Wake Up and Smell the Chemicals

This article first appeared in the Winter 2008 issue of Green Living Our lives are filled with artificial scents, from the perfumes, deodorants and shampoos we use on our bodies to the air fresheners, detergents and cleaners in our homes. But evidence is piling up that, as pleasant as they may seem, many could actually be harmful, both to ourselves and the environment. "Fragrances, because they evaporate and we inhale them, need more rigorous evaluation," says Ottawa family physician Dr. Kapil Khatter, president of the Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment and pollution policy advisor for Environmental Defence. "We don't know what the effects might be because cosmetic ingredients don't need to be tested for safety before marketing." As well, chemicals in synthetic fragrances—dozens to hundreds of them in each scent, including preservatives and solvents—are derived mostly from petrochemicals. Around 95 percent of the 5,000-odd chemicals, such as benzene derivatives and aldehydes, come from fossil fuels, the extracting and transporting of which can be hazardous to the environment. They are cheap and plentiful, but they're often toxic and disruptive to the body's nervous and hormonal systems. They are also capable of creating carcinogenic by-products. The chemical terpene, found in some pine- and citrus-scented air fresheners, for example, can react with ozone in the air to spawn formaldehyde, and the probable carcinogen 1,4-dioxane is a common contaminant that is produced by the manufacturing process. Reactions are surprisingly common. Many people suffer dermatological and allergy-like symptoms if exposed to synthetic fragrances, and sometimes even neurological symptoms like headaches, dizziness and loss of concentration. A British study, for example, documented a 10 percent rise in headaches and a 16 percent increased risk of depression in mothers (plus 32 percent more diarrhea episodes in babies) in homes that contained air fresheners. DID YOU KNOW? Many asthmatics find that synthetic fragrances can trigger an asthma attack. So common are adverse reactions to synthetic perfumes that school boards, universities and hospitals across Canada, such as the University of Toronto, are moving towards scent-free environments by asking employees and students to voluntarily refrain from wearing perfumes and deodorants. Entire cities are beginning to follow suit: anti-scent campaigns are underway in Halifax and Ottawa. These scent-awareness programs might seem inconvenient, but to the unfortunate few who suffer from multiple chemical sensitivity (MCS) syndrome - whose extreme reactions to synthetic chemicals, especially fragrances, can be so debilitating they cannot go anywhere near somebody wearing perfume, let alone walk down the detergent aisle in a grocery store—such restrictions are a blessing. "I think of people who suffer from MCS as canaries in the coal mine," says Stacy Malkan, co-founder of the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics based in San Francisco and author of Not Just a Pretty Face: The Ugly Side of the Beauty Industry. "Many of us could be experiencing low-level, barely noticeable effects from these chemicals." Indeed, fragrances could be having subtle, long-term effects on our health, in particular due to two chemical classes: phthalates and synthetic musks. DID YOU KNOW? Phthalates, found in products such as eye shadow and shampoo, are known hormone-disruptors, linked to abnormalities such as early puberty in girls and reduced sperm count in men. Phthalates - used to soften plastics, and found in a slew of products from eye shadow to shampoo - are used in fragrances to preserve their scent. A survey by the Environmental Working Group in 2002 found them in every one of the 17 fragrances tested. In animal studies, phthalates have been found to be hormone-disrupters, and have been linked in a spate of studies to abnormalities such as early puberty in girls, reduced sperm count in men and feminization in baby boys. "The concern over phthalates is enough to recommend avoiding fragrances," says Malkan. While there is no direct evidence of health risks from phthalates in any consumer products, environmental groups argue that no studies have been done to research the cumulative effect of phthalates on our systems. Phthalates and synthetic musks have both been found in human breast milk, with levels increasing every year. Synthetic musks have also been implicated as hormone-disrupters when administered in high dosages in animal studies, and though not thought to be toxic, research indicates they could make cells more vulnerable to the effects of other toxins and carcinogens. Because synthetic musks are used in such high volumes—in scented consumer products including detergents, cleaning products, perfumes and aftershaves—scientists have found them in the sediment of Lake Ontario and Lake Erie, in city air and the middle of the countryside in rural and urban Iowa. "Everywhere we looked, we found them, they are ubiquitous," says Professor Keri Hornbuckle at the University of Iowa, whose research revealed that musks inhibit the growth of freshwater mussels by reducing growth at the juvenile and larval stages. "The best response may be to just simplify as much as possible," says Montreal-based environmental consultant Madeleine Bird, who is co-ordinator of the Health and Environment Awareness Project, a joint project between Breast Cancer Action Montreal and The McGill Centre for Research and Teaching on Women. "Do you need all these different products? There are often simple solutions to bad smells, like baking soda and vinegar, airing out the house and just washing our bodies. If people want a solution to a dangerous product, it's often very simple: don't buy that product." What you can do to crank down the chemicals: Don't put your faith in so-called unscented products. Most of them contain fragrances to cover up the unpleasant smells of other ingredients. And checking the label won't help either. Fragrance ingredients, considered to be trade secrets, don't have to be listed on labels in the U.S. and Canada. However, since 2006, Health Canada has made it mandatory to list ingredients in cosmetics. And there are ways to find safer fragrances. The Campaign for Safe Cosmetics lists the cosmetic companies who have signed their pledge to remove chemicals that are known or strongly suspected to be toxic from their products. (Avon, Estée Lauder, L'Oréal, Revlon, Procter & Gamble and Unilever have all refused to sign.) And The Natural Perfumers Guild has an online catalogue of natural scents.

Photos courtesy: ISTOCK/ FLOREA MARIUS, DANA SPIROPOULOU, VALUA VITALY