[Pharmwaste] Choking on freshness - If air "fresheners" clear the air, why are we gagging?

[DeBiasi,Deborah]

http://www.newsreview.com/reno/content?oid=1158370


Choking on freshness
If air "fresheners" clear the air, why are we gagging?

By Kat Kerlin 
katk at newsreview.com
 
Dried oranges, cinnamon and cloves are a natural alternative to
chemically based air fresheners.  

There they are, dangling from a car rearview window, or masking scents
in a public bathroom, or emitting little smells from a home light
socket. If air "fresheners" are intended to clear the air, why do they
cause some people to gag?

According to the U.S. Consumer Products Safety Commissions, some air
fresheners "release pollutants more or less continuously." For starters,
there are phthalates. Phthalates are hazardous chemicals that have been
linked to hormonal abnormalities, birth defects and reproductive
problems. When released into the air, phthalates can be inhaled or
absorbed by the skin. In a well-publicized study in 2007, the Natural
Resources Defense Council evaluated 14 air fresheners from a Walgreens
store and found phthalates in 86 percent of them, even those labeled as
"all natural" or "unscented."

The chemicals don't stop with phthalates, however. A 2008 University of
Washington study of six name-brand air fresheners and laundry products
found that each gave off at least one chemical regarded by federal law
as toxic or hazardous, and yet none of the chemicals were listed on the
product labels. Manufacturers aren't required to list ingredients,
including what can be the several chemicals labeled simply as
"fragrance" on the product. One plug-in air freshener in the study
carried more than 20 different volatile organic compounds, seven of
which are regulated as toxic or hazardous by federal law.

"Nearly 100 volatile organic compounds were emitted from these six
products, and none were listed on any product label," UW professor and
researcher Anne Steinermann told Science Daily. "Plus, five of the six
products emitted one or more carcinogenic 'hazardous air pollutants,'
which are considered by the Environmental Protection Agency to have no
safe exposure level."

In a separate study, the National Institute of Environmental Health
Sciences found that exposure to the volatile organic compound 1, 4
dichlorobenzene, which is found in some air fresheners, may reduce lung
function and exacerbate respiratory diseases.

Despite this research, regulators say there's no clear evidence for ill
health effects of conventional air fresheners, partly because of a lack
of conclusive studies.

Does this mean you have to start baking cookies every day to make your
home smell better? Not necessarily.

There are a number of nontoxic, biodegradable alternatives that are
readily found at local eco-minded stores and increasingly popping up in
the big box stores, as well. Many come in spray bottles with ingredients
such as "water, food grade enzymes, mint."


Or make your own. Some ideas include infusing a spray bottle with a
couple of sprigs of mint or lavender, using baking soda in the bottoms
of trash cans, cupboards and refrigerators, and lighting natural soy or
beeswax candles. You could also make your own natural potpourri by
combining, for example, dried orange peels, cinnamon sticks, cloves or
dried flower petals. Then-you know, as a last resort-you could clean the
source of stinkiness.

In Reno, where the air is relatively clean, the best air freshener may
be the air itself, so try cracking a window.






Deborah L. DeBiasi 
Email:   Deborah.DeBiasi at deq.virginia.gov (NEW!)
WEB site address:  www.deq.virginia.gov 
Virginia Department of Environmental Quality 
Office of Water Permit Programs 
Industrial Pretreatment/Toxics Management Program 
PPCPs, EDCs, and Microconstituents 
Mail:          P.O. Box 1105, Richmond, VA  23218 (NEW!) 
Location:  629 E. Main Street, Richmond, VA  23219 
PH:         804-698-4028 
FAX:      804-698-4032