by Christopher Lindsay
In the TV series, The X Files, Dana Scully says to Fox Mulder: “I have identified the effect. I am still looking for the cause.” When something happens (an effect) it can often be a mystery to determine why it happened (the cause). One cause and effect relationship many people are unaware of is how fragranced consumer products can trigger health problems – including migraine headaches and asthma attacks – in a significant percentage of the population. If products containing fragrance are proven to cause harm, then it can be argued consumers have a moral responsibility not to use these products in public.
Countless products have fragrance added to them. This includes perfumes, colognes, aftershaves, laundry detergents, fabric softeners, air fresheners, deodorants and soaps. In 2010, the Environmental Working Group did laboratory tests and found that the average fragrance product tested contained 14 secret chemicals. Fragrance companies do not have to list the chemicals on the product label due to trade secret protections. The combined ingredients are labelled as “fragrance” or “parfum.” According to the International Fragrance Association, there are 3,999 different ingredients (both natural and synthetic) used in making fragrance.
Fragranced consumer products can negatively impact a person’s health. A 2016 Australian study of more than 1,000 people found that 33 per cent of respondents reported health problems after exposure to such products. Negative effects included migraine headaches, asthma attacks, contact dermatitis, respiratory difficulties, and mucosal symptoms. Nearly eight per cent of respondents had lost work days in the past year because they were exposed to fragrance. Exactly why fragrance can trigger health problems is not fully understood by scientists, but the effects are real.
If an individual uses fragranced consumer products at work (or in other public places), other people may experience negative health symptoms. Even though it is legal to use these products in public, just because something is legal does not make it moral. It is a universal moral principle that no one should intentionally harm an innocent person. If this principle is true, then it is morally wrong to use fragranced products in public because doing so will cause other people pain and suffering.
A lot of suffering in this world is unavoidable, but the harm caused by fragrance is 100 per cent preventable. Instead of buying products with fragrance, consumers can buy brands that are labelled fragrance-free. (Fragrance-free means the product has no fragrance, while unscented means it contains a fragrance that will mask the odor caused by the chemical ingredients.) Fragrance-free products are often higher in price, but the more people who buy them, the more corporations (and small businesses) will produce them, and the more alternatives there will be for consumers.
Christopher Lindsay is a TRU staff member concerned with fragrance use on campus.
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Very Good Chris.
Thanks, Brent! I’m glad you enjoyed reading it. Chris
Some good points Chris. I know certain places like hospitals etc have frangrance free environment. People are becoming more aware of the issue and are slowly taking steps to address the problem.
Thanks, Andrew. I agree. Most people, once they understand that wearing a strong fragrance can cause harm, are willing to reduce their use of these products in public.
People are exposed to chemicals, and suffer in so many ways! Using products that support our environment and our health is a responcibility everybody should take part in.
Our skin, being the largest organ of the body, sucks toxins up like a sponge. We willingly apply them to our skin in hopes of looking younger or smelling like the beach, while its doing more harm then we possibly know.
Everything from discoloration/damage of the liver to the introduction of carcinogens through our pores can result in illness or death. Way to go Chris! Wonderful way to raise awareness!!
So educational! This should be displayed on every street corner!!
Quite frankly, I think that fragrances in products and the excessive, harmful chemicals should be outlawed. It is totally unconscionable for manufacturers to make it. We can’t leave it to consumer choice because people don’t care, and aren’t informed (even if they are, will they change?). I have suffered all my life because of allergies to it and have suffered poverty and loss of income, loss of places to work, loss of social life, and loss of health. Thanks, people.
Hi Karen, I’m sorry to hear you have suffered so much from chemical fragrance.
Fragrance in things can last years. I was on a friend’s boat and it was chilly and he offered me a sweatshirt, but it smelled too perfumy and I didn’t want it on my skin. He said that sweatshirt had been in the bottom of the cupboard and had not been washed for 5 years! If I buy some article of clothing, second hand, and it is too perfumy, it can take up to a dozen washes to get it out, NO LIE! This is because fragrances are mixed with fixatives — harmful, toxic chemicals that can cause cancer — to make the scent last longer! If these things don’t help persuade people of the immorality of using fragrances, then there is no hope for you! In order to be even more of an incendiary, I’ll challenge that universities are not places of higher intelligence. It seems to me that the main purpose is to manufacture “people” for specialized jobs. I have yet to see many young people thinking for themselves (making up their own minds after careful thought, rather than following the masses), thinking of the larger picture, and thinking of consequences. Instead, they are selfish and culture oriented. Thanks.