Our test tells you which everyday chemicals you've recently come into contact with, and easy steps you can follow to reduce your exposure to them.
5th January 2026
Five easy ways to reduce exposure to everyday chemicals
At the start of the new year, we’d like to share our five easiest ways to help reduce your exposure to everyday chemicals in 2026.
One – avoid UPFs
Ultra processed foods were the talk of 2025, raising public awareness about their high levels of saturated fat, salts, and sugar, artificial preservatives, flavours, and colours, and the risk they pose to our health
UPFs are formulated with a chemical base of texture enhancers, and emulsifiers. The only way to avoid them is to cook from scratch with your own ingredients, to reduce your exposure to some of these chemical additives. The YUKA app now scans thousands of foods for artificial ingredients.
Easy win: ditch processed cereals and go organic for breakfast
Switch to organic bread and cereals grown without chemicals; it reduces your exposure to pesticides and herbicides used in the production of cereals and flours. Glyphosate is the most widely used herbicide and has links to cancer – so best avoided.
Two – swap plastic water bottles for glass or metal
Microplastics were another huge subject in 2025 with thousands of posts and comments about them on social media. It’s estimated that we inhale or ingest up to 2000-7000 microplastic particles a day – they’re in our food and drink.
Microplastics can make their way into the microbiome, and might be a factor in disrupting the gut-brain axis which could help explain rises in Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease, so anything we can do to reduce our exposure is worthwhile.
Easy win: stop drinking water in plastic bottles – a one litre plastic bottle of water may contain up to a quarter of a million tiny microplastic particles.
Three – keep checking toiletries and cosmetics ingredients
Thousands of toiletries and cosmetics have parabens and phthalates in their ingredients list. Formulations permit the use of these suspected EDCs at so-called “safe” levels, but some are associated with increased risks of breast cancer and fertility rates.
If you haven’t discovered it already, download the YUKA app on your phone and use it to scan thousands of cosmetics and toiletry products for information about chemical ingredients – it’s free and simple to use.
Easy win: switch one product with a low score to one with a high score – it’s a start!
Four – take your shoes off at your front door
Pesticides, chemicals, tyre dust, and traces of petrol are picked up on the soles of our shoes from roads, pavements, and pathways. Walking around at home in shoes you’ve worn outdoors transports these trace chemicals around the house where they can settle as dust in every room, including your bedroom.
Easy win: take your shoes off at the door – leave them in a porch if you have one.
Five – stop using dishwasher rinse
Research published in 2023 found that exposure to industrial strength dishwasher rinses leave residues can disrupt the gut epithelial barrier that might cause immune and epithelial gut inflammation responses.
Whilst concentrations of any potentially disruptive ingredients may be lower in domestic products, it’s easy to swap from rinse aid to just water. Your dishes may take a while longer to dry, but they’ll be free of any chemical residues rinse aids can leave behind. You won’t get that chemical smell when you open the door either!
Easy win: when the lo-rinse aid warning light goes on, fill the compartment up with water, and add a squeeze of lemon juice for a fresh fragrance and a bit of shine.