Beware of synthetic scents

Re “On Scent, We’ve Barely Scratched the Surface” [Nov. 4]: Air fresheners have been shown to cause respiratory distress, contribute to asthma and negatively affect the function of the nervous system, which, by the way, includes the brain. Almost everything in fragrances are volatile organic compounds. This class of chemicals has been deemed so unhealthy that paint manufacturers have been forced to dramatically limit them in their products.

Many fragrances contain known hazardous substances, yet the Food and Drug Administration refuses to require a warning label on these products despite its own regulation that requires this. The American Lung Assn. and the American Medical Assn. state on their websites that fragrance is an asthma trigger. Asthma is the leading cause of hospitalization and death for children, and asthma rates are skyrocketing.

Barbara Eaton

Ravenna, Ohio

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People have gone stark-staring mad over scents. The danger of fragrances of that nature being spread all over is that they can hide toxic or lethal substances and areas. Scents can dull people’s awareness and render them more suggestible by dousing the society with cheap fragrances. And unscrupulous people can use scents for exactly that purpose.

Werner Brock

Valencia

HOW many people would willingly purchase the wide variety of scented products if they knew those scents’ innards?

Modern synthetic fragrances contain carcinogens, hormone disrupters (phthalates are one example), irritants (think poison to respiratory system and skin), neurotoxins (can affect brain and nervous systems) and sensitizers (can adversely affect respiratory system and skin). A lobbying arm of this multibillion-dollar self-regulated industry, which produces products that our government agencies charged with protecting public health can’t even learn about due to trade secret status (that doesn’t protect the industry from “rip-off” scents, but does a fine job of shielding it from an informed consumership), claims its fragrances and ingredients are “safe and wholesome.” (Fragrance Materials Assn., www .fmafragrance.org).

Safe and wholesome? By whose definition? Not mine.

Barb Wilkie

Berkeley

Wilkie is president of the Environmental Health Network.