If you turn over your favorite products, you'll often find the word ‘fragrance' in the ingredients. But what is FRAGRANCE?? And does it even matter?
Fragrance chemicals are organic compounds that volatilize, or vaporize into the air, which is why we can smell them. They are added to household and personal care products to give them a scent or to mask the odor of other ingredients. Unfortunately, the volatile organic chemicals (VOCs - think the smell of paint or paint thinner) emitted by fragrance products are associated with a variety of adverse health effects.
But it gets a little bit worse….
Did you know that to protect trade secrets, makers are allowed to withhold fragrance ingredients? So as consumers, we can't rely on labels to know what hazards may lurk inside those festive scented candles (and room sprays.. and wall plugs… and perfumes.. and cosmetics…).
This is called the “fragrance loophole” in federal labeling law. Although all other ingredients in your scented household and personal care products must be disclosed on the label by their specific name, this loophole means that ingredients added to provide a pleasant scent, or to mask a bad one, need only be listed under the generic term “fragrance.”
The Environmental Working Group (EWG) reports that, while many popular candles and room sprays contain trace amounts of natural essences, they also typically contain a dozen or more potentially hazardous synthetic chemicals, some of which are derived from petroleum.
According to the EWG, “Exposure to fragrance chemicals can cause; headaches; eye, nose, and throat irritation; nausea; forgetfulness; loss of coordination; and other respiratory and/or neurotoxic symptoms. Many fragrance ingredients are respiratory irritants and sensitizers, which can trigger asthma attacks and aggravate sinus conditions.”
One example of a harmful ingredient (there are many!) when it comes to fragrance, is styrene, an ingredient added to a wide variety of consumer products. A 2011 finding by the National Toxicology Program (endorsed by the Academy's National Research Council) found that styrene is “reasonably anticipated to be a human carcinogen.”
We know only that styrene might be an ingredient in any given fragrance because the International Fragrance Association, an industry trade group, publishes an online “Transparency List” of ingredients that perfumers say they use in formulas for consumer products. Styrene is one of the 3,000-odd ingredients on the list. READ THAT AGAIN...
According to the EWG, When you add up the number of products in your bathroom cabinets and under your kitchen sink that contain “fragrance” – and may contain styrene – the total could be many exposures to a substance we now know is “reasonably anticipated to be a human carcinogen.”
THIS is why we are so passionate about ditching conventional products and switching to Young Living's clean, effective and safe options! Young Living NEVER uses fragrance in their products - they don't even need to because of the incredible essential oils. All the Young Living products are infused with the highest quality, therapeutic grade essential oils which not only make fragrance unnecessary, they actually improve our health!
