14 Household Items That Can Cause Cancer

As a caring parent and spouse, you want to ensure that your family is as healthy and happy as possible. Who doesn’t want to provide the highest-quality and safest things for their household? It probably never crosses your mind that some of the products you bring into your home on a regular basis contain cancer-causing substances. We assume that if something is for sale in a store, it must have been tested and proven to be safe, right? This can be a dangerous assumption, and it’s one that no one should make in today’s world. Keep reading and see if your home has any of these cancer-causing items so that you can remove them and make your home safe again.

 

Party Candles on a Slice of Birthday Cake

Photo credit: bigstock.com

1. Scented Candles

Most scented candles use lead wicks, while lead is one of the most disastrous things for your health. It is used to make the wicks last longer and burn more steadily, but lead is a deadly toxin that provokes behavior problems and hormone disruption. Even though the U.S. Consumer Council has banned the sale of lead wick candles, you should still check the item you are going to purchase. Hold the wick and try to use it to draw a line on the paper. If you cannot see a smudge or line, your candle probably does not have a lead wick.

Paraffin wax also creates highly toxic compounds. Toluene and benzene are both known carcinogens that are released into the air anytime paraffin wax candles are burned. Some candles also use artificial colors and artificial fragrances, which you inhale whenever you burn one of these candles.

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