Toxic Fragrances versus Organics and Aromatherapy

While some devotees of cologne and perfume like their fragrances long-lasting, they may be unaware that it is phthalates – causing the disagreeable odor at the nail shop - that act as a perfume fixative, retaining the smell for 24 hours and sometimes much longer, even after clothing has been laundered in a washing machine or professionally cleaned. In fact, these same chemicals permeate the fragrance in laundry detergent, which is why it doesn’t wash away in the rinse cycle. If you find that you cannot seem to wash off fragrance from laundry detergent, fabric softener, shampoos, cologne, pump soap, dishwashing liquid, or cleaning products, you might want to change brands because you could be compromising your health. The chemicals in fabric softener sheets like Bounce are left embedded in clothing. They shorten the life of sheets and clothes, and the substance rubs off on your skin, potentially causing skin irritation and respiratory problems.

Also be aware that the switch from one heavily advertised brand to another is not likely to help.

How to Buy Safe Cleansers and Cosmetics that Enhance your Health

Buying products designated “unscented” eliminates the toxics in synthetic fragrances, but if they are commercial brands they will likely contain toxic chemicals elsewhere in their ingredients, many of which according to US labeling laws are not required to be listed.

Natural botanicals and pure essential oils, by contrast, have therapeutic properties and have been used - literally for thousands of years - for their health-conferring benefits as well as for beauty and enjoyment. The safest approach to shopping for personal care items and household products is to buy from companies that have never used toxic ingredients. These include the following:

(1) 100% Organic products which by legal definition preclude use of toxic processing or ingredients

(2) Cosmetic companies like Aubrey that never test their products on lab animals because there is no need, as the ingredients are all known to be safe

(3) Products containing scents naturally derived from botanicals like coconut oil or essential oils

(4) “Green” companies like Method whose mission is to produce quality products that do not harm the environment

(5) Cosmetics made using 100% pure, distilled essential oils by genuine aromatherapy companies

Reputable aromatherapeutic products are available in most health food stores as well as online. Trader Joe’s does a good job of providing unscented and natural-scented soaps, shampoos, and laundry detergent as well as organic produce and pet food. This does not apply to all TJ brands, however; read the labels to be sure of what you’re getting.

Don’t be fooled by heavily advertised brands like Clairol Herbal Essences, a shampoo that has co-opted two of the most holistic-sounding words in its very name, yet is highly toxic. If a product is advertised on television, the ad budget has compromised the quality of the product. It means the company’s priority is on marketing, promotion, and hype.

Skin creams, makeup, shampoos, or colognes purporting to be “natural” may not be - not if the single word fragrance is listed in the ingredients. Sadly for the unsuspecting public, the word fragrance is legally defined as a scent produced synthetically in a laboratory, usually through petroleum-based chemistry.

Topical preparations are absorbed systemically through the skin, in some cases more efficiently than if they were consumed orally. For this reason, it’s a good idea to avoid putting anything on your skin that you wouldn’t consider safe to eat.

Air “Fresheners” Last month Jane Kay reported on a coalition of environmental groups petitioning the federal government to “crack down on air fresheners, products that scientific studies show can aggravate asthma and pose other health risks” (SFChron, 9/20/07).

The Natural Resources Defense Council, Sierra Club, Alliance for Healthy Homes, and the National Center for Healthy Housing filed a petition with the EPA and the Consumer Product Agency to request better regulation of the industry, which is expected to garner $1.72 billion in sales this year. Excerpts from the petition:

Scented sprays, gels and plug-in fresheners offer no public health benefits yet contain harmful chemicals linked to breathing difficulties, developmental problems in babies and cancer in laboratory animals.

In houses, offices and restrooms, Americans suffer significant exposure to a veritable cocktail of dangerous and potentially dangerous volatile organic compounds. In cases of mold and damp indoor environments, air fresheners may hide an indicator of potentially serious health threats to the respiratory system.

Proposed truth-in-advertising labeling would require listing all ingredients in air fresheners. The government should ban ingredients that would cause allergies or appear on California’s Proposition 65 list of chemicals linked to cancer and reproductive harm.

The air fresheners can contain a number of harmful chemicals including benzene, formaldehyde, and phthalates.

Lab animal studies show that some phthalates interfere with hormonal systems, disrupt testosterone production and cause malformation of sex organs. Some studies of humans have shown a link between exposure and adverse changes in the genitals of baby boys.

The Natural Resource Defense Council sent 14 air fresheners to be tested for phthalates in an independent lab. The tests found that 12 products, including those marked “all natural,” contained phthalates.

Rewriting History

While Walgreens pulled the offending products from their shelves, other industry representatives insist the air fresheners “pose no health threat and contribute to a better quality of life in many households.” Further, that air fresheners “do contribute to the quality of life. Fragrances have been used for centuries, dating back to when the Chinese and the Egyptians used incense and fragrant oils. They obviously have a value, or consumers wouldn’t buy them” (Bill Lafield, op cit).

Of course, what Mr Lafield fails to mention is that the fragrances used for centuries bear no resemblance to the petrochemically-based synthetics his group sells that make people sick. Before the rise of the chemical industry, traditional sources for cosmetics were botanically-based, derived from common nut or fruit oils like coconut, apricot, and olive; or from essential oils such as rose, jasmine, sandalwood, frankincense, and lavender. These botanicals and volatile oils actually enhanced health. One of the health hazards cited in the environmental groups’ petition is the ability of air fresheners to mask the smell of mold, an indicator of potentially serious health threats to the respiratory system.

Among the many ironies of misleading industry statements such as the quote from Lafield is that traditional fragrances - essential oils like lemon, tea tree, eucalyptus, and others that are commonly used to purify dank air - have antimicrobial actions that in fact kill bacteria and fungus, making breathing easier for people with respiratory conditions.

Chemical Hazards from Multiple Sources

The news of a statewide ban on phthalates follows several other alarms sounded recently about the presence of chemical dangers to health to which the public and wildlife are commonly exposed, in everyday consumer products and even new forms of advertising.

Wetlands advocates and other environmental groups have issued warnings and public safety requests to Bay Area residents to forgo phthalate- and bisphenol-containing plastics, cosmetics, and cleansers because the chemicals in these products find their way into runoff that kills or harms wildlife in the Bay. As for human health, phthalates – linked to cancer, birth defects, and neurological damage - were found in 75% of urine samples tested in a 2003 study on safety (http://www.environcorp.com/img/media/Phthalates.pdf).

Meanwhile, perfluorinated compounds - used in Scotchgard, Gortex, and nonstick surfaces like Teflon, are showing up in marine life literally throughout the world – the Mediterranean, the Baltic, the Atlantic, the Ganges in India, the Midway Atoll in the Pacific, Korea, Canada and the US, and even as far away as Antarctica . These chemicals have caused hormone disruption, immune compromise, and devastating neurological effects. They have been linked to cancer in whales and dolphins, a disease previously unheard of in cetaceans (http://assets.panda.org/downloads/causesforconcern.pdf).

Fake Cookie Smells

Last year, San Francisco bus shelter ads exuding aromatic smells of chocolate chip cookies were pulled after multiple complaints and controversy. Conceived by the “Got Milk” people – the California Milk Processor Board, the ads prompted complaints by health activists in defense of people with asthma and chemical sensitivity. Resisting behavioral manipulation, diet-conscious people complained of being driven by temptation while waiting for the bus. Others worried that cookie smells would constitute cruel and unusual punishment for the homeless who routinely sought shelter there from the elements but might not have the ready purchasing power to satisfy cravings (SF Chron, 11/30/06 and 12/6/06). Clearly, if the smells were genuine baking aromas, they would not trigger asthma attacks or neurological symptoms; rather it is synthetic chemicals that are health hazards.

Synthetic Pheromonal Pesticide

Hundreds of residents in Fresno were hospitalized earlier this month with stomach pains and shortness of breath when a synthetic pheromone-containing chemical was sprayed on crops to eradicate the brown apple moth. Whether it was the pheromone itself that caused illness, or other chemicals added to the pesticide, is still under investigation. Judge Robert O’Farrell issued a temporary injunction to stop the spraying, but he has since ruled that the spraying can resume, even though the source of the problem has not been identified; thus it would seem that locals will again be at risk (SF Chron 10/19/07).