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Scrubbing the toilet just got a little more unpleasant — something we hadn’t thought possible.

According to new research published in the journal Environmental Health, women who use household cleaning products regularly may run a higher risk of developing breast cancer compared to women who use such products sparingly — and those reporting the highest usage may face double the risk.

Before you sprint to your cleaning closet and arbitrarily pitch its contents, consider this — of the household products included in this research, air fresheners and cleaners used to control mold and mildew were most strongly associated with an increased risk for breast cancer.

More than 1,500 women were involved in the study, 787 of whom have breast cancer and 721 of whom do not. Participants provided information about their lifestyles, from pesticide consumption (which appears to have little impact) to product use and established or suspected risk factors for breast cancer.

So, what should you do the next time the kids or pets track dirt and mud through your kitchen?

DO: Understand that this study is believed to be the first of its kind and that some bias is possible, since women living with breast cancer may be hypersensitive to the presence of chemicals in their lives and can even fall prone to over-estimating their past product usage.

DON’T: Live in fear of a clean home. We consider fear to be a crummy lifestyle – and so many studies have established possible links to breast cancer that you’d have to live in a bubble to avoid any risk.

DO: Apply your street smarts at home. Research the products you buy and only use what you need to. Use fans and ventilation before, during, and after a cleaning session to reduce the presence of chemicals in the air and consider wearing rubber gloves to keep chemicals away from your skin.

DON’T: Feel bad about those dust bunnies in the corner or that ever-present layer of film on the shower door. If there’s one upside to another study linking our daily choices to breast cancer, it’s this – if researchers are going after our cleaning products, then they’re giving us a great reason to put the mop down and kick our feet up.

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