In a wildly unregulated system, companies are pouring potentially
hazardous chemicals into many everyday scented products, including popular
perfumes.
By Leah Zerbe
Forego chemically scented perfumes, body sprays, soaps, cleaners,
candles, air fresheners, and laundry products to save your indoor air and your
health.
Perfume ingredients may smell good to some people (while giving
headaches to anyone sensitive to the fumes), but a 2010 study suggests popular
brands reek of long-term health problems for all of us.
The researchers found that labels of popular perfumes don't list
harmful perfume ingredients linked to sperm
damage, hormone disruption (which is linked to some cancers, thyroid disease,
obesity, diabetes, and other serious health problems), reproductive toxicity,
and allergy problems. And chemicals that may play a role in cancer were
found in many of the fragrances analyzed. "This monumental study reveals
the hidden hazards of fragrances," says Rodale.com advisor Anne C.
Steinemann, PhD, professor of civil and environmental engineering, professor of
public affairs, University of Washington.
And, as with smoking, it's not just the person using the product that's
affected. "Secondhand scents are also a big concern. One person using a
fragranced product can cause health problems for many others," she says.
The analysis, performed by the nonprofit Campaign for Safe Cosmetics, a group with coalition members from the
Breast Cancer Fund, Environmental Working Group, Clean Water Action, and other
public and environmental health organizations, found that many top-selling
fragrance products contain a dozen or more secret chemical ingredients not
listed on the labels, and multiple chemicals that can set off allergic
reactions or disrupt hormones. Many have never been tested for safety on
humans.
All 17 of the popular fragrances tested contained chemicals not
disclosed on the labels. Brands tested include: American Eagle Seventy Seven,
Chanel Coco, Britney Spears Curious, Giorgio Armani Acqua di Gio (for men), Old
Spice After Hours Body Spray (for men), Quicksilver (for men), Calvin Klein
Eternity for Men, Bath & Body Works Japanese Cherry Blossom, Calvin Klein
Eternity for Women, Halle by Halle Berry, Hannah Montana Secret Celebrity,
Victoria's Secret Dream Angels Wish, Jennifer Lopez J. Lo Glow, AXE Body Spray
for Men, Clinique Happy Perfume Spray, and Dolce & Gabbana Light Blue.
Here's what the researchers found, on average:
• Ten sensitizing chemicals
associated with allergic reactions like asthma, wheezing, headaches and contact
dermatitis. Giorgio Armani Acqua di Gio contained 19 different sensitizing
chemicals, more than any other product in the study.
• Four hormone-disrupting
perfume ingredients linked to a range of health effects including sperm damage,
thyroid disruption, and cancer. Halle by Halle Berry, Quicksilver, and Jennifer
Lopez J. Lo Glow each contained seven different chemicals with the potential to
disrupt the hormone system.
• American Eagle Seventy Seven
contained 24 hidden chemicals, the highest number of any product in the study.
Medical and public health experts from Harvard and the University of
Washington peer-reviewed the study.
Just because your favorite fragrance wasn't on the list doesn't mean
it's safe. In fact, harmful perfume ingredients are used in thousands of
products and are not listed on the label. It seems like you should have the
right to know how these seemingly innocent perfumes and colognes are affecting
your health. But unfortunately, manufacturers don't have to list warnings or
even the actual ingredients used in fragrance blends, on the label.
The problem isn't limited to perfumes and body sprays. We are blasted
with harmful synthetic fragrances everyday in the form of scented cleaners,
hair spray and dyes, air fresheners, candles, shampoos, soaps, perfumes, and
body sprays. Research is finding that many of these scented products interfere
with our hormones, which regulate how our bodily systems function. Mess with
that, and the risk of diabetes, some cancers, obesity, thyroid disease, and all
sorts of ailments seems to increase. You may not think that all these
fragranced consumer products bother you, but try giving them up for a few
months—after that, you may find that being exposed to them really makes you
feel lousy.
Here's how to give harmful perfume ingredients and other household
fragrances the cold shoulder.
• Smell good without a toxic
cloud. If you want a scented product, make sure it is scented with pure
essential oils that were extracted through a cold-press process, not by
using solvents. You can also visit Environmental Working Group's Skin Deep
Cosmetic Safety Database to find safer fragrances and other personal-care
products.
• Look at the labels.
Personal-care products must list ingredients on the label, although there is a
trade secrets loophole for fragrance blends. Manufacturers can use the blanket
term of "fragrance" or "parfum" on the label, but thousands
of different chemicals—many petrochemical and volatile organic compounds—can
hide under that description. Your best bet is to avoid any personal-care
product listing these ingredients: fragrance,
perfume, parfum, linalool, and limonene.
• Clean green (and save money).
Isn't it ironic that we're actually polluting our homes with
"cleaning" chemicals? Unlike personal-care products, cleaners and air
fresheners don't have to disclose inactive ingredients, which can contain
chemicals that are hazardous to our health. Stock up on tried-and-true green
cleaning recipes. These homemade cleaners effectively kill germs, often using
the power of white vinegar, and can save you lots of money annually.
• Light one for the bees.
Put the lights out on burning fragranced candles, which are packed with
hormone-disrupting chemicals and air contaminants found in car exhaust, and
choose beeswax candles instead, which don't pollute, and actually improve
indoor air quality by boosting negative ion levels in your home.
Source: http://www.rodale.com/perfume-ingredients?cm_mmc=MSNBC-_-5%20Household%20Toxins%20You%20Should%20Banish%20from%20Your%20Home-_-Article-_-Toxic%20Perfume%20Chemicals%20Linked%20to%20Cancer%20Sperm%20Damage
Bynatureal Products:
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| Natural Shampoo |
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| Liquid Castile Soap |
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