by Dr. Mercola

Widely used fragranced products, including those that claim to be “green”, can give off chemicals not listed on the label. Some of these chemicals have been classified as toxic.

Twenty-five commonly used scented products were found to emit an average of 17 chemicals each. A total of 133 different chemicals were detected — nearly a quarter of which are classified as toxic or hazardous under at least one federal law. Only one emitted compound was listed on a product label.

According to Science Daily:

“Manufacturers are not required to disclose any ingredients in cleaning supplies, air fresheners or laundry products, all of which are regulated by the Consumer Product Safety Commission.

Neither these nor personal care products, which are regulated by the Food and Drug Administration, are required to list ingredients used in fragrances, even though a single ‘fragrance’ in a product can be a mixture of up to several hundred ingredients”.

Sources:

Science Daily October 26, 2010
Environmental Impact Assessment Review, 2010

Dr. Mercola’s Comments:

If you, or someone you know, are sensitive to fragrances, you know just how debilitating this problem can be.  I have some personal experience with this issue as someone I was very close to had severe chemical sensitivities.  Additionally, I was a member of the American Academy of Environmental Medicine, which is a physician group dedicated to caring for these types of individuals.

I treated many patients for chemical sensitivites in my decades of private practice. I also had to enforce a strict policy  where patients were asked to refrain from using scented products of any kind whenever they came to my clinic because my chemically sensitive patients would react to them.

Vast arrays of consumer products are now scented, from toiletries to cleaning products, to air fresheners and upholstery – even entire stores (known as full sensory branding) and all of these can trigger severe health problems. (For a list of symptoms that can signal a chemical sensitivity, please see this previous article.)

Read the full article here: http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2011/05/07/scented-consumer-products-emit-unlisted-hazardous-chemicals.aspx

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