Finding cleaning and other products that are safer for you, your family, and the environment should be easy — that's why EPA developed the Safer Choice label. Everyone plays a role in protecting our families’ health and the environment. Before a product can carry the Safer Choice label, EPA reviews all chemical ingredients, regardless of their percentage in the product. Every ingredient must meet strict safety criteria for both human health and the environment, including carcinogenicity, reproductive/developmental toxicity, toxicity to aquatic life, and persistence in the environment.

Neurological problems impact millions of people, but only a fraction of cases can be attributed to genetics alone, indicating that unknown environmental factors are important contributors to neurological disease.

The new study, published in the journal Nature Neuroscience, discovered that some common home chemicals specifically affect the brain’s oligodendrocytes, a specialized cell type that generates the protective insulation around nerve cells.