Perfume is bad for the environment and bad for your health.

There are so many reasons why fragrance free is best for you and for the world.  Going fragrance free is patriotic, good for the environment, important to your health, and the right thing to do.  Here are just a few more detailed reasons:

  1. Sensitivity to perfumes often develops over time and the more often you are exposed to perfume, the greater your chances of having problems with perfume later.  In fact, by the time individuals reach age 65, about 25 percent have problems breathing around perfume.  And things get worse as you age.
  2. Perfumes are an asthma trigger and individuals have died from exposure to perfume.  You can help others with asthma (about 20 percent of the population) by avoiding fragrances.
  3. Almost all perfumes contain pthalates which are chemicals that preserve the smell of perfumes for decades.  These chemicals have been shown to cause birth defects in baby boys–specifically smaller than average sized penises and undescended testicles.
  4. Some scientists believe the pthalates in perfumes cause cancer.
  5. Scientists believe the chemicals in perfumes are causing productive problems in other species.
  6. When perfumes are washed off, the chemicals in perfumes enter the environment as pollution that can cause problems for thousands of years.

It is not just the perfumes you wear that can harm you and the environment.  The perfumes in personal care products such as lotions, hair sprays, detergents, etc., are just as problematic as perfume sold as perfume.  Also, the so-called air fresheners placed in bathrooms contains hazardous chemicals–often frequently benzene and formaldehyde.  Scientists warn these chemicals cause cancer.  Fabric softeners are another source of this pollution.

If these facts bother you, please think about making a stink.  Everyone’s help is needed to rid the world of what is really a serious source of pollution.  There are many things you can do.  You can:

  1. Advocate for fragrance free and healthy work places.
  2. Work to educate others on the hazards of fragrance usage.
  3. Complain loudly to companies that sell perfumes and distribute perfume strips in magazines and mailers.
  4. Cancel subscriptions to magazines that include perfume strips.
  5. Stop buying from companies that are perfume pushers or that allow their sales staff to wear perfume and products containing common allergens such as aloe to work.  Imagine, if the one-third of us who are bothered by fragrances stopped shopping at stinky businesses, the businesses would clean up their indoor air pronto.
  6. Stop contributing money to nonprofit organizations that do not protect their workers from fragrances and that fail to include generously sized fragrance-free clean air spaces at all meetings.  You can ask any nonprofits you contribute to about their policies, and if they do not measure up, immediately stop sending donations their way.  Imagine, if the one-third of us who are bothered by fragrances stopped donating to stinky nonprofits, the nonprofits would start thinking about clean air fast.
  7. Ask to be waited on by sales personnel and other service staff who are not wearing perfume or scented products such as lotions and hair sprays.
  8. Know your rights under the federal American Disabilities Act (ADA) and work to ensure housing providers, employers, etc. respect your rights to accommodation if you have asthma or allergies that are worsened by fragrances.

Above all, please help contribute to this web site.  Please add information on what steps you have taken to address perfume pollution and what you would like to see done.