The increasing numbers of cancer cases have lots of people worried about what they're coming into contact with. For fear of being exposed to a carcinogen, some of them refuse to even leave their house. Toronto, Vancouver, and other big cities certainly have plenty of environmental toxins to avoid, but regardless of whether you live in a small town or a city, even if you stay at home you could be exposing yourself to cancer risks if you don't take the precaution of keeping some common carcinogens out of your home and neighborhood.

Although the packages aren't obligated to warn you, some household products commonly found in people's home such as cat litter, cleaners, pet flea collars, and pesticides contain cancer causing agents. Acid blue 9, found in toilet bowl cleaners; sodium silicate, found in some dishwashing detergents; formaldehyde, used in some cleaning products; and aluminum silicate, found in some paints; are just a few examples of ingredients that you should avoid when shopping for the home. Many companies make naturally sourced alternatives that are much better for your health, as are traditional cleaners like baking soda and vinegar.

These chemicals, even if stored away and used properly, are still present in small aerosolized amounts in the air, affecting your indoor air quality. Products can leech out of their containers into the air and for treated wood and paint, slowly contaminate the air in small quantities. For houses with little ventilation, these chemicals can build up. Even in normal homes the concentration is 500 times higher inside than outside. Studies have shown that over 400 toxic chemicals from household products have ended up in human blood and fat due to their presence in indoor air.

At the neighborhood level, it can be difficult to avoid carcinogens, especially in areas where everyone treats their lawns with chemicals to maintain the home's resale values. Carbaryl and diazinon are two particularly common and dangerous substances found in weed killers and insecticides. The biggest danger posed by neighborhood chemical sprays is to children and pets, who spend more time playing on the lawn and whose noses are closer to the source.

To help keep your home toxin free, download the list of chemicals to avoid from Preventcancer.org and always follow the labels regarding usage for toxic products that can't be avoided. The risks of ignoring the problem and focusing instead on your house plans are dire. Neighborhood pesticide sprays increase the risk of leukemia and brain cancer in children, and use of some types of cosmetics and hair dyes increases the risk of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma in women.

All of this information on keeping safe at home was provided by Ideal Warehouse Innovations Inc.. A company who is committed to keeping you safe in the warehouse workplace.