Q: Are naturally scented products safe?
A: Someone needs to bottle a new cologne called Villain. After all, scented products are banned from tons of offices, and in many circles heavy spritzers face nearly the same amount of scorn as pregnant smokers swiggin’ from a mickey.
I know first-hand the headaches and nausea triggered by synthetic scents, but products labelled “naturally scented” occasionally get my temples throbbing, too. How come?
I always assumed the company was flat-out lying, but it turns out things are more complicated than that.
A recent study led by the University of Washington tested 25 scented body care products, air fresheners, laundry products and cleaners and found they emit 133 different volatile organic compounds. Not really surprising, except that half the products are marketed under a green claim like “natural,” “non-toxic” or “made with essential oils.”
Lots of “natural”-branded products contain synthetic scents (including Method cleaners and big-name body care lines like Nature’s Gate and Burt’s Bees. Thing is, the UW researchers found that products marketed as using “natural” or “organic” fragrances emitted lots of VOCs, too.
Actually, according to the report, “All products with ‘natural’ or ‘organic’ fragrance emitted at least one chemical classified as toxic or hazardous under (U.S.) federal laws.” Ditto for products with “essential oils.”
What the hell is going on here? Well, it turns out two of the most common VOCs in all the products, synthetic or not, were ethanol (which is either a petrochemical or a fermented-sugars-based alcohol) and alpha-pinene (found in oils of pine, rosemary and eucalyptus).
Ethanol is registered as an air contaminant under occupational health laws, and both ethanol and alpha-pinene are registered as pesticides in the U.S.
Moreover, the most common VOC in all “natural” and synthetically scented products was limonene. Regardless of whether it’s derived from orange peels or not, it’s known to react with ozone in the air to create pollutants like formaldehyde and acetaldehyde.
This new data supports the case made by studies like one out of Taiwan published in Atmospheric Environment a couple of years back that found that burning essential lavender, tea tree and eucalyptus oils in diffusers emitted all kinds of terpenes, which, like limonene, can contribute to indoor air pollution.
All this is why really sensitive Ecoholics will already know they have to stay away from synthetic and natural scents, including essential oils. Anne Steinemann, lead researcher on the UW study, says whether you know it or not, scents affect you at the subclinical level. “People who use them all the time don’t realize they’re injuring themselves,” she says.
The safest bet is to stick to fragrance-free items made with simple, natural ingredients. If you’re an essential oil lover, at least ask for high-quality certified organic oils that don’t use petrochemical solvents.
Scent devotees should keep in mind that a genuine essential oil scent may not be VOC-less, but it should at least be free of the hundreds of other worrisome ingredients found in the thousands of scented consumer products lining shelves.
Remember, just because a synthetically scented product claims to be phthalate-free doesn’t mean it’s free of hormone-disrupting chemicals (of which phthalates were only one of a dozen found by Environmental Defence). To get rid of all the hormone messers in scents and start mandatory labelling, send a request to the health minister at action.davidsuzuki.org/parfum.
Got a question?
Send your green queries to ecoholic@nowtoronto.com
