Could you be using, or even consuming, cancer-causing chemicals?

Consumer health groups have studied many household products and warned that they contain carcinogens, or ingredients known to cause cancer.

Here are the prime products to send packing, along with safer replacements to substitute:

1. Nonstick Cookware

Pots, pans, and other cookware made with a Nonstick coating (Teflon) have been controversial for many years. The main chemical in nonstick coatings is perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), which is known to cause cancer.

The question has been whether enough PFOA gets into the human body from pans to pose a risk. Some experts believe that PFOA and as many as 15 other chemicals can be released when cooking with these coatings, particularly at high heat. Other concerns involve whether the chemicals can get into food once the surface becomes scratched and nicked over time.

The EPA has called on manufacturers to phase out PFOA, but it hasn’t happened yet.

The takeaway: Don’t use nonstick pans to cook foods over 300 degrees, and toss them when the coating gets scratched.

Safer substitute: Glass, cast iron, copper, and ceramic or porcelain-coated pans are all safe. There are also lines of Nonstick Cookware made with other surface coatings (often ceramic, titanium, or both) that are PFOA-free.

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2. Cosmetics

Your makeup bag and medicine cabinet may be hazardous to your health, containing chemicals that are known carcinogens. Philip Landrigan, Dean of Global Health at Mount Sinai School of Medicine, advises avoiding the “dirty dozen” toxic chemicals in skincare listed in National Geographic’s Green Guide, including:

• Antibacterials
• Formaldehyde
• Hydroquinone
• Mercury
• Lead
• Parabens
• Phenylenediamine
• Coal tar
• Diethanolamine
• 1,4-Dioxane
• Nanoparticles
• Petroleum distillates

According to Landrigan, chemicals belonging to a class called phthalates are among the biggest culprits in beauty products because they