Another great forward from Barb Wilkie, president emeritus of EHN CA.
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Read The Label: Fragrances
We are enamoured of fragrances, and virtually every aspect of our
lives is touched by a fragranced product. But is it a touch too much?
Pat Thomas reports.
Date:01/09/2006 Author: Pat Thomas
www.theecologist.org/archive_detail.asp
A quick account of all the perfumed bodycare products we use is
sobering: soaps, creams and body lotions, ointments, talcs and bubble
baths, shampoos and sunscreens – just to name a few.
In an overcrowded market, where there is often little to
differentiate the performance of one product over another,
a product's scent is its unique signature and is often given greater
prominence in advertising than performance.
Our love affair with the way things smell has given manufacturers
free reign to manipulate our purchasing behaviour by linking the
scent of a product with a desired quality such as love, sexiness,
freshness, innocence and a wild, independent spirit. It's a tactic
used in the marketing of all bodycare products, but which is used to
particularly great effect in fine perfumes – witness how many are
named after emotions.
Once upon a time, perfumes were derived from natural plant and animal
ingredients. But these can be expensive
and subject to the variations of season and availability.
As science progressed, manufacturers found ways of producing
chemicals with `nature identical' smells, which could be produced in
high volumes without the need for worrying about the availability of
natural resources. Today, nearly all fragrance chemicals are
synthesised
almost entirely from petrochemicals, and while they can be made more
cheaply and the scent may linger longer than that of naturally
derived scents, they are problematical for human health.
First and foremost, many of these chemicals are considered hazardous
waste. As far back as 1986, the US National Academy of Sciences
identified fragrance ingredients as one of six categories of
neurotoxic chemicals that should be thoroughly investigated so that
we might better understand any potential harm to human health. This
placed these chemicals right up there with insecticides, heavy
metals, solvents and food additives
as primary causes of disease in humans. But government and industry
have been slow to demand or fund such research.
The word `parfum' is used to denote fragrance in a bodycare product.
Parfum is made up of dozens of chemicals containing solvents similar
to those used in adhesives, as well as benzene derivatives,
aldehydes and many other known toxins capable of causing cancer,
birth defects, and central nervous system disorders.
Inhaled fragrance chemicals can cause sore throat, runny nose, sinus
congestion, wheezing, shortness of breath, nausea and muscle pain.
They are also a major trigger for asthmatic episodes. Once in the
body, they easily breach the blood brain barrier – the protective
membrane designed to keep toxins away from sensitive brain cells –
and produce symptoms resonant with central nervous system (CNS)
disruption - headache, mental confusion, listlessness, inability to
concentrate, irritability, seizures, restlessness, agitation,
depression, sleepiness.
Many bodycare products are heavily perfumed, and at least one study
has demonstrated links between heavy
perfume exposure during pregnancy, and learning disabilities and
behaviour disorders in children. Studies have also shown that
inhaling fragrance chemicals can cause circulatory changes in the
brain.
In addition to being inhaled, fragrances can be absorbed through the
skin – especially through children's skin, which is thinner than that
of adults. The greater the emollient quality of the product you are
using (think skin creams, roll on deodorants, etc) the greater the
absorbency. While fragrance chemicals can be quick to saturate the
blood, they are slow to clear from the body. When they penetrate the
skin they can cause discoloration of internal organs. They can also
be toxic to the liver and kidneys. Still others accumulate in fatty
tissue and leech slowly back into the system, or are passed on to our
children through breast milk.
Fragrances add little to the function of the product. They are
unlikely to provide the `aromatherapy' experience promised,
especially if they are synthetic. Yet we are obsessed with them.
While it's an unhealthy obsession, it's not an inevitable one. Each
of us has the power to reduce the number of synthetic fragrances we
come into contact with on a daily basis. Start by reading the label.
Labelling rules have changed in the last couple of years and
manufacturers of cosmetics – and household cleaners – must list any
of the 24 fragrances that the EU's Scientific Committee on Cosmetic
Products and Non-Food Products (SCCNFP) has identified as common
contact allergies.
So now it's easy enough to avoid these. But the fragrances not listed
on the label are still potentially powerful enough to trigger more
subtle emotional symptoms or longer-term health problems. Even some
natural essences can cause allergic reactions in some individuals,
though these are rare because natural essences are derived from the
whole plant, and are believed to contain a variety of naturally
occurring chemicals that mitigate any potential allergic reactions.
If in doubt, or if you are very sensitive, you may wish to avoid
scented products entirely.
__._,_.___
-------
Read The Label: Fragrances
We are enamoured of fragrances, and virtually every aspect of our
lives is touched by a fragranced product. But is it a touch too much?
Pat Thomas reports.
Date:01/09/2006 Author: Pat Thomas
www.theecologist.org/archive_detail.asp
A quick account of all the perfumed bodycare products we use is
sobering: soaps, creams and body lotions, ointments, talcs and bubble
baths, shampoos and sunscreens – just to name a few.
In an overcrowded market, where there is often little to
differentiate the performance of one product over another,
a product's scent is its unique signature and is often given greater
prominence in advertising than performance.
Our love affair with the way things smell has given manufacturers
free reign to manipulate our purchasing behaviour by linking the
scent of a product with a desired quality such as love, sexiness,
freshness, innocence and a wild, independent spirit. It's a tactic
used in the marketing of all bodycare products, but which is used to
particularly great effect in fine perfumes – witness how many are
named after emotions.
Once upon a time, perfumes were derived from natural plant and animal
ingredients. But these can be expensive
and subject to the variations of season and availability.
As science progressed, manufacturers found ways of producing
chemicals with `nature identical' smells, which could be produced in
high volumes without the need for worrying about the availability of
natural resources. Today, nearly all fragrance chemicals are
synthesised
almost entirely from petrochemicals, and while they can be made more
cheaply and the scent may linger longer than that of naturally
derived scents, they are problematical for human health.
First and foremost, many of these chemicals are considered hazardous
waste. As far back as 1986, the US National Academy of Sciences
identified fragrance ingredients as one of six categories of
neurotoxic chemicals that should be thoroughly investigated so that
we might better understand any potential harm to human health. This
placed these chemicals right up there with insecticides, heavy
metals, solvents and food additives
as primary causes of disease in humans. But government and industry
have been slow to demand or fund such research.
The word `parfum' is used to denote fragrance in a bodycare product.
Parfum is made up of dozens of chemicals containing solvents similar
to those used in adhesives, as well as benzene derivatives,
aldehydes and many other known toxins capable of causing cancer,
birth defects, and central nervous system disorders.
Inhaled fragrance chemicals can cause sore throat, runny nose, sinus
congestion, wheezing, shortness of breath, nausea and muscle pain.
They are also a major trigger for asthmatic episodes. Once in the
body, they easily breach the blood brain barrier – the protective
membrane designed to keep toxins away from sensitive brain cells –
and produce symptoms resonant with central nervous system (CNS)
disruption - headache, mental confusion, listlessness, inability to
concentrate, irritability, seizures, restlessness, agitation,
depression, sleepiness.
Many bodycare products are heavily perfumed, and at least one study
has demonstrated links between heavy
perfume exposure during pregnancy, and learning disabilities and
behaviour disorders in children. Studies have also shown that
inhaling fragrance chemicals can cause circulatory changes in the
brain.
In addition to being inhaled, fragrances can be absorbed through the
skin – especially through children's skin, which is thinner than that
of adults. The greater the emollient quality of the product you are
using (think skin creams, roll on deodorants, etc) the greater the
absorbency. While fragrance chemicals can be quick to saturate the
blood, they are slow to clear from the body. When they penetrate the
skin they can cause discoloration of internal organs. They can also
be toxic to the liver and kidneys. Still others accumulate in fatty
tissue and leech slowly back into the system, or are passed on to our
children through breast milk.
Fragrances add little to the function of the product. They are
unlikely to provide the `aromatherapy' experience promised,
especially if they are synthetic. Yet we are obsessed with them.
While it's an unhealthy obsession, it's not an inevitable one. Each
of us has the power to reduce the number of synthetic fragrances we
come into contact with on a daily basis. Start by reading the label.
Labelling rules have changed in the last couple of years and
manufacturers of cosmetics – and household cleaners – must list any
of the 24 fragrances that the EU's Scientific Committee on Cosmetic
Products and Non-Food Products (SCCNFP) has identified as common
contact allergies.
So now it's easy enough to avoid these. But the fragrances not listed
on the label are still potentially powerful enough to trigger more
subtle emotional symptoms or longer-term health problems. Even some
natural essences can cause allergic reactions in some individuals,
though these are rare because natural essences are derived from the
whole plant, and are believed to contain a variety of naturally
occurring chemicals that mitigate any potential allergic reactions.
If in doubt, or if you are very sensitive, you may wish to avoid
scented products entirely.
__._,_.___
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