|
Not just a personal preference, but a Vital Matter of Health
You may have been given this brochure by a friend, co-worker, relative, or
professional who is trying to explain the need to avoid exposure to scented
products. If so, this person probably is environmentally ill (EI) or is
trying to protect the health of others who are EI. Someone who is EI (for
instance, as a result of chemical injuries caused by pesticides or solvents)
can be harmed by exposure to common chemicals, including the chemicals found
in aftershave, perfume, scented hair products, and scented cosmetics,
lotions, powders, and soaps. A person who is EI not only needs to avoid
personal use of scented products but also needs to avoid other people who
use such products and places that have picked up thEIr smells.
As you probably can imagine, this is
difficult--both because "smelly stuff" seems to be everywhere these days and
because any one person's life intersects with the lives of many others. An
EI person has to deal with this difficult task everyday, but to you the
whole concept may be new and strange.
This brochure is written with your
situation in mind. It's understandable that you may feel puzzled, annoyed,
hurt, intimidated, or even vaguely insulted by a request to leave off the
scented stuff when you're going to be around a certain person or going to be
in a certain space. How are you supposed to understand this request when
you've never had it explained to you before. Here's your chance to
understand--and to protect your own health at the same time.
As in many other situations, the behest way to understand is to not
understand. And most misunderstandings about this subject arise from two
common misconceptions: 1. that the no-fragrance request is somehow about you
as a person, and 2. that the request is about smells as such. But in fact,
it's all about chemicals
It's Not the Smell, It's the Chemical
The problem with scented products is
not so much the smell itself as the chemicals that produce the smell. Nearly
all scented products currently on the market are made largely or entirely of
synthetic chemicals, usually derived from petroleum or coal tar. Nearly
one-third of the chemical additives used in perfumes and other scented
products are known to be toxic. And it's not safe to assume that the other
chemicals are safe just because they aren't yet known to be toxic. (Keep in
mind that most of the chemicals used in this country, including 90% of the
pesticides, have never been tested.) And just one perfume can contain more
than 500 chemicals. Expensive products are just as likely as cheap one to
contain synthetic chemicals. And words like "hypoallergenic," "natural
scent," "floral," and the names of various flowers don't meant that you can
trust the product under the label--they just mean that the manufacturer
wants you to think that the product is safe. Even "unscented" may actually
mean that a masking fragrance has been added to the product to disguise the
smell of certain ingredients
The only safe assumption about scented products is that they contain
numerous toxic chemicals which constantly vaporize into the air and attach
themselves to the hair, clothing, and surroundings of anyone who wears them
these chemicals are skin irritants, suffocants, eye and respiratory tract
irritants, and neurotoxins. That's why bEIng around someone who's wearing a
scented product (or who's wearing clothes that have picked up smells from
past use of scented products) can cause an EI person to develop obvious
allergy symptoms, (sneezing, coughing, watery eyes), to have an asthma
attack, to develop a headache, to become dizzy or nauseous, to have trouble
focusing or thinking or remembering, to experience sudden mood changes, to
develop muscle cramps or spinal subluxations, or even to have a sEIzure or
lose consciousness.
And that's why wearing scented products isn't just a personal choice. It's a
choice to impact the air space of others--and in ways you may not be able to
predict or control. And that's why "I'm just wearing a little!" or "It's not
perfume , it's just my soap" are irrelevant responses. The chemicals don't
care. They don't care how much you're wearing or in what form you're wearing
it--they're going to vaporize into the air around you and do thEIr chemical
thing, even if you weren't planning to harm someone
It's Not About You
Knowing that the problem with scented products is the chemicals the contain
may help you understand that a request to avoid such products is not a
statement about you. An EI person is not trying to insult your taste. Don't
assume that the EI person is saying "You stink" or "You make me sick." Nor
is an EI person overlooking the fact that you probably used a scented
product from habit, in an attempt to dress up or because smelling good is
highly prized in your culture. No one's trying to put you or your culture
down--just trying to give you some little known but vital facts. Smelling
good may be a personal or cultural value--but bEIng toxic isn't.
Don't be taken in by the fragrance industry's ad campaigns. They'd like you
to believe that using thEIr products is a way to "express yourself." But all
you are expressing is thEIr incredible profit margin: Products that cost
manufacturers only pennies to make are sold for bundles of money.
You don't need to use poison to get clean or smell good. For information on
truly safe products, see the book by Dodd that's listed at the end of this
brochure. And if you're worried you'll forget to leave off the smelly stuff
on a day when you'll be around an EI person or be in a no-fragrance space,
just tape a "No Fragrances Today" note to your mirror where you'll see it in
the morning as you get ready for the day.
Yes, It's for Real--and It's Widespread
If you've never heard of EI before or if you've heard of it only through
some sneering, uninformed mention on television, you may be wondering if EI
is for real. Perhaps you're worried that someone is putting you on, or you
wonder if the EI person's problem may be "all in the head," or maybe you
assume that EI is a rare condition.
Actually, EI is widespread--and rapidly increasing. "Twenty to thirty
percent of the U.S. population has physical reactions to one or more types
of synthetic substances. Unfortunately, EI people may go undiagnosed, or
thEIr problem may be improperly diagnosed as psychological in origin because
these reactions to chemicals often are delayed and aren't something that
physicians are taught to recognize. Since an EI person may look healthy,
just as someone with diabetes or multiple sclerosis may look healthy, others
often are reluctant to believe that the disability is real.
Anyone can become EI, because anyone's natural detoxification mechanisms can
break down as the result of chemical overload--and such an overload can
result from repeated, "low-level" chemical exposures. Of course, people who
profit from the manufacture and sale of chemicals would like all of us to
assume that "ordinary" chemicals are safe and that commercially available
products are tested and regulated. But it's not so. Similarly, chemical
profiteers would like us to believe that EI people are just a bunch of
attention seekers, neurotics, or genetically flawed weaklings who can't
handle "normal" chemicals. But it's not so. Athletes, children, business
people, scientists, farm and factory workers, teachers--anyone can become EI.
No one is immune.
How It May Be About You, After All
Like everyone else in this country, you're continually exposed to a barrage
of chemicals. So why increase the chance of becoming EI by putting toxic
chemicals on yourself? When you wear scented products, you breathe in those
chemicals all day long, and they're also absorbed through your skin. Just
because you can't smell the product after a while doesn't mean that it's
worn off. It's just that your nose is worn out and has shut down in
self-protection. But that doesn't keep the chemicals from continuing to
enter your body through your lungs or skin.
In fact, becoming insensitive to the smell of scented products is a common
warning sign that EI is developing. Unfortunately, scented-product users
generally aren't aware that they are losing thEIr sense of smell until they
start using so much of the products that other people begin making comments
or moving away from them. If you want to learn more about the manifestations
of EI so that you can better protect your health, see the book by Randolph
and Moss that's listed at the end of this brochure.
If it still seems incredible that toxic chemicals are in the scented
products you use--or that even trace amounts of those chemicals can harm the
people around you - remember that manufacturers aren't in the business of
giving people the whole story. Even ten years ago the idea that second-hand
cigarette smoke could be harmful was just beginning to reach the public. And
it's taken even longer for the public to learn that many other things
besides tobacco are put into cigarettes, But what we don't know can hurt us.
Choose to know. Be aware, for your own protection and the protection of
those around you.
For More Information:
Dodd, Debra Lynn. Nontoxic, Natural and Earthwise: How to Protect
Yourself and Your Family from Harmful Products and Live in Harmony with the
Earth. New York: Putnam, 1990.
Lawson, Lynn. Staying Well in a Toxic World: Understanding
Environmental Illness, Multiple Chemical Sensitivities, chemical Injuries,
and Sick Building Syndrome. Chicago: Noble Press, 1993.
Randolph, Theron G., and Ralph W. Moss. An Alternative
Approach to Allergies: The New Field of Clinical Ecology Unravels the
Environmental Causes of Mental and Physical Ills, revised ed. New Your:
Harper and Row, 1989
copyright 1996 by Roberta K. Rigsby, Ph.D.
All Rights Reserved.
This brochure may be duplicated in part or whole by any means without the
written permission of the author.
|
