Are there items that you are using in your home that could be polluting the air you breathe? If you’ve got problems like a chronically runny nose, itchy, watery eyes, or a nagging cough – and you’re nowhere near the typical allergy season – there might be an issue with the air quality inside your home. 90% of your time is spent indoors, and if there’s something in your home emitting a pollutant, there’s a good chance you’re breathing it in.

What you might think of as benign might actually be compromising your home’s air quality…and you might not even know it! We’ve rounded up 7 air pollutants we think you should know about:

Pollutant: Mold

Where it’s coming from: Your old, moldy houseplant

What happens: Over-watered plants with wet soil are breeding grounds for mold and mildew.

The fix: Try an automatic plant waterer – you can even make your own! – that provides water to the plant as needed, which can prevent it from being oversaturated.

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Pollutant: VOCs

Where it’s coming from: Carpet and furniture

What happens: Many carpets are treated with a stain resistant or flame-retardant chemical, which can then off-gas into your air. With furniture, they can come from the glues and binders used in particleboard.

The fix: For furniture, look for certified solid wood products or secondhand furniture that’s lead-free. For carpets, look for Green Label products. Investing in a good vacuum cleaner with a HEPA filter can help improve your indoor air quality, as can an air purifier that can destroy contaminants, odors, and VOCs.

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Pollutant: Chlorine

Where it’s coming from: Steam from your long morning shower

What happens: Chlorine from unfiltered water steam can become airborne and travel throughout your home as a gas.

The fix: Look for a showerhead filter that removes chlorine (and other potentially harmful contaminants). Invest in a high-quality air purifier that can eliminate contaminants and pollutants within your home as well.

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Pollutant: Benzene & toulene

Where it’s coming from: Candles

What happens: Burning the candles releases the chemicals in the candle right into your air.

The fix: Use pure essential oils (a few drops added to a spray bottle of distilled water) or, if you have to have the glow and ambience of a candle, choose beeswax candles, which actually emit negative ions (that’s a good thing)!

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Pollutant: Artificial dyes and fragrances

Where it’s coming from: Laundry products like detergent, bleach and fabric softeners

What happens: The chemicals that make up these products are being emitted right from your dryer vent, and there’s no current way to regulate this.

The fix: Units like the Laundry Pro 2.0 eliminate the need for bleaches, detergents and fabric softeners – which means the fumes aren’t re-circulated, and as a bonus, they’re not in contact with your skin or leaching into the water supply, either.

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Pollutant: Polytetrafluoroethylene

Where it’s coming from: Nonstick cookware

What happens: At high temperatures, the chemical polytetrafluoroethylene can release and contribute to the air pollution of your home. This chemical has also been linked with thyroid disease and ADHD.

The fix: If you see a nick or scratch in your nonstick cookware, it’s time to stop using it. Stoneware, heavy-duty stainless steel or enamel-coated cast iron can be great alternatives.

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Pollutant: Ozone

Where it’s coming from: fumes from bleach, ammonia and other household cleaners

What happens: Fumes from these products can create ozone, and many cleaners contain artificial fragrances and dyes that can cause contact dermatitis, as well as trigger asthma and allergy symptoms.

The fix: Make your own cleaners! Inexpensive, green cleaning ingredients like white vinegar, lemon, and baking soda can be just as effective at a fraction of the cost and with no negative impact on indoor air quality.