What are fragrances, where do they come from? Fragrances are in almost every product you can use in your home to on your skin. The real question is are they regulated and are they safe to be using them as often as we do.
What is a fragrance? Fragrance can be any ingredient or mixture of ingredients intended to mask an odor. A fragrance can be composed of 4000+ of chemicals. About 1200 have been listed as toxic or harmful for our health and body so far. Not all of the chemicals have been through testing. A single scent can consist of 50 to 200 distinct chemicals. It is often just listed as fragrance for the fact of it being a loophole to pass FDA regulations for manufacturers because it’s considered a trade secret under the Fair Packaging and Labeling act. The IFRA is basically self-regulated and is not monitored by any governmental agency. It is often in household cleaning products, candles, along with air fresheners, perfume and cologne, health and beauty aids which include body wash, clothing, lotions, hair shampoo and conditioner, other hair products, tampons, deodorant, all makeup from foundation to lipstick, shaving products and sunscreen. All these products we use every single day and even multiple times a day. Gross.
Where is fragrance derived from? Fragrances can be naturally derived but that doesn't mean it is better. Often natural fragrances are derived from nature but are often broken down in labs using solvent chemicals to extract certain oils such as petroleum, Phthalates, styrene, and resorcinol for an example. Even unscented products can contain these chemicals. The process may also include bleaching. These processes can make it just as harmful and toxic.
The majority of the time the product brand will say if it’s naturally derived by either including it at the end of the list of ingredients or add an asterisk by the term fragrance in the list of ingredients.
The majority of the time they are unfortunately synthetically derived which can come from multiple sources including coal tar to feces and even anal glands from multiple animals, which alone makes me want to avoid Fragrances in general. These fragrances also use petroleum, Phthalates, resorcinol, and many other harmful additives such as:
Carcinogens Toxins are styrene, methyl eugenol, pyridine, beta-myrcene, benzophenone, DEHP and BHA. BCPP’s Right to Know report test of 100 personal care products and 40 cleaning products revealed the possible endocrine disrupting compounds including DEP, oxybenzone, octanoate and calanolide. These cancer-causing chemicals are easily consumed and ingested through your dish soap, laundry detergent, perfume and other products you rub on your skin. Tampons also consist of these chemicals and are inserted and left for hours which is plenty of time for your body to absorb these chemicals.
Reproductive Toxins are phthalates, lilial and nonylphenol. Many women struggle to get pregnant. Many doctors will recommend avoiding products that contain fragrance because they contain chemicals that disrupt your hormone levels. This also includes men. When your hormones are out of whack conceiving can become an issue. Fragrance also makes producing breast milk difficult as well.
Skin Allergen Toxins are linalool, hexyl cinnamal, geraniol, and HICC.11% of the population have allergic reactions to fragrances. That’s 36,245,000 people! Which is absolutely insane! Rashes to hives that can last days up to months.
Neurotoxicants are xylenes and phenol. Headache medication is one of the most sold products in large retail stores! 35% of the population reported having migraines from Fragrances. That’s 115,325,000 people. Even worse, fragrance can cause shortness of breath that can also trigger asthma. The most surprising fact I found was the effect it can have on your nervous system including loss of muscular coordination, and central nervous system depression.
These persistent and bio accumulative fragrances have been found in fat tissue, human blood, breast milk, rivers, lakes, drinking water, sediment, air, and wildlife from birds to seals. Which is absolutely alarming considering all of the health issues that are caused by these fragrances. Imagine what all the chemicals are doing to our ecosystem.
With all the health damaging chemicals within these products it might be best to avoid products with fragrance or limiting the amount you use or breath in. More researchers are getting involved with the fragrance manufacturers for the fact of them not having to list the ingredients on these everyday products and still not having regulations. This world is a crazy place and it’s best to stay updated on things like these.
Atheia Creations avoids artificial fragrances in all products! We care about you and how the products affect your health!
Links
Fragrance Chemicals | Health Care Without Harm (noharm-uscanada.org)
Why smelling good could come with a cost to health | Fragrance | The Guardian
Fragrances - Children's Environmental Health Network (cehn.org)
https://www.safecosmetics.org/resources/health-science/fragrance-disclosure/
Why You Should Avoid Fragrances in Skincare Products (2023) | withoutfragrance.com
Fragrance Ingredients - Women's Voices for the Earth (womensvoices.org)
Perfume stinks - how fragrances can affect health | healthdirect