With Mother’s Day less than two months away and spring fashion season fully underway, a big push to sell fragrances will be on the rise. Unfortunately, perfumes, colognes and other fashion scents can be a problem for many people. A small squirt of even a high-end fragrance can cause severe and painful reactions in the form of headaches or sinus swelling for both adults and kids, not to mention itchiness and a runny nose, for people who are allergic. However, that is not the biggest health risk of perfumes. Fragrances can be full of dangerous or toxic perfume chemicals – or contain mystery ingredients you can’t discover. According to Style Bistro, perfume ingredients are protected under the U.S. Fair Packaging and Label Act because they are considered trade secrets, and thus, do not need to be disclosed.
Fragrant colognes and scents are not the only products to contain toxic perfume chemicals. Scented items range from laundry detergent to sanitary pads, not to mention chemical mixtures such as Febreeze, scented candles and air fresheners that can contribute to toxic overload for our families. Let’s discover what sorts of toxins are hiding in fragrances and the damage they can do to your family.
Why Are Fragrances So Toxic?
Way back in 1986, the National Academy of Sciences recommended Congress test fragrances for neurotoxicity. Unfortunately we are still waiting on that study, however, other studies have been done. The EPA tested fragrances for chemicals in 1991 and found a list of the following toxic perfume chemical ingredients: acetone, benzaldehyde, benzyl acetate, benzyl alcohol, camphor, ethanol, ethyl acetate, limonene, linalool and methylene chloride – usually in some combination. According to InvisibleDisabilities.org, these chemicals can cause central nervous disorders, kidney damage, respiratory failure, ataxia and many less serious but still troubling symptoms such as GI tract irritation, dizziness, fatigue and more.
In 2010, Environmental Working Group (EWG) and the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics (CSC) performed and analyzed lab tests on 17 popular fragrances. This study revealed the presence of the following toxic perfume chemicals in just this small selection of brands:
- Endocrine disruptors and phthalates. Last year, the Washington Post reported on a study from that linked phthalates and endocrine disruptors to a more than 6 point drop in IQ for children whose mothers were exposed to phthalates during their pregnancy. If you are pregnant, you would do well to stay away from all products with fragrances, phthalates or endocrine disruptors to protect your baby.
- They also found diethyl phthalate, which has been to linked to sperm damage in studies.
- Over 24 chemicals were discovered that could act as allergy triggers causing a myriad of symptoms like headaches, dizziness, rash, hyperpigmentation, violent coughing, vomiting or skin irritation.
- Musk ketone was discovered, which can be a skin irritant. According to EWG, studies have shown this chemical to concentrate in both human fat tissue and breast milk. It is also suspected to be another hormone disruptor.
- A large percentage of the chemicals that were found in these fragrances had not been assessed for safety as of the date of the study. In fact, the only limitation on fragrance manufacturers is that they cannot use banned substances.
- Ingredients found in fragrances, such as phthalates, are considered “Obesogens” which means they CAN cause you to gain weight independent of what you eat or the activity you get.
Other studies have been done reporting a range of toxins, many undisclosed, in popular fragrances. For example, styrene was determined to be “a reasonably anticipated to be a human carcinogen” in 2011 by both the National Toxicology Program and the National Academy of Science, and can be found in some fragrances.
So, to put it all together:
- Fragrances contain chemicals that can reactions which range from allergic reactions and weight gain, to severe damage, conditions or illnesses.
- Many substances that have been discovered in fragrances have not specifically been tested for human safety.
- Companies are not required to list or reveal the chemicals they do use.
Bottom line? Your family should steer clear of toxic fragrances.
Does the Future Smell Cleaner?
The tricky part of all this is the lack of real data on what each fragrance actually contains. The EWG and CSC took it upon themselves to test ingredients that are not disclosed, but companies are beginning to get the picture. In October 2014, SC Johnson announced that it plans to disclose “product-specific ingredient information”. They state: “Beginning in the spring of 2015, consumers will have access to the main ingredients used to create the fragrances in SC Johnson products.” Clorox – which had already disclosed a list of allergens in 2009 – will also list allergens in each product. While this is a step in the right direction toward helping families understand what is in their products, there is still a long way to go before they disclose every harmful chemical contained in their formulas.
How To Protect Your Family From Toxic Perfume Chemicals
How can we be safe and keep fragrances in our lives? Well, that might be tricky, because we can’t always know the exact ingredients in fragrances and scented items. Here are some tips on how to avoid toxic perfume chemicals and still keep a pleasing scent:
- Avoid any product that does not fully disclose all its ingredients. Keep in mind that if a product lists “fragrance” or “perfume” on the label, that scent can be made of any ingredient and therefore is not full disclosure.
- When you read a label, you can look up the specific ingredient right here in Mamavation (we’ve covered many) and if you can’t find it here, check EWG’s Skin Deep database.
- Look for products that only use essential oils for scents, and use essential oils to scent your home.
- Organic and botanical fragrances can be tough to find but are your best choice for fragrances and perfumes.
Here are some cleaner scent options for you to consider if you want to avoid toxic perfume chemicals:
- Rare Earth Naturals provides 100% natural essential oil based aromas, candles, diffusers and more. Artisan-crafted in small batches, these products are made in the USA with products that are safe, synthetic free and responsibly sourced.
- Pure Natural Diva carries synthetic and chemical free scents, as well as soaps, skincare and more.
- Red Flower Scents: They sell an organic perfume concentrate and organic perfume oil roll-on.
- Lurkmade: This brand uses only pure essential oil in organic jojoba – no water or alcohol.
- Givescent: made with a blend of oils and essential oils, these scents are free of alcohol, formaldehyde, parabens, phthalates and sulfates. They are also cruelty free and they donate a portion of every sale to Every Mother Counts and Women for Women International.
- Simply Aroma is a great resource for essential oils, our own Lydia Richmond is a consultant!
- DoTERRA is another brand of essential oils as well. Check out this great product from our friend, Healthy Jasmine.
- Pure Haven carries seasonal candles, during the holidays and in the summer. Check out our candle investigation.
Remember to read labels carefully to discover what a perfume or scent contains, and do the same for your makeup, skin care, personal care and household products. Your family’s exposure really does add up over the course of a day!
Disclaimer: Essential oil links are affiliate links from Mamavation members. Bookieboo LLC has worked with numerous brands in the natural space, including Rare Earth Naturals.
10 Reasons to Avoid School Lunches like the Plague
Unlock endless fun by matching and clearing blocks in Block Blast puzzle game for free online.
Useful article about perfume, it’s helpful for my research.
Norwex is a company that sells cleaning tools that work with water alone. Their Envirocloth cloth is amazing for general household cleaning and sanitizing using only water. They produced laundry products that contain no fragrance, fillers, or harmful chemicals. I have found them to be the most effective cleaning products I’ve ever used. They also make and odor eliminator laundry additive that will remove stubborn odors from fabrics. They produce several other cleaning products for stubborn areas such as ovens, showers, toilets and grills. I have been using the products for 3 years.
I am originally from Australia and am petrified to take a visit home as I fear I will be placed next to someone wearing cologne or perfume on the flight and will have no choice but to get a migraine because of it.
When I go to a group function or a large meeting I have to sit last so I don’t have to keep getting up after someone sits near me wearing perfume or cologne.
I joined a gym recently and noticed there was a sign in the locker asking people to refrain from using scented products, I almost cried for joy at how thoughtful that was.
People give others no other choice but to breathe in their chemical smell. Just take a shower.
Thanks
Linda
I have the same issues as you! My daughters friends have fabric softener fragrance that transposes onto my furniture when they visit- i am sickened for days!!! If it gets in her clothing, I cannot remove it! They are “forever” fragrances that never dissipate.
What can you do?!
I used to be deeply into perfumes as a lot of women are. But over time I started to believe it was all just a fraud. If you read the perfume reviewers they sound like wine snobs. Its meaningless drivel. If you like a scent go for it. Similarly, I don’t believe the hype about how the (mainly) French perfumers go into regarding the anguish they live through trying to get that perfect scent. How do we know what goes into these products, they lie about everything else. In the end it is all to get gullible women to fork out hundreds of dollars for something which is going to make us smell irresistable and confirm our uniqueness.
Here’s an example of one recent advertiser’s drivel. It makes absolutely no sense in fact its a masterpiece of the non-statement.
“An invitation to defy convention and embrace your singularity. A white floral cut through with dark notes unleashing a bold luminosity that flirts with obscurity. The shocking side of chic. ” How can you ‘flirt with obscurity’. They are losing their grip.
I started looking into essential oils and making my own perfumes from natural ingredients. With a little work you can make your own product which smells just as lovely but you don’t buy (literally) into the advertisers twaddle. And you are not spraying yourself with anonymous substances which give a lot of people an instant headache.
You’re a wise soul! XXOO
My husband has such a hard life due to his severe allergic reactions to fragrances. We are pretty much unable to go anywhere. He is forced to wear a heavy duty painter’s mask at work because his coworkers use so much perfume and laundry detergent. I really feel for everyone that goes through this on a daily basis like he does.
I’m so sorry to hear about that. Scents are so hard because you have to breathe! I feel for you guys! XXOO
Information I’m able to see is of good quality. Suggest modifying the website Re. Text Legibility/Visibility. The ‘greenish’ colour is poorly visible. Also, this text box I almost missed; it is barely visible.
scents are bad
It would be great if choosing healthy options for yourself would prevent exposure to these toxic chemicals. The biggest problem I’ve been having lately is that when I go out of my home and sit in a public chair, I bring home people’s detergent. The fragrance chemicals from people’s laundry detergent are on their clothes, they sit on public seats and leave some of the fragrance on the seat, I sit on the seat and it sticks to my clothes. Not only does it not wash out, it sticks to everything these items get washed with in my laundry. It just keeps on spreading to new items of clothing. I can sort of manage this for myself by not sitting down anywhere when I am in public (not practical, but possible), but my family just can’t so they bring home all kinds of fragrance chemicals.
To make it even worse, my husband spends a lot of time traveling for work and he has brought home an enormous amount of scent from hotels — in addition to the fragrance from people’s detergents at his workplace. His entire work wardrobe smells so strong that we’ve had to put it in the basement and cover it all up. I can smell him coming 15 feet away. His car now smells and I can’t even get in it. He has to shower when he gets home and no matter how much he scrubs, the scent doesn’t seem to come off of his skin. It’s awful.
How on earth do you manage these horrible chemicals???
Honestly, I think this is going to be about cultural change. As people start to understand that synthetic scents are problematic to health, they’ll slow their usage. So spread the word!
I have the same problem with other peoples perfumes invading my home. I found a product called OdorKlenz Laundry Additive that will remove perfume, however, some perfumes are so unnecessarily “sticky” and long-lasting it can take multiple washings to remove them. Perfume has become a painful menace.
This is a great, extremely well-researched article. Bravo. In case it’s helpful, I joined up with a green beauty blogger (scenthive.com) this year to launch a store online dedicated to exclusively 100% natural perfumes at potionnaturals.com. I’ve looked through hundreds of so-called natural brands & perfumeries to find this selection of brands that use sincerely clean & safe ingredients only and are also skilled artisan perfumers. I started this brand because my mom has struggled with an autoimmune condition for 5+ years and could no longer use her favorite Chanel or Dior perfumes without feeling sick. I hope this helps anyone in the same boat. Best wishes.
what a great site. has anybody had any reaction to the new mens girly cologne?.Its awful..its smells like burnt vanilla… It is shutting down my intestines in the left front and to my back Im also getting kidney pain all the way from there to my back…anybody getting a reaction like this?..also it feels like my chest is going numb..very strange
I’m sorry to hear that! Most conventional fragrance contains phthalates, which is a hormone-disrupting chemical and synthetic musks that can also cause problems.
Have you been to a doctor about this?
Its true that perfumes contain some pretty rough ingredients and it would be wise to avoid them. The article lists out some of the toxic ingredients such as benzene compounds, camphor, limonene, and linalool in chemical fragrance, then suggests essential oils as a natural alternative. But did you know that essential oils also contain those items I just mentioned? This is a truth most people don’t want to hear or may refuse to believe, but the truth is the truth, and eventually we have to face reality.
Does this include the fragrance essential oils that you would add for candle making as well?
Essential oils are the best type of fragrance granted they are tested for heavy metals and pesticides
DoTERRA is a big deal with a lot of my friends. I have to laugh when they refer to their involvement with this industry as a “ministry”. These are Christians who have no idea what Scripture is referring to when it mentions “witchcraft”! (Hint: “Pharmakis” is Greek for “witch”.)
I suffer the same symptoms in the presence of so-called “essential oils” that I do in the presence of scented candles, “air fresheners” (another outrageous misnomer!) and perfumes. Few things are as irritating as walking into the house of a friend–who has sworn that said home is “fragrance free”–only to spot a DoTERRA “mister” on a table, spewing toxic stink into the air! Lavender may be “all natural” but it is hardly innocuous. Few substances will trigger an asthma attack as readily.
Can you explain a bit more for those of us who have not much idea what you’re referring to about the company DoTERRA. Some have never heard of it; is it a pharmacy? Does it have some questionable ethics/practices? How are christians getting involved in it (as sales reps?)? Some more info would help please.
Thanks
Thank you for all the good work that you are doing to education people like myself as to the dangerous toxins that exist in everyday products.
I was surprised to see that you did not mention Young Living Oils in the list of cleaner scent options. Would it be possible to add them to this blog now? They deserve mention.
All the best,
Rivka