Scented products may be making us sick
From body wash, air fresheners and hand soap to our household cleaners, scented products may be making us sick, according to new research.
The University of Melbourne study found that one in three Australians reported adverse health effects – including breathing problems, migraine headaches, skin irritation and asthma attacks – from fragranced products.
"There's a belief that fragrance products in some way improve air quality but the opposite is actually true: fragrance products impair rather than improve indoor air quality and they pose a range of health and economic risks," says lead author Professor Anne Steinemann, a world expert on environmental pollutants, air quality, and health effects.
"Some people have immediate, severe and disabling health effects. But the effects can be very subtle and insidious and people may not realise they're being affected until it's too late."
Steinemann says the findings confirm her previous research on the subjects, including an American study she published in 2016 and a yet-to-be published British study.
"There's something about these fragrance chemicals. It doesn't matter whether the product is called 'green', 'organic', 'natural' or with 'essential oils', basically if it has a fragrance it can cause health problems," she said. "When I've analysed these fragranced products called 'green', 'organic', 'all-natural', there's little difference in the hazardous chemicals they emit compared to regular versions."
There is currently no law in Australia that requires the disclosure of all the chemicals in a fragrance or a consumer product.
"We have very little information on the toxicity of these mixtures – there's a focus on individual chemicals. Also very little information on the toxicity of a natural versus synthetic version of a chemical,” says Steinemann.
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