You’ve probably seen the commercial: A mom walks into a teenager’s room, takes a sniff and tells him no “nice” girl would ever want him because his room smells like (shocker!) teenage boy.
She tells him it’s time to “wash” his room and hands him a bottle of Febreze, which he proceeds to spritz on every stinking surface in the room, from his pillow to his bed.
In the next scene a girl walks in, sniffs around, and decides the boy is all right.
There’s so much wrong with this commercial, I could go on for hours… but I want to focus on the one that is going to have a long-term effect on health: air fresheners. They can be quite harmful to your health, and the same can be said about disposable diapers.
I always gag when I walk into a Febreze-sprayed room. The worst is when the cleaning crew uses it like crazy in actors’ trailers, and then we have to sit in there all day.
Air fresheners come in many different forms, from air and fabric sprays to plug in “burners” to solids. While they can perfume the air of your home, they don’t actually neutralize smells and they can wreak havoc on your home’s air quality.
What’s in Air Fresheners?
According to the EPA1, air freshener contains four basic ingredients: formaldehyde, petroleum distillates, aerosol propellants, and p-dichlorobenzene.
Formaldehyde can cause a number of health effects including:
- Watery eyes
- Burning eye, nose, throat and other mucous membranes
- Difficulty breathing
- Nausea
- Asthma attacks
Petroleum distillates come from petrochemical manufacturing, which contribute to air, soil, and groundwater pollution. The effects on human health include:
- Respiratory problems
- Asthma
- Chemical pneumonia
- Pulmonary damage
Aerosol propellants can harm earth’s ozone layer. Likewise, they can damage human health including:
- Increased cancer risk
- Breathing problems
- Development of chronic health issues
Paradichlorobenzene (p-DCB) is often found in mothballs and may cause:
- Anemia
- Skin lesions
- Liver damage
- Loss of appetite
- Changes to the blood
Of course, air fresheners also contain fragrance, often in the form of perfumed chemicals.