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Products perfumed with pollutants: what are the health risks?

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Products perfumed with pollutants: what are the health risks?
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Did you know that the majority of cosmetic and cleaning products, such as deodorants, washing powders and shower gels, contain perfume? According to a study led by Anne Steineman, a researcher in the University of Melbourne, one in three people develop health problems following regular exposure. 

Perfumed products: what are the risks?

In carrying out this study, which was published in Preventive Medicine Reports, the researcher analysed data from 1,098 people living in Australia who were regularly exposed to perfumed products.

Of all of these people, 33% had reactions, including various and sometimes alarming symptoms, such as:

  • breathing difficulties and asthma in asthmatics
  • headaches, migraines
  • dizziness
  • skin breakouts
  • convulsions
  • nausea
  • nasal congestion or other health problems

In people with asthma and people who were prone to migraines, the perfumes triggered attacks.

According to the researcher, all of these reactions appeared linked to the pollutants which were contained in the perfumes. The results of this study are similar to those obtained by the researcher, who had carried out the same study in the United States. In the US study, 34.7% of people exposed to such perfumes experienced health problems. 

Cocktails of dangerous pollutants

Coming back to the Australian study, it claims that “the effects can be immediate, severe and potentially disabling (…)  but they can also be subtle and the affected people do not realise it”. Almost 7.7% of Australians who participated in the study had to go on sick leave over the course of the previous year because of a reaction to perfumed products in their workplace. Almost 16% were obliged to leave a shop if they got a strong smell of perfume.

The cause of these reactions and health problems comes from the quantity of toxic and irritating chemicals that these perfumed products contain.

“All the types of perfumed products tested, even the ones marked organic or natural, emitted dangerous pollutants into the air”, said Anne Steinemann.

For cleaning products, it is better to go for simple ingredients such as bicarbonate of soda, black soap, hot water or white vinegar. In terms of cosmetics, numerous natural products can replace your classic products, such as coconut oil or organic almond oil, which are perfume-free.

Source: Dr Steinmann

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