LAUNDRY PRODUCTS, FRAGRANCE, PERFUME

The bane of my existence? Laundry products and perfume. Sadly for me, the single most toxic place I ever find myself in is a room full of women. Perfume alone is so thick I can barely breathe and nearly always results in an immediate headache. But combined with the ever more heavily fragranced laundry products, it all makes for a toxic soup that will leave me feeling sick for a couple of days.

It isn't just that I'm sensitive. It is that these are truly harmful chemicals for everyone - and you can't learn which chemicals might be lurking in your products by reading the labels because the companies are not required to tell you what you are exposing yourself to.

One person, wearing clothing laundered in heavily scented products, is completely oblivious to how far their toxic scent spreads. It can fill a room in nothing flat, while they themselves claim to not be able to smell it. And it isn't just in the room, or in their home. Many are now complaining about what is being termed as "neighborhood pollution". In many places, one can no longer depend on being able to go for a nice, fresh-air walk outside without being inundated with clouds of fumes emitted from the laundry vents of homes. If you live in an apartment complex or condo development, the chances of walking in fresh air are even less.

A good basic article refers to a study done by Anne Steinemann, a professor of civil and environmental engineering and of public affairs at the University of Washington. You can read a July, 2008 article about it here: Toxic Chemicals Found In Common Scented Laundry Products, Air Fresheners.

The full and officially published study at sciencedirect.com is titled Fragranced Consumer Products and Undisclosed Ingredients.

There are endless and reliable sources, and good science, on this issue now.

EWG (the Environmental Working Group) has an expanded piece on the Steinemann study here.
EWG also has a page on Eco-Friendly Options for the Laundry. Or just buy the green laundry products such as 7th Generation, BioKleen, Ecover and a number of others.

And EWG's Enviroblog has a post titled Toxic Fragrance in the Air.

Here's a piece at Healthy Child Healthy World, titled Fragrances in Cleaning Products, Fabric Softeners and Laundry Detergents.

The Healthy House Institute has a long article titled Scented vs Unscented Products.