What is a fragrance?
What are fragranced products?
The problem
Who and what is addressed by fragrance-free policies?
Why are fragrance-free policies implemented?
Do people prefer fragranced or fragrance-free environments?
The fragrance-free cleaning solution
What is a fragrance?
A "fragrance" is a scent made of a mix of volatile chemicals and other components. A fragrance is meant to provide an aroma or cover an odor.
A "fragrance-free policy" is a protocol, principle, or plan meant to encourage a fragrance-free atmosphere.
What are fragranced products?
A fragranced product is a product that contains an added fragrance. Some examples are air fresheners, deodorizers, cleaning supplies, laundry detergents, fabric softeners, essential oils, candles, soaps, personal care products, colognes and hand sanitizers.
The Problem
Perfume is among the top five human allergens in the world. It severely damages both humans and domestic and wild animals.
Fragranced products have been linked to a variety of negative human health and societal effects in the general population, especially in sensitive sub-populations like asthmatics.
On average: 32% of the general population report adverse health effects when exposed to fragranced products.
58% of individuals with asthma-like conditions, 76% with autism spectrum disorders, 82% with chemical sensitivity report adverse effects from fragranced products. Types of adverse health effects among the general population: 17% respiratory problems, 13% mucosal symptoms, 13% migraine headaches, 9% skin problems, 7% asthma attacks, 5% neurological problems, long-term risks include hormonal dysfunction from endocrine disruptors and cancer.
Secondhand exposure
In a similar way to "secondhand smoke" from tobacco goods, extensive exposure to fragranced products leads to the problem of "secondhand scents", or unintended or involuntary contact to which the general population is exposed weekly.
Fragranced goods can be a major source of indoor air pollutants, although indoor air quality is not well-regulated or monitored.
In addition, fragranced items have been implicated as important contributors to outdoor air pollution, as their emissions travel outdoors from products used not only outdoors but also indoors.
There's lack of information about individual chemicals in a fragranced product, because no law in any country requires the disclosure of all the constituents on the label, safety data sheet, or elsewhere.
Instead, a product may use the generic phrase "fragrance" (or another legally acceptable term like "perfume") to describe itself instead of all of the ingredients separately, although a product's "fragrance" is made up of tens to hundreds of compounds, with approximately 4,000 identified fragrance components.
There's lack of knowledge about which specific chemicals or mixtures of chemicals in fragrance could be triggering the adverse effects.
In population-based research, however, all forms of fragranced items were linked to negative health impacts. As a result, a broad approach addressing a product category (fragranced products) could be beneficial (similar to smoke-free policies addressing tobacco products).
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