For the last 15 years, I’ve been deep in the weeds of researching environmental toxins, and optimizing my home for air quality, water, EMF, and more recently - lighting. I thought my setup was pretty dialed in.
Then, while speaking at a conference last year, the organizer generously gifted me a comprehensive home assessment by Light Work Home. My initial reaction was, “Sure, this could be interesting, but I doubt they’ll find anything meaningful, though.”
Oh, the smugness… That assumption turned out to be very wrong! 😭
Despite all the steps we’d already taken, the testing revealed several important blind spots where I could be doing much better, especially when it comes to AC electrical current, lighting, and (gasp) water filtration!! It was genuinely eye-opening and a good reminder that low-toxin living isn’t a box you check once and move on from…
It’s a process. Not a destination. And definitely not all-or-nothing.
Why Does It Matter?
Environmental toxins are one of the most underappreciated drivers of chronic disease today, and I believe they often sit at the root of many vague, hard-to-explain symptoms like fatigue, brain fog, skin issues, and more.
They rarely cause immediate problems. Instead, they accumulate quietly in our bodies over time, which makes them difficult to identify.
A growing body of research links common environmental exposures, including air pollutants such as PM2.5, nitrogen dioxide, and volatile organic compounds, to a wide range of health outcomes.
These include fertility challenges, metabolic dysfunction, cardiovascular disease, neurodegenerative conditions like dementia, and multiple forms of cancer.1234
When you look at the leading causes of death in the United States—heart disease, cancer, and dementia, environmental exposures show up again and again as contributing factors.5 And yet it is the one area most doctors are still not talking to their patients about.
It Starts with Water
The FIRST thing I’d do in any home is to install a water filter.
Why?
45% of US tap water test positive for PFAs, aka forever chemicals, which have been linked to hormone disruption, increased cancer risk, fertility issues, high blood pressure, and more.6 There are also often heavy metals (neurotoxins), pesticides, and even pharmaceuticals found in US drinking water—so water filtration is KEY.
Now, my water filter was one of the first things that SHOCKED ME.
As you saw, Dom tested both my kitchen drinking water and my shower water.
I had chosen a kitchen filter that specifically targeted the main contaminant of concern in my water: trihalomethanes.
I even verified that it was working immediately after installation:
🛍️ I use TapScore to test my water (PLATEFUL10 for 10% off - valid until Feb 20 only). This is the at-home water-testing kit I personally use. If you have a water filter, I highly recommend you test the water quality to ensure it is doing what it says it should be doing…..
But the follow-up testing by Dom 4 months later told a very different story.
Despite the filter being only 4 months old (and I’m supposed to change them every 6-12 months according to the manual), my kitchen water showed outrageously high levels of trihalomethanes. 🤯
This was a clear wake-up call that having a water filter doesn’t automatically mean consistently clean water.
In my case, because the THMs in my tap water were astronomically high (a sobering thought for my neighbors who don’t use a filter at all 🙀), the filter started declining far earlier than the 6–12 month replacement window the manufacturer suggested…
Based on guidance from Light Home, I’ve since switched to a different filtration system, just so I don’t have to keep changing filters every 2-3 months.
I’ll be re-testing the water again at the four-month mark to see how it performs compared to the previous filter, and report back.
🛍️ For air/water products I use in my home 👉 Click here 🏡
Moving onto Air
Luckily, he found my indoor air quality to be excellent and recommended that I continue to use my air purifiers since they seem to be working very well (I have one in each room).
This is the air filter (Affiliate discount link) I use in my home (BIG sale on right now):
💡Hot TIP from Light Work Home: Ensure air purifiers are always on and set to run continuously instead of “auto.” Air purifiers set to “auto” mode are often triggered only when particulate matter reaches certain concentrations and particle sizes, which means smaller particles can accumulate in the meantime. We recommend running the air purifiers continuously at whichever setting is most comfortable in terms of noise.
Additionally, ensure the filters are changed regularly.
Dirty Electricity/EMF?
Dom also covers dirty electricity and EMF in the video and shares several genuinely low-hanging fruit strategies you can start implementing right away.
I recommend watching the videos in full.
I’ll be sharing a separate article shortly that goes deeper into practical, realistic ways to reduce EMF exposure in the home, without aiming for perfection or turning daily life upside down. Stay tuned, but he identified this power strip next to my work desk which was constantly emitting high electrical fields - and I sat there 7-8 hours a day 😫 - an easy solution is to switch the power strip off, and only turn it on when I need to charge something.
The tip he gave about Kindles in the video is another low-hanging fruit.
If you’re interested in home testing:
Light Work Home
This is the comprehensive testing service I used (you can get a sense of what they did in my home in the video above). If you mention “Dr. Vivian Chen”, you’ll receive a 10% discount if you decide to work with them.
I like that Dom from Light Work Home took a nuanced approach and busted a LOT of common myths around:
Light flicker
Dirty electricity (TLDR: save your money on those ‘plugs’)
The shocking items that were spiking insanely high EMF in my home were smart plugs for lighting that my husband installed, his blood pressure cuff (??), and also the cordless phone we have - which my husband sits next to a lot! So that got moved.
The detailed steps and swaps they recommended to help me reduce the AC electrical field and improve the lighting in my house were very helpful, too.
Quick Links:
🎁 Quick heads up: Pique - my favorite triple-toxin tested tea (up to 20% off via my commissionable link) - just brought back their Red Pu’er 🙌 and they’re gifting a free box ($38 value) on $120+ orders until Feb 14th 🤎. It was only around for a short time before it sold out. If you’ve been around for a while, you’ll know that I love their:
Matcha (for calm energy, antioxidants, gut and liver health)
Black Pu’er for metabolic and gut health
LA ginger (my favorite ginger tea)
Nandaka (also for calm energy, antioxidants, adaptogens)
Also love all their other teas too…
🛍️ Product I use in my home - I only share products that I love and use in my own home. Click to see more
My water filter article - Want to learn more about how to choose the right water filter for YOU? Click here
My air quality article - Air pollution is a huge health issue, as highlighted in the 2025 report from the Royal College of Physicians. Read more about it here.
I'm an affiliate for some of the products linked on my website. I get asked about products I use and love all the time, and by being an affiliate, I can negotiate discount codes to share with you, plus earn a small commission if you use my code or link to purchase. This helps me to support my research so that I can continue to provide the content on my platform, thank you so much for your support.
Tong M, Lu H, Xu H et al. Reduced human fecundity attributable to ambient fine particles in low- and middleincome countries. Environ Int 2024;189: 08784. https:// doi.org/10.1016/j.envint.2024.108784
Xu R, Zhong Y, Li R et al. Association between exposure to ambient air pollution and semen quality: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Sci Total Environ 2023;870:161892. https://doi.org/10.1016/j. scitotenv.2023.161892
Ghosh R, Causey K, Burkart K, Wozniak S, Cohen A, Brauer M. Ambient and household PM2.5 pollution and adverse perinatal outcomes: A meta-regression and analysis of attributable global burden for 204 countries and territories. PLoS Med 2021;18:e1003718. https://doi. org/10.1371/journal.pmed.1003718
Calderón-Garcidueñas L, Stommel EW, Lachmann I et al. TDP-43 CSF concentrations increase exponentially with age in metropolitan Mexico City young urbanites highly exposed to PM2.5 and ultrafine particles and historically showing Alzheimer and Parkinson’s hallmarks. Brain TDP43 pathology in MMC residents is associated with high cisternal CSF TDP-43 concentrations. Toxics 2022;10:559. https://doi.org/10.3390/toxics10100559
Health Effects Institute. State of global air report 2024. Health Effects Institute, 2024. <www.stateofglobalair.org/ resources/report/state-global-air-report-2024>, Accessed April 3rd 2025
U.S. Geological Survey. Tap water study detects PFAS ‘forever chemicals’ across U.S. [Internet]. Reston (VA): USGS; 2023 Jul 5 [cited 2026 Feb 4]. Available from: https://www.usgs.gov/news/national-news-release/tap-water-study-detects-pfas-forever-chemicals-across-us
