Public service project poster for patients requiring in-hospital care at hospitals that are still lacking a proper fragrance-free policy for the staff.
Fragranced Consumer Products:
Chemicals Emitted, Ingredients Unlisted
Exposure Assessment
Popular scented products – including those that claim to be "green" – emit many chemicals not listed on the label, including some considered toxic and possibly carcinogenic, a study revealed today.
Investigating what, where, and how pollutants affect humans and the environment, and developing ways to reduce exposures, reduce costs, and improve health Professor Anne C. Steinemann and research colleagues analyzed 25 popular fragranced consumer products including:
- air fresheners and deodorizers (sprays, solids, and oils)
- laundry products (detergents, fabric softeners, and dryer sheets
- cleaners (all-purpose sprays, disinfectants, and dish detergents)
- personal care products (soaps, hand sanitizers, lotions, deodorants, shampoosand baby products).
These products are widely used in the U.S. and other countries—in homes, workplaces, schools, airplanes, hospitals, and public places.
What did the researchers discover?
These 25 products emitted 133 different volatile organic compounds (VOCs), for a collective total of 421 VOCs, and an average of 17 VOCs per product.
Nearly one-fourth of these VOCs are classified as toxic or hazardous under federal laws. Each product emitted at least one of these chemicals.
Some of these VOCs are classified as probable carcinogens with no safe exposure level, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
Virtually none of the VOCs emitted from the products were listed on any product label or material safety data sheet. Only one compound -- ethanol -- was listed on any of the product labels.
But this is legal, because no law in the U.S. requires disclosure of all chemicals in consumer products, or of any chemicals in a mixture called "fragrance."
What about "green" products?
About half of the products made some claim of "green" or a related term, such as "organic," "natural," "essential oils," or "non-toxic."
"We analyzed best-selling products, and about half of them made some claim about being green, organic, or natural," said lead author Anne Steinemann, a University of Washington professor of civil and environmental engineering. "Surprisingly, the "green products" emissions of hazardous chemicals were not significantly different from the other products."
What do these findings mean?
Previous studies have found that most of our exposure to pollutants occurs from common sources, such as consumer products.
However, the ingredients in these sources are not fully disclosed.
The study, published online Tuesday in the journal Environmental Impact Assessment Review, analyzed air fresheners, laundry products including detergents, personal care products such as soaps and cleaning products. It did not disclose the brand names.
"We don't want to give people the impression that if we reported on product 'A' and they buy product 'B,' that they're safe," Steinemann said. "We found potentially hazardous chemicals in all of the fragranced products we tested."
Manufacturers are not required to list the ingredients used in fragrances. The Household Product Labeling Act, pending in the U.S. Senate, would require companies to disclose ingredients in air fresheners, soaps, laundry supplies and other consumer products.
For the study, researchers placed a sample of each product in a closed glass container at room temperature and then analyzed the surrounding air for volatile organic compounds, which are small molecules that evaporate off a product's surface. Because product formulations are confidential, they couldn't determine whether a chemical came from the product base, the fragrance added, or both.
They found all products emitted at least one chemical classified as toxic or hazardous. The most common emissions included limonene, a compound with a citrus scent; alpha-pinene and beta-pinene, compounds with a pine scent; ethanol; and acetone, a solvent found in nail polish remover.
The study makes no claims about the possible health effects. Two national surveys by Steinemann and a colleague in 2009 found about 20% of people reported adverse health effects from air fresheners, and about 10% did so from laundry products vented to the outdoors. Among asthmatics, complaints were about twice as common.
"In the past two years, I've received more than 1,000 e-mails, messages, and telephone calls from people saying: 'Thank you for doing this research, these products are making me sick, and now I can start to understand why," Steinemann said in a statement. She suggest consumers clean with vinegar and baking soda, open windows for ventilation and use unscented products.
Reportedly, Abercrombie & Fitch pumps
cologne through store ventilation systems and diffuses it through track
lighting. Teens Turning Green
argues that chemicals contained within those scents (some of which
remain absent from bottle ingredients lists) are toxic for consumers.
Backing
up Teens Turning Green in the fray is a flotilla of do-gooder
organizations from the American Fertility Association to Physicians for
Social Responsibility, in addition to Campaign for Safe Cosmetics.
Multiple Chemical Sensitivity (MCS) is a medical condition characterized by the body's inability to tolerate relatively low exposure to chemicals. This condition, also referred to as Environmental Illness (EI), is triggered by exposure to certain chemicals and/or environmental pollutants. Exposure to pesticides is a common way for individuals to develop MCS and EI, and once the condition is present, pesticides are often a potent trigger for symptoms of the condition. The variety of these symptoms can be dizzying, including everything from cardiovascular problems to depression to muscle and joint pains. Over time, individuals suffering from MCS will begin to react adversely to substances that formerly did not affect them.
For individuals suffering from MCS, the only way to relieve their symptoms is to avoid those substances that trigger adverse reactions. For some individuals, this can mean almost complete isolation from the outside world.
Source: ToxicsAction.org
Consumers may be unknowingly exposed to potential hazards. Visit Web MD Health eHome: How Healthy is Your Home?
Steinemann AC, MacGregor IM, Gordon SM, Gallagher LG, Davis AL, Ribeiro DS, and Wallace LA.
