If so, the Center for Health, Environment & Justice, a national environment organization, says that vinyl shower curtains sold at major retailers across the country emit toxic chemicals that have been linked to serious health problems. We’re talking damage to the central nervous, respiratory, and reproductive systems.

I’m not a Chicken Little, who fears the sky is falling just because I take a shower in a hotel room with a vinyl shower curtain. (We have a glass-enclosed shower back home in Florida.) But I can see how a mixture of hot water and steam and plastic shower curtains could be problematic. It seems like shower curtains are made from vinyl chloride, which is a major building block of polyvinyl chloride, or PVC.  That’s not good news because PVC is a suspected human carcinogen that causes liver cancer.

There’s some good news to report. Target and Kmart said they are phasing out the sale of shower curtains that contain PVC. In fact, Target claims that 90 percent of its “store-brand” shower curtains were made from materials other than PVC. Bed Bath & Beyond has jumped into the tub by increasing their number of PVC-free shower curtains.

So if you’re going to be switching those shower curtains this summer because they’re getting pretty rank, shop for PVC-free curtains. Be a good shopper and look for them.