Air fresheners: filling your home with toxic chemicals
We all know someone who goes around “freshening” the air.
Only instead of opening a window, they’re either spraying from a can, burning a “scented” candle, or plugging in a “plug-in.”
Well, you can tell them this before they strike again: air fresheners are actually air pollutants.
While they might make your home smell like a rose garden, that’s not the fragrance of roses you’re breathing in.
It’s actually a mix of volatile organic compounds, cancer-causing chemicals, and toxins that can irritate your nose, eyes and lungs, cause allergic reactions and possibly even produce birth defects!
Even the head of the American Lung Association advises against using these products if someone in your home has respiratory problems.
If you look at the data sheet for SC Johnson’s Glade “Clean Linen” air freshener, it warns that you should “avoid breathing (the) vapors” and that it can cause “abdominal discomfort” and irritation to your eyes, mouth and throat.
So next time that scent of clean linen, lavender fields or Hawaiian breezes drifts your way, hold your nose, shut your eyes and head outside — for a breath of fresh air.
Sources:
“Glade automatic aerosol spray Clean Linen” Material safety data sheet, whatinsidescjohnson.com
“Secret toxic chemicals: from the SC Johnson family to yours” Women’s Voices For the Earth, womensvoices.org
