, we found damp in homes where people did not have access to outside spaces to dry their clothes, lived beside a busy road and didn’t want to open the windows and let pollution come in,” says Kelly. This mirrors findings made by Carslaw during a study of homes in Bradford. Mould releases mycotoxins, which can cause allergic reactions or irritate the lungs, eyes, nose and skin, especially in the very young, very old and anyone who has a lung condition or is immunocompromised.

The solution Mould is sometimes caused by leaking roofs or windows, but people can reduce its likelihood by drying clothes outside if possible, and opening windows if not. Open windows after showering and cooking, run extractor fans or buy a dehumidifier. Awaab’s Law (named after two‑year‑old Awaab Ishak, who died in 2020 due to lung damage from mould in his rented home) means landlords now have a legal obligation to deal with mould in rented housing, and to do it quickly.