Maybe you’ve already heard that fragrance really stinks. But really, how bad can it be, considering it’s in pretty much every personal and home care product on the market?

Some say that fragrance in products is the modern day equivalent to secondhand smoke, but isn’t that a bit dramatic?

Let’s dig deeper … I think you’ll be surprised by what you learn in this blog.

What Exactly is Fragrance, Anyway?

That’s an excellent question! Back when labeling laws were being drafted in the United States, manufacturers feared that their product formulas would be stolen. These companies lobbied Congress to allow them to omit certain ingredients on product labels, resulting in laws that don’t require manufacturers to disclose ingredients in the fragrance portion of their products.

It’s considered a loophole in the labeling laws, and the word “fragrance” (sometimes “perfume” or “parfum”) may legally be hiding dozens, hundreds, or even thousands of ingredients, many of which are strongly linked to a variety of health and behavior problems.

Hair products are especially problematic, but we’re also talking about all kinds of personal care products, laundry and cleaning supplies, perfumes and air fresheners.

The legal loophole is now outdated because chemical technology advances enable scientists to reverse engineer any chemical formula to determine its component parts.

Yet consumers still remain in the dark.

Meanwhile, consumer advocates have done a lot of research into fragrance ingredients and have found chemicals that are classified as carcinogens, respiratory irritants, endocrine disruptors, neurotoxins and allergens in all sorts of everyday products.

But How Bad Is Fragrance, Really?

Listen, I know what you’re thinking. We all want to smell good, and it’s our right in this free country to use anything we want, as long as it’s not hurting others.

You might be surprised to learn that it’s not only hurting others, but also more dangerous to you and your family than you might think.

Let’s take a look at how exposure to fragranced products could be setting you and your family up for health challenges.

Nearly All Fragrance Ingredients are Carcinogens

Of the 3,000+ chemicals that are commonly used to create signature scents, nearly all of them are derived from petroleum, aka crude oil. Examples include benzene, phthalates, toluene, and styrene.

I dare you to Google these chemicals!!

A large majority of fragrance ingredients like the ones listed above are carcinogens. This means they are known to cause cancer in living tissue.

Trust me when I say that having cancer is no fun.

I’m not saying that avoiding fragrance is going to 100% prevent cancer. However it’s a contributing factor that you can easily control by using unscented products, or products that are scented with botanical ingredients disclosed on the label.

A Majority of Fragranced Products Contain Phthalates

And then there’s phthalates (pronounced ‘thal-ate-s’). Research by the Environmental Working Group found that 70% of common personal care products contain phthalates, which are a category of chemicals that help fragrances to linger longer. The problem is that phthalates are endocrine disruptors, which means that they interfere with human hormones. Phthalates have been linked to male reproductive birth defects and low sperm count.

Phthalates are also linked to behavioral challenges including autism, AD/HD, disruptive behavior and neurological disorders. A New York Times article quoted the author of a 2010 study about this matter:

Epidemiologist and pediatrician Dr. Philip J. Landrigan (one of the world’s leading children’s health advocates) said that he is “increasingly confident that autism and other ailments are, in part, the result of the impact of environmental chemicals on the brain as it is being formed.” He adds, “[T]he crux of this is brain development. If babies are exposed in the womb or shortly after birth to chemicals that interfere with brain development, the consequences last a lifetime.”

If you’re a special needs parent, you might have found that difficult to read. And I’m so very sorry. As a special needs mama myself, I can tell you that we all do the best we can with the information that we have at the time. What I want you to know is that you can lessen your family’s burden of chemicals in hopes of improving future outcomes by making changes right now, but there’s no worldly reason for you to beat yourself up for information that you didn’t know when it might have made a difference.

If this is you … BIG HUGS!!

Fragrance Transparency on Product Labels

What bugs me the most about fragrance ingredients is that the knowledge of harm is not new news.

Then why don’t more people know about it, you ask? Why is this not covered on the evening news??

Because major media is paid for by advertisers that spend billions of dollars to keep them on the air. In 2017, for example, the #2 advertiser in the United Stares was Proctor & Gamble, maker of 60+ household and personal care brands including Downy®, Febreze®, Herbal Essences®, Dawn®, Bounce® and Tide®, to name just a few. P&G spent $4.3+ billion on advertising that year, and I feel safe in saying that the media wants to keep them happy.

On the bright side, manufacturers are starting to recognize that consumers want transparency.

Some companies state on their websites that the FDA suggests they use the word “fragrance” instead of disclosing individual ingredients. Why is that? Perhaps because it’s easier than explaining why so many obscure chemicals are in their products.

Let’s take a look at an example of a product that is now disclosing fragrance ingredients. When I first started educating others on this topic, I collected old bottles of products I used to think were safe, but actually aren’t. This is how I know what ingredients used to be printed on the label of Mrs Meyer’s® Clean Day Lemon Verbana Countertop Spray:

• Water, Decyl Glucoside, Polysorbate 20, Betula Alba (Birch) Bark Extract, Citrus Limon (Lemon) Peel Oil, Abies Alba (Fir) Leaf Oil, Cymbopogon Schoenanthus (Lemongrass) Oil, Fragrance, Sodium Citrate, Glycerin, Sodium Methyl 2-Sulfolaurate, Citric Acid, Tetrasodium Glutamate Diacetate, Sodium Sulfate, PEG-5 Cocoate, Methylisothiazolinone, Benzisothiazolinone (17 ingredients)

Today, Mrs Meyer’s® lists these ingredients for the same product (fragrance ingredients in bold):

• Water; Decyl Glucoside; [Fragrance: Citrus Limon (Lemon) Peel Oil; Abies Alba (Fir) Leaf Oil; Cymbopogon Schoenanthus (Lemongrass) Oil; benzyl benzoate; geraniol; dipropylene glycol; citrus aurantium dulcis (orange) peel oil; methyl ionones; 4-tert-butylcyclohexyl acetate; linalyl acetate; terpenesandterpenoids, lemon-oil; citrus limon (lemon) peel oil; benzyl acetate; citrus reticulata (tangerine) leaf oil; citral; tetramethyl acetyloctahydronaphthalenes; hakka yu; citrus aurantium bergamia (bergamot) fruit oil; chouji yu; linalool; limonene]; Lauryl Glucoside; Sodium Citrate; Sodium Methyl 2-Sulfolaurate; Citric Acid; Capryleth-4; Tetrasodium Glutamate Diacetate; Methylisothiazolinone; Benzisothiazolinone (30 ingredients)

OK, so it’s great that we now see all the ingredients in this product. But how equipped are we, as consumers, to determine whether or not these 13 additional chemicals are safe?

I regularly educate others on the topic of ingredient safety, and even I am overwhelmed by those chemical names!!

You Might Be Willing to Take the Risk, But…

Whether or not this fragrance information is new news to you, you may still enjoy scented products enough to turn a blind eye towards the longer term health implications.

If that’s you, consider this … A 2016 survey of adults in the US revealed that:

• Nearly 35% of the population reported health problems, such as migraine headaches and respiratory difficulties, when exposed to fragranced products. That’s 1 in 3 people!!
• More than 15% have lost workdays or a job due to fragranced product exposure in the workplace.
• Over 20% would enter a business but then leave as quickly as possible if they smell air fresheners or some fragranced product in the store.
• Over 50% of the population would prefer fragrance free workplaces, health care facilities and professionals, hotels, and airplanes.

Moreover, +60% of those surveyed said that they would discontinue using a fragranced product if they knew it emitted pollutants. What this means is that fragrance is WORSE than secondhand smoke, because at least people are aware of the risk associated with smoking!

Do you really want to do this to your friends and family??

The goods news is that there are much safer options available these days. Check out the Toxic Free Friends Facebook community for smart living choices and product recommendations!

Would you mind doing me a favor by sharing this blog? When people know better, they can do better. Help me by being part of the solution, because together we can make a difference!