She chose leading brands of three air fresheners - a solid, a liquid spray and a plug-in oil - as well as a laundry detergent, dryer sheet and fabric softener and, because manufacturers are not mandated to list ingredients in such products, she had each tested in a laboratory to see what, if any, volatile organic compounds they gave off at room temperature.
Turns out there were nearly 100 in the six products, including acetone, limonene and three chemicals - acetaldehyde, chloromethane and 1,4-dioxane - that the Environmental Protection Agency considers to have "no safe exposure level."
— From Forget the fragrance, an article in SFGate recounting what University of Washington professor Anne Steinemann found when she started investigating the chemical composition of scented household products.
Oh, no. Deadly fragrances again. Sigh. Mothers, hide your children, gather your gasmasks, and prepare to wage war against the use of personal scent in public places.
Having a microbiologist as a father, I can tell you that so much of this is just alarmism, and it disturbs me. I have no doubt that you'd have to spray the equivalent of five cans of room spray into a small bathroom every day and be in there 24/7 deeply inhaling the stuff to actually have to worry about your exposure.
Surely we have bigger things to worry about, environmentally.
All true, but for myself, I figure I get plenty of exposure to synthetic aroma chemicals already — I've mostly switched to unscented and/or natural household products over the last couple years.
I agree, this article was too brief and superficial to do us any good. They don't go into how much you would need to be exposed for harm to happen, nor do they specify what type of harm could come to you as a result of exposure. So typical of so-called journalism these days: throw something out there and tell us it COULD kill us without exploring it in detail. Totally irresponsible.
If you do a news search, you'll find more articles, but I didn't really see anything that was significantly more detailed than this one.
This article, in the Baltimore Sun…
http://tinyurl.com/5dvtm6
…is interesting because it points out that many of these same chemicals are found in “unscented” and “natural” products.
I was going to say, I doubt that it is the fragrance part of these substances that is bad for you! Usually it is the carriers.
Likely safer to inhale some of these in normal usage amounts than breathing in a lungful of typical LA freeway smog!
Even if it is found that this stuff gives you cancer, makes your skin fall off, and increases the likelihood of your children born without heads- it won't matter.
Why? For the same reason that people still smoke, drink, rock-climb, eat chocolate cake after steak, and drive too fast.
Not everything beautiful and enjoyable in this life good for you.
I found it interesting that the chemicals that were found to be the problem were classified as unsafe by the gov (who usually need to be hit over the head with a clue-by-four before they'll admit *anything*) – and I don't think they're ones you find in personal fragrances such as are reviewed and used by us perfume aficionados…
I personally suffer from chronic headaches, usually induced, it turns out, from chemical exposures: solvents and the petrochemicals used for fertilizer, pesticides, herbicides, etc. (I figured this out living across the street from a golf course – I don't recommend living on one from that perspective). I just spent a year in absolute hell from pain and neurological dysfunction before we hit on the likely cause and moved.
I can wear perfume with abandon, but if my neighbor does his laundry early in the morning the vented fumes which come directly into my condo's front windows will trigger a very nasty migraine that will last the whole day and require heavy duty pain medication. I keep those windows closed now until the coast is clear and no problem.
So there's definitely something in those laundry products that isn't in my collection of perfumes.
I agree that all the alarmist stuff is very annoying – someone made a comment on another blog that the people that are trying to restrict the use of perfumes are usually all about control masked by concern over “toxins”. I've seen this in my own family members and it's truly maddening. It becomes this sort of religious fanaticism, which I, well, fanatically stay the heck away from, LOL…
I have a good friend who is an indoor air engineer and studies this kind of thing. We have a lot of good natured conversations about the many ways one can die and whether or not perfume is worth worrying about (he has a wonderfully dry, dark sense of humor). He says he rarely studies perfume itself, because it is so chemically complex that they have a hard time figuring out what exactly is causing the toxins, but you would not believe the sorts of components that plain old essential oils break down into when you put them into a diffuser. (Lavendar oil, for example, breaks down into formaldehyde among other things.) He claims that delivery is a huge part of the issue. Spraying oils mixed with water into the air from an atomizer or shaking a few drops on a piece of cloth is a thousand times better than putting it into a diffuser and creating a microfine vapor that you then take into your lungs. Perfume worries him mainly because we spray it close to our heads and inhale it (greedily and often, in my case). But, then, he doesn't light candles, scented or unscented, either… And there are so many other ways to come to harm, no?
Tama, quite probably true! Although once I started paying attention, the amount of “fragrance” we're surrounded w/ on a daily basis is really sort of incredible. I actually prefer having unscented things just to get a break!
I'd rather eat a steak & smoke a cigarette than smell air freshener though 😉
The amount of fragrance in dryer sheets is astounding…our dryer vents out the side of the house, but if windows are open, you can smell it everywhere in the house…another reason I switched products to something naturally scented (and “less” scented).
I know what you mean about control issues & fanaticism, but I don't think that's it in all cases, and for those few who suffer from serious chemical sensitivities, it must be a very difficult world to live in.
Another reason why it's just as well that I can't afford that L'Artisan Chez Moi, right? But I do use scented candles, not daily, but regularly.
Interesting topic. With my interest in perfumes growing at a frightening rate, I'm trying to keep them center stage in my indoor olfactory world. This means trying to avoid scented household products (have you smelled some of the kitty litter out there, for example? Horrors!). I see no reason to use room sprays or dryer sheets at all (and that means more money in the perfume budget – grin). I'm also sticking to unscented lotions, deoderants, and other body products. There are exceptions to my new rules: I have a few carefully chosen scented candles, and I have a hard time resisting good scented soap.
I recently bought a pair of “dryer balls” that one throws into the dryer along with a load of clothes, that bounce around and help soften up the clothing. It's not as good as dryer sheets, but it is a chemical-free alternative, and a one-time purchase, as opposed to continually buying more dryer sheets.
Scented kitty litter? I guess it's been a very long time since I've had a cat! I love good soap too, but it isn't “airborne” so I don't worry about it so very much.
I haven't seen those! Do they work?
I agree that there are people that absolutely can't tolerate any fragrances at all – that was me about 10 years ago, but I've slowly gotten better over time, thank heavens (it's only been about 3 years now that I can wear fragrance at all – in products or for enjoyment and I still use unscented laundry products)… and yes, it's difficult to be in public at all in that situation. I was pretty much housebound for that and other health issues for a long time and thus avoiding fragrances for the most part.
What I would do if a friend would wear something that triggered headaches is tell them politely what my situation was and then ask them to accommodate me if possible. This is a far cry from the really hostile and roundabout remarks I've gotten from friends and family in lieu of simply asking. My sister actually said to a table full of relatives that her dogs kept sniffing me because they figured I'd rolled in something very dead and thus interesting to them!
Sometimes I'll visit the “Campaign for Safe Cosmetics” skin deep database online, mostly out of curiosity–just to see how they rank certain fragrances by their list of terms. They don't have an expansive list, but some of the major department store brands are covered. Givenchy does pretty well, while Estee Lauder might be amongst the worst. Dior's “Poison”, despite its dangerous-seeming name, is one of the safer ones. As long as my skin isn't going to melt and implode in on itself upon contact, I'll brave minimal risks for a reasonable wearing of my favorite fragrances. However, I've also graduated to bar soap/shampoos only, use very few skin creams/potions/oils and mostly limit home fragrance to bundles of lavender and roses; spices, dried berries and pine for winter :). But I will light a candle if it smells charming enough and I won't trade a lifetime of joy derived from scent, for two extra days in a hygienically sealed compartment. The whole “quality over quanity” deal, etc. Give and take, I suppose, while being cautious whenever possible.
Ooo–I also wanted to comment about “layering” scent; I tend to be less interested in fragrances that require multiple modes of application in order to be fully appreciated. I like EDPs that are “secure” enough to stand alone, without having to be backed up by a lotion concentration or additional EDT (although, by my own principle, bar soaps are always a go :D). I'm sure there are many people who would claim the opposite–body lotion only, no EDP. So I suppose it might be a question of how much of a concentration of chemicals you'd want applied.
Yet, again! Kudos to you for posting this; like sharks and coral are dangers to surfers, so should perfumistas be aware of the hazards of their passion. Have you read what's posted about this on the “LesNez” website? There's quite an expression of displeasure over the possiblity of even stricter industry regulations. Articles are listed under “Health Matters”.
reasonably well! Great for towels, not quite as great for de-staticing clothes in the “silky underthings I probably shouldn't be tumble-drying in the first place” as the sheets, so I use a combination… dryer balls when I can, method unscented sheets when I need 'em.
I didn't like the article at all. It used scientific language in ways that the general public will not really understand and which will just cause alarm, just like most brief pieces on scientific research. The reason there is “no safe exposure level,” to certain chemicals is that each and every molecule of a compound has a chance of altering your cells and causing harm. Exposure to one molecule of something could theoretically cause cancer. Also, I didn't like that the article practically mentioned feeling queasy from scents and cancer in the same breath. I know I feel queasy every time I walk down the laundry aisle, but I don't get cancer ever time I do.
Thanks, I'm going to see if I can find some.
Thanks for commenting. How nice for you that you've recovered, at least to some extent.
I am massively annoyed by most of the industry regulations myself — much of what they're “outlawing” strikes me as ridiculous. Natural citrus oils, for instance, bah! I'll check out that site.
It is true, but the other option seems to be to not report on these issues at all, and I don't care for that either. People simply have to be responsible enough to do their own research — we can't count on the daily papers to report scientific or medical news in a comprehensive way.
I'd rather smoke a steak than eat a cigarette than smell air freshener. Gag. Why are they so awful? I think a nice perfume does the job so much better 🙂
And joining your corner once again to agree that, as a fragrance obsessive, almost all my household purchases are unscented, from the detergent to the toilet paper. I actually returned a box of kitchen trash bags to the store for an exchange when I realized I'd accidentally bought “odor fighting” scented bags (who knew)? They were worse than the garbage. I find it interesting/funny how many of those household product scents make me feel vaguely sick, and I almost never have that reaction to perfume.
PS Clearly I need to get a life, but having not used scented anything on my laundry for so long, I realized it was developing this weird, old-laundry smell even when clean, particularly the sheets and towels (static I don't care about.) We have a front-loading high volume washer. I did some poking around online and now “freshen” my laundry by throwing some baking soda in the laundry itself before washing, and pouring vinegar into the teeny bleach dispenser. The laundry just smells pleasantly clean without any particular scent (I keep lavender sachets in the linen closet). The first time I did it I did worry a bit that some chemical reaction with the baking soda was going to cause the whole thing to explode!
The neuro-micro-bio-etc. researchers that I've had this conversation with, have said this much: ” Really, any irritant can prompt irregular cells to do their thing. We're surrounded by irritants all of the time. Unless, of course, you inhaled gallons of these potions a day” to which, I accepted and expressed my impending doom.
Other than that, changing things is really about cost. A synthetic replacement can be just as irritating and often more so, than its natural predecessor. Banning something like citrus oils, is as odd as banning pine trees–people are going to eat oranges and be exposed to them. Anyone who wants to smell like one should have the choice to risk irritation. As far as public health is concerned, fragrance wearers run the risk of being unappreciated by their neighbors, but they hardly endanger them with cancer-causing-super-galactic fragrance rays. Except for when they wear “Love in White”. It's the fragrant equivalent of nuclear warfare.
Gosh, I didn't know — scented garbage bags?
I am cracking up at my “100% Biodegradable Natural Hypoallergenic” dryer sheets. It says very clearly on the side of the box “No Perfumes”, then the top of the box says “Fresh Citrus”, and in fact, they smell like orange baby aspirin. So what does “no perfume” mean, anyway?
LOL, they can ban Love In White all they want, just leave me my citrus & oakmoss.