I opened the window to the 27 degree NYC air. My driver asked if I wanted him to turn the heat off, and I said, “no it’s the air freshener. It’s really too much.”
“Too much?! You’re supposed to like it!” he exclaimed with exasperation in his thick Greek accent.
Thus ensued a discussion about the little known risks to both drivers, passengers, and other unwitting air breathers in today’s service industries.
He unclipped his noxious Glade stink bomb and put it in his glove box. He said that I was “sweet” so he would do it for me.
I’m hoping that more drivers will do it for other reasons – the very reasons we are here to uncover today so that we can secure truly fresh air in public spaces…
VOC Nation
We are being exposed to air fresheners more and more in our shared-ride economy. It’s almost like we’ve gotten used to fake coverups and now feel that, no matter what the world looks like, or what a car smells like, we can create an illusion of ok-ness.
Many people are connecting the dots, recognizing that that air “fresheners” give them headaches, itchiness, and coughs. But what exactly are in air fresheners?
It’s not easy to find the answer to this question. Generally, air fresheners are made of Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs), which are synthetic chemicals that can float through the air. I tried hunting down the ingredients in Febreze Car Vent Clips, one of the most popular air fresheners used by Uber drivers. I was amazed to see that the three ingredients listed on the Febreze website are “odor blockers, odor eliminators, and fragrance.”
What does that actually mean?! Clicking through the site leads to several dead-ends, but after searching the ingredients on this Procter & Gamble page, I found an alarming 19-page list of potential fragrance ingredients (1).
There are too many unpronounceable chemicals to investigate one-by-one. But we can probably agree that the sheer number of synthetic chemicals potentially found in air fresheners is scary. Let’s examine some of the most common air freshener ingredients.
Benzene, and styrene, and phthalates, oh my!
A large study that analyzed 74 popular air fresheners (2) found that they contain over 350 chemical and allergenic VOCs. VOCs found in air fresheners include benzene, formaldehyde, styrene, and phthalates. Many of these VOCs are known carcinogens that can damage your health and the health of your future children.
Benzene has been classified as a known carcinogen by the EPA, WHO, and other agencies (3). Benzene damages DNA and has been linked to human mutations. Similarly, formaldehyde is classified as a human carcinogen (4) by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) and the National Toxicology Program. Alarmingly, epidemiological studies link chronic exposure to either benzene or formaldehyde to leukemia (5, 6).
Short term exposure to styrene can induce nausea, impaired balance, and allergies. Several studies have shown that long-term styrene exposure adversely affects the Central Nervous System (CNS). Epidemiologic studies show that styrene workers had increased mortality or incidences of cancers like leukemia and lymphoma (7).
Many air fresheners contain phthalates, a group of man-made chemicals that disperse fragrances. People have been wary of phthalates since the 1990s because of their hormone-disrupting effects. While some phthalates have been banned from toys, phthalates are still used in many consumer products like plastic containers, cosmetics, fragrances, furniture, and air fresheners.
In 2007, the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) tested 14 popular air fresheners that did not list phthalates as an ingredient (8). Several of these air fresheners were marketed as “unscented” or “all natural.” Yet, 12 of these 14 fresheners contained phthalates!
Why does this hidden ingredient matter? When phthalates are released in the air, they can enter your bloodstream through skin contact and inhalation. These are small molecules that easily cross skin and lung barriers (9).
If you’ve coughed or felt itchy after spending time in a hired car like Uber with overpowering air freshener, you’re not alone. Phthalates have been shown to worsen allergic symptoms, especially asthma and eczema (10). One study found that men with high urinary levels of phthalates suffered from impaired lung function (11).
The effects of phthalates can go beyond short-term discomforts. Known hormone disruptors, phthalates are linked to reproductive and developmental toxicities (12). Phthalates can also mess with your thyroid.
One study found that phthalate exposure harmed men’s fertility. Men with high urine phthalate concentrations had low levels of reproductive hormones and high levels of DNA damage in sperm cells (13). Another study showed that phthalate exposure increased the risk of endometriosis in women (14). Further, women with higher phthalate levels had more pregnancy complications, including preeclampsia and spontaneous abortion (15). And yet another study showed that phthalates led to implantation failure during in vitro fertilization.
To recap: the VOCs found in air fresheners, especially formaldehyde, benzene, styrene, and phthalates, can harm your skin, lungs, hormones, and fertility. Unfortunately, most air fresheners will not list these ingredients.
Know better, do better: ditch VOCs
Thankfully, there are natural ways to aromatherapize a shared airspace.
Baking soda and charcoal are effective deodorizers. In my office, I diffuse essential oils. Essential oils subtly enhance both the scent of the space and the experience of being in it. Since cars, particularly new ones, are already a minefield of off-gassing chemicals (16), let’s not add insult to injury.
Let Uber’s CEO know you care, and remember that voting with your dollar is a powerful form of activism.
References
- http://www.pgproductsafety.com/productsafety/ingredients/Perfume_and_Scents.pdf
- http://ec.europa.eu/health/ph_risk/committees/04_scher/docs/scher_o_026.pdf
- https://www.cancer.org/cancer/cancer-causes/benzene.html
- https://ntp.niehs.nih.gov/ntp/roc/content/profiles/formaldehyde.pdf
- https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3447593/
- https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2839060/
- https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3165940/
- https://www.nrdc.org/sites/default/files/fairfresheners.pdf
- http://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-642-80340-6_17
- http://www.jstor.org/stable/3838079?seq=1#page_scan_tab_contents
- https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1241923/
- http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1438463907001125
- http://oem.bmj.com/content/62/11/806.full
- https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12832380
- http://oem.bmj.com/content/62/11/806.full
- http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1001074213604593
Can someone please make one of these for Lyft? And the airlines (staff and passengers wearing perfume)
I so agree just went to Portland from alaska I had a reaction to fabric detergents softer dryer sheets and purfumed people on the plane had to have a t-shirt on my face the whole time while my face burned and could barely breathe and then all Lyft drivers had the toxic purfume air vent clips or tree deodorizing toxic purfume and we took them every day at least 4 to 6 times and had to ask them to take them out because I am highly allergic to them while I had to being a t-shirt with me cover my face and had windows rolled down with my face basically out the window as I got drenched from the rain it was not fun
Thank you for doing this article! I’m passing this onto my hot yoga studio that has several of them in the electric sockets. I can’t stand them! They smell disgusting and make me feel sick.
Yes, the Uber issue’s real, thanks (I signed the petition).
Now, please release a VOC article into our ‘spheres. I know from experience, after completing an eco-retooling for 200 units of affordable housing apartments. All toxic cleaning chemical and methods were replaced with healthy alternatives. Ditto, all paints and coatings. Landscape gardens provided phythotropic benefits as well as beauty. Within a month, tenants reported feeling better, liking their buildings more, etc. 6 months into my work, a wait list for rentals replaced the perpetual 50-unit vacancy. Other problems of late rent, evictions, and a 50 unit vacancy all but vaporized (heh). Cheers!
Wonderful post, Kelly. It’s so interesting how negatively some of us respond to these chemicals while so many people seem to enjoy them. Then there was that American Express commercial a few years back with Tina Fey getting inspiration by huffing dryer sheets…
https://vimeo.com/89263931
Good article.
Hi Dr. Brogan,
Funny, when I went to massage therapy school several years ago, they warned us about the harmful ingredients in air fresheners. My friends always thought I was weird for avoiding them. I have at times, betrayed my own beliefs and bought an air freshener, only to throw it away within a week.
Thanks for the reminder.
Dear Dr. Kelly,
I learn something from you every email. You are a beacon of light for us all. I thank you for your courage
and newly found spiritual Wisdom.
love & light, Lynn
Thank you for this article! Our elementary school has a severe addiction to glade plug-ins as they are in every classroom!! Every week I’m in the class I leave with a headache and have expressed concern with a young impressionable population sitting in these classrooms all day.
Keep questioning everything ! Thanks for the insights
Hi,
This article was very timely for me! I went to Target to buy trash bags over the weekend and every one of them had Fabreeze or a Fresh Breeze scent in the size I wanted to buy. I had to go Amazon and order them online to avoid the scent. Putting this info together must have taken a lot of time, so thanks for all you do to get the word out.
Does it make anyone else really mad that the company won’t even tell you what’s in these products? When will people start to get it — these things are so toxic to our bodies! It’s not just air fresheners — I can hardly be in the office where I work (perfume, scented lotion, even the stuff people wash their clothes with) it all just makes me feel sick.
Thanks for this post and for bringing this issue to light. For years I have been wanting to do something to create awareness about the use of dryer sheets in my neighborhood. Dryer vent exhaust is not regulated and often contains the same harmful VOC’s as air fresheners. Sometimes I cannot open my windows because of the odor from the neighbors.
Awesome article! Thank you! I’ve been suffering with this fragrance issue in Ubers and public restrooms for YEARS. I literally get migraines and nausea the rest of the day, and my child gets ADHD, ODD, and gets into negative argumentative moods after she’s exposed to fragrances. These toxins can have a profound impact on the brain and behavior of children sensitive to phenols and salicylates – as well as those who have poor methylation. Plus the cancer risk for everyone! Not just those of us who happen to know we have Multiple Chemical Sensitivities. I’m printing this article out 20x for all the Uber drivers and my child’s school and extra curricular activities! Those chemical fragrance dispensers are such a nightmare to deal with… I have to carry a face mask in my purse to be prepared and prevent getting sick when I get exposed.
Fragrances of any kind make me ill. If a perfumed person walks by, it feels like they just punched me in the stomach. I get an instant headache and nausea. Air fresheners and scented laundry products are the worst. However, essential oils also make me sick. Can’t we just leave it alone and stop trying to add fragrance to everything?
I always say that about body odor since I don’t use anything on my person, not even deodorant. But sometimes, especially in winter, you just need something that takes away that awful smell of being cooped up for too long. This works good and infusing oils is a nice change to the commercial smell of candles and febreze.
I just would like to add that people use these in their homes too and they are so obnoxious and unhealthy to breathe. I use 1 cup distilled water, 2 oz of alcohol and some essential oils (usually 10-30 drops depending on what works the best) mixed in a blue glass spray bottle and spray this where and when needed.
Wondering if the essential oil spray leaves an oil residue on furniture, walls, etc.?
To be honest I never these fragrances could make you ill. Very informative post and thanks for the information.
Nice to know I am not totally nuts. Synthetic fragrances give me migraines, I lose cognition and just feeling terrible. Had Uber ride today, short trip and I had to get out 3/4 of a mile from my destination. Knew as soon as I opened the door I should skip the ride. EWG.ORG is another place for information on chemicals found household products. Watch out for ScentAir, this company is using fragrances in the HVAC systems of businesses, JC Penny’s is one of many companies using it to make people enjoy the shopping experience- this is not the way to do it. Just like other fragrances and chemicals it is very hard to find out what is in it. Many say they are hypo-allergenic. That may be true but they do cause reactions in people and some can be quite severe. Thank you for the article.