The best guide on spiritual healing


Is It Perfume Or Poison?

Here's the scenario: you are on anproducts" which are used not only in
elevator. The elevator stops and inperfumes but to scent shampoos, soaps,
walks someone with WAY too much colognedeodorants, lotions, creams and other
on and the smell overpowers you. Yourbeauty products. Here's the list - it
sinuses start to hurt and you get a bitspeaks volumes on its own:
sick to your stomach. The smell of theACETONE, BENZALDEHYDE, BENZYL, BENZYL
cologne stays with you, in your hair,ALCOHOL, CAMPHOR, ETHANOL, ETHYL
clothes and nose for quite a while afterACETATE, LIMONENE, LINALOOL, METHYLENE
- hence the sick feeling does too. Yuk.CHLORIDE, a-PINENE, g-TERPINENE,
It's hard not to think how inconsideratea-TERPINEOL, 1,8-CINEOLE, b-CITRONELLOL,
this person is.b-MYRCENE, NEROL, OCIMENE, b-PHENETHYL
It's not just the smell that isALCOHOL, a-TERPINOLENE
inconsiderate. Have you ever thoughtThere are relatively few studies
about the chemicals that are used inavailable concerning the use and
fragrances? Many of them are not goodexposure to fragranced products. Testing
for you to breathe or to put on yourby the cosmetics/fragrance industry
body!focuses on skin effects without taking
This week Time Magazine did an articleinto account respiratory, neurological,
on air fresheners and how many brandsor systemic effects. There is little
have been removed from the market due toregulation of fragrance by regulatory
high levels of phthalates. Phthalatesagencies. Not only is too much perfume
are estrogenic in nature, which isoften offensive to many, more and more
believed to contribute to certainpeople consider it to be an indoor air
cancers. Phthalates are used to dissolvepollutant. Some are quite vocal about
and carry fragrances and softentheir opposition to the use of perfumes.
plastics, sealants and similarFor years, I thought I was the only one
compounds. They are commonly found inwho got headaches from strong perfume!
cosmetics, paint, nail polish andThere is a movement afoot to curtail the
plastics.use of fragrances in the work place.
This peaked my interest on fragrances inMany businesses, at the request of their
general - so, as usual, I did someemployees, are creating fragrance-free
research. Although fragrances have beenpolicies. Given that many people are
used for centuries, they were made fromhighly affected by allergies, this makes
plant and animal sources. Modernsense (pun intended, get it? ...
fragrances are primarily syntheticsense...scents...).
materials developed since World War II.But seriously, given that we are
Did you know that 600 or more chemicalsbombarded by more and more hazardous
may be used in a single fragrance, andchemicals and pollution, having less on
95% of chemicals used in them areour bodies, homes and in our workplaces
derived from petroleum? Why?must be better for ALL of us. Breathe
Petro-chemicals in perfumes are lessdeeply and live well!
expensive and more easily available thanSources:
the natural ingredients.Neurotoxins: At Home and the Workplace,
Many chemicals used in fragrances are(Report by the Committee on Science &
considered hazardous waste disposalTechnology, U.S. House of
chemicals! Synthetic fragranceRepresentatives, Sept.16, 1986. (Report
compounds accumulate in human tissue and99-827).
are found in breast milk."Living Healthy in a Toxic World," David
An EPA study in 1991 listed the 20 mostSteinman 1996.
common chemicals used in "fragrance



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