Why Fragrance Doesn’t Pass the Smell Test
When in doubt, go fragrance free!
When it comes to fragrance, we always say that the safest option is to look for products that are completely fragrance free. Choosing to go fragrance-free is a great way to avoid chemicals that may be harmful to your health. Plus, does everything we own really need to smell like cotton candy?! In case you haven’t heard why fragrance is so problematic, we break it down below.
What’s Actually in Fragrance?
One of the big problems with fragrance is that there are so many different chemicals that can be added to a product. According to the International Fragrance Association’s Transparency List, there are approximately 3,000 fragrance ingredients that can be used in consumer goods worldwide (1). And since the FDA does not require approval before a chemical goes onto the market, it’s impossible to say that all of these fragrance ingredients are safe to use. The chemical that’s making your house smell like clean laundry or a cinnamon apple might also secretly be toxic.
Even though there are a lot of untested chemicals, we do know that some fragrance ingredients are definitely harmful to human health. Many fragrance ingredients can be allergens that cause headaches, runny noses, sneezing, or coughing (2). Allergens are probably the reason you have to stand two feet away from that one coworker who wears a super strong perfume.
Phthalates are widely used in as a solvent or fixative in perfume, shampoo, lotion, and nail polish even though they’re endocrine disrupting chemicals. Fragrance found in candles has been shown to contain volatile organic compounds (VOCs) like formaldehyde and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), both of which can cause short-term health effects like irritation, and long-term health effects like cancer (3, 4).
To make matters worse, companies don’t even have to tell you all the ingredients they use in their fragrance! Trade secret laws keep companies from disclosing proprietary fragrance blends, but that means we don’t actually know what’s in our products. There could be 10 ingredients that go into the “fragrance” listed on your body lotion, or there could be 500! And if we don’t know what all of these ingredients are, how do we adequately protect our health?
When in Doubt, Go With Fragrance Free
Like we mentioned before, the best bet is to purchase products that are free from all fragrance. Only look for labels that say “contains no added fragrance”… some products labeled as “unscented” may still contain fragrance as a way to hide ingredients that naturally have an unpleasant smell (2). If you really can’t live without a fragranced product, go for something that only uses essential oils (although they have their own pros and cons as well).
References
- https://ifrafragrance.org/initiatives/transparency/ifra-transparency-list
- https://www.fda.gov/cosmetics/cosmetic-ingredients/fragrances-cosmetics
- https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0304389414010243
- https://toxtown.nlm.nih.gov/chemicals-and-contaminants/polycyclic-aromatic-hydrocarbons-pahs