September 9, 2005 – Do you like perfume yourself? Take care! You may be refused entry to a school, university or hospital. In fact, in Canada and the United States, more and more public establishments are asking their customers to refrain from wearing perfumes.
At the hospital in Kingston, Ontario, employees are now prohibited from using perfume. Patients and visitors must also comply with this new regulation, adopted last July1. Objective: to ban perfumes, lotions, colognes, aftershave lotions, shampoos and other cosmetic or personal hygiene products which are loaded with fragrances.
Are perfumes becoming a public health problem? That’s what the Canadian Lung Association believes. “Whether your scent is good or bad, the chemicals it contains can cause health problems for those around you,” read the organization’s website.2. It explains that this sensitivity to strong odors often results in headaches and migraines, as well as irritation of the eyes, nose or throat. Perfumes are also said to be a threat to people with asthma or other chronic respiratory illnesses.
The Association encourages consumers to give preference to personal hygiene products marked “fragrance-free”. He also gives advice for executives who would like to institute regulations to ban perfumes in their establishment.3.
There are few studies demonstrating the harmful effect of scents on people with lung disease, acknowledges Vicki Bryanton, executive director of the Lung Association of Prince Edward Island. “However, patients complain that the strong odors exacerbate their symptoms. So we decided to go ahead despite the lack of formal evidence. We believe that it does not constitute a very serious violation of human rights to ask people to avoid using perfume for the sake of those who might suffer from it, ”explains this pioneer in the fight against perfume.
Is it necessary to make it a regulation, an obligation? According to her, it is necessary, otherwise the authorities of an establishment could not intervene with the offenders. “But our experience teaches us that it is rare that we have to crack down. Usually, people willingly follow the rule when it is explained to them that the fragrances they wear harm some people, ”she says.
Greenpeace goes even further: perfumes could also have a detrimental effect on the health of those who wear them. Earlier this year, he published the results of a study on the chemical composition of 36 brands of eau de toilette and eau de parfum. The independent laboratory, which carried out the investigation on behalf of the organization, confirmed the presence, in almost all the samples tested, of phthalates and synthetic musks. These substances are “dangerous” or “potentially dangerous” to human health, according to Greenpeace. “Some are known contaminants of blood and breast milk. In addition, evidence is accumulating to confirm the hormonal disrupting properties of certain musks ”, it is written in the report titled Scandal scent4.
It is estimated that approximately 20% of Canadians suffer from chronic lung diseases (emphysema, asthma, bronchitis, etc.). In addition, a quarter of the population is allergic to one or another of the chemicals that make up perfumes.
Pierre Lefrançois – PasseportSanté.net
According to The sun and The House of the 21st Century.
1. Kingston General Hospital is a scent-free environment, Kingston General Hospital. Canada, 2005. www.kgh.on.ca
2. Program DO – perfumes. Canadian Lung Association, 2005. www.lung.ca
3. Institute a regulation prohibiting scented products in the workplace. Canadian Lung Association. Canada, 2005. www.lung.ca
4. Parfum de scandale, an investigation into the chemical composition of 36 eau de toilette and eau de parfum. Greenpeace, 2005. www.greenpeace.org
