Walking into my teenage son's room the other day, I nearly gagged. No, it wasn't the smell of unwashed clothes or half-eaten food that got me. It was the opposite problem—air freshener. His own personal can.
Like many young people, my son has been conditioned to expect everything to have an aggressively pleasant, artificial smell.
It's a mark of the times. From fabric softener to garbage bags, and moisturizer to lip gloss, today's household and personal care products are perfumed. Cleanser companies encourage us to choose their products based on scent rather than cleaning properties. Personal care items are advertised as fashion statements. The deodorant made by Secret is promoted, literally, as a form of self-expression.
To me, it's absurd, but I'd say "to each his own" if it were just a question of fashion. Unfortunately, it's also a matter of health.
An individual fragrance may be made with dozens if not hundreds of synthetic chemicals and need not be cleared for safety before going to market.
Not only doesn't government require safety testing. It doesn't require that the ingredients in fragrances be identified on product labels. The ingredients are protected as trade secrets.
A 2007 study of air fresheners by NRDC found phthalates (pronounced tha-lates) in 12 of 14 brand-name products NRDC tested, including some marketed as "all-natural" or "unscented." Phthalates are endocrine disruptors that can cause hormonal abnormalities, birth defects and reproductive problems. None of the air fresheners tested listed phthalates on its label.
Similar results were found in a 2002 study of cosmetics by a coalition of environmental and public health organizations.
Other hazardous chemicals in fragrances include volatile organic compounds, some of which are carcinogenic and cause neurotoxic and respiratory effects. Another class of chemicals of concern is synthetic musks, which, according to preliminary research, may be endocrine disruptors, like phthalates.
For reasons that are not yet well understood, fragrances also seem to trigger allergic-like reactions in certain people. People with MCS may experience headaches, nausea, confusion, abdominal pain and a host of other symptoms when exposed to common chemicals.
What do to about this? Eliminate or cut back on your use of scented products, especially if you are of childbearing age.
* Avoid air fresheners. Open the windows instead.
* Use water, white vinegar and baking soda for routine cleaning jobs. If soap is needed, try castile soap.
* Look up fragrance-free products and homemade alternatives in the Guide to Less Toxic Products.
* Check Skin Deep, the Environmental Working Group's cosmetic safety database, to see if your favorite personal care products are safe and to find safer alternatives.
* Make sure the words "fragrance" or "parfum" do not appear in the ingredient list of cosmetics.
* Use fewer cosmetics and reduce or eliminate your use of perfume.
Do not rely on product claims of being "unscented" or "fragrance-free." A product labeled as such may still be made with fragrances.
Nor should you rely on the words "natural," "organic" or "hypoallergenic." They do not guarantee the absence of fragrance.
As to my own efforts to protect my son—I've thrown out his air freshener and forbade him to get more. Our next battlefront: deodorant.
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