Will we someday have to live in a Bubble?

Once again I write about the chemicals in our environment that are destroying our health.

Some we cannot avoid, that is true, but some we use deliberately and don't realize how much harm they are doing to us and those around us.

I am talking about scented candles and oil diffusers.

In the past week, I have been exposed to both and both of them caused me to become ill for several days.

This is what studies have found out about scented candles: https://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/06/16/scented-candles-toxic-safer-options_n_7536410.html

 

Tests have proven that the scented candles emit toxic chemicals that are harmful for people with respiratory problems and can cause cancer and other diseases in anyone. Prolonged breathing of these chemicals can bring on serious health problems later on. Many people cannot even go into a candle shop. The problem is the hundreds of chemicals used to make the fragrance. We fool ourselves when we smell cinnamon and spices, and we don't realize that the odor does not come from spices but from petroleum based chemicals.

 

Before WWII fragrances were not made from petroleum. Since the 1950s we have been bombarded with products filled with unsafe elements that we don't even know about. Our laws for this type of thing have not been updated for 80 years! We have become complacent and believe it would not be on the shelf of a retailer if it were not safe. Not!!

 

The only word on the label to indicate the use of chemicals for fragrance is Parfum or fragrance. Nothing tells the buyer what is used to make the parfum or fragrance. It is not flowers or herbs. It is not green and pretty.

 

 

The following is a quote from a Health Nut blogger.

Scented Candles and Air Fresheners Pose Dangerous Health Risks

"I used to love candles, especially in the autumn and winter. If I wasn’t making cookies that day to make the house smell good, lighting a candle was so easy. I even went to and purchased warmers and candle holders from one of those home party companies. However, the more research I did the more I realized that what was being burned off and was then lingering in my home, wasn’t good for me. Researchers are now finding that too.

And it’s not just the candles but those plug-ins, as well. Oh, and don’t forget the aerosol scented cans. Throw them all away- now."

 

Sadly, this blogger went on to recommend using essential oil diffusers instead.

Essential Oils seem to be helpful to some and dangerous to others.

A woman came out of her office to speak to me in another room. Immediately I reacted to an odor that emanated from this friend. 

"What kind of perfume is she wearing?" I thought. I didn't recognize the scent.

 

She left the room and I sat down for the class I was taking. Within a few minutes my head hurt, my eyes itched and would not focus, I felt pressure in my neck, face, sinuses and ears. I knew these symptoms. I was getting sick from the scent that came from the woman I had been talking with.

My friend, Mary Mike, who sat beside me had begun having sneezing episodes. She said to me, "You are having trouble, aren't you?"

"Yes," I said. "I think it was the fragrance that Linda was wearing."

"She has an oil diffuser going in her office all the time."

"That is it! She has that odor of the oil diffuser in her clothes, her hair and on her skin. No wonder I feel bad." That was why I didn't recognize the scent. My reaction lasted for the entire two hours of class. Even after I reached home and was able to breathe clean air, I still suffered the next day.

Linda had just been complaining about her sinuses hurting all the time. I would bet that her sinus problems are from breathing that oily air filled with toxic chemicals she ingests all day long. When sellers of these products tell people that the oils are "good for you" they don't tell the whole story.

 

My niece informs me she uses a lavender essential oil at night to help her sleep. But she says some oils turn her off immediately. I wish everyone who uses the oils would consider that others might not react favorably to a certain oil. One person loves the eucalyptus oil, and I am highly allergic to eucalyptus.
 

If people only used these oils in their own homes, perhaps people like me and many others would not have to leave offices or public buildings to prevent becoming very  ill.  They have become trendy it seems and the public is falling for them hook, line and sinker.

 

If those who use the diffusers all day in an office knew that they carried that oil on their person wherever they go, they might rethink how they use essential oils. Massage therapists who use the oils often smell of those oils for a long time. Like perfume, the oils are ingested through your skin.

A grandmother was keeping her grandson and when she put him to bed at night, he began having a serious asthma attack. He had to go to the hospital and several days later he was sent back to the grandmother. She had cleaned the house and done everything she thought to prevent her grandson from having another asthma attack. But when the boy went to bed, he had another very serious attack and had to go to the emergency room. After much questioning, the grandmother finally told the doctors that before her grandson climbed into bed, she sprayed his sheets and pillows with Febreze. That is what many hotels spray in their rooms to make them "smell better." I have to call ahead and ask hotels not to use these products in the room where I will stay.

Read what a medical doctor said about using essential oils and the oils used in Febreze. 
"it’s not necessarily about an allergic reaction. People with asthma can have airway sensitivity caused by a variety of substances, and a common known trigger is volatile organic compounds (VOCs). VOCs are simply carbon-based molecules that diffuse into the air. This is a broad category of chemical that includes many compounds from industrial solvents to plant-based oils, any of which has a potential to trigger asthma.
While it’s true that Febreze has other chemicals in it, their toxic effects are disputable, and far less likely to trigger an asthma exacerbation. My money is on the fragrance."   (italics and bolding  are mine)

When researching for this post, I saw where many people said essential oils triggered asthma attacks rather than helped their asthma. Because of this, I wish more medical offices would not use essential oils where they could affect the general public. And other businesses open to the public should not use the diffusers just because some people like them. About 1/3 of all the people in the United States have serious reactions to synthetic fragrance. The folks selling the oils don't tell that fact.

 

Just because someone says the oils are natural does not mean they are safe for everyone. Due to poor regulations (protections) by the government we are exposed to thousands of chemicals that are not on labels. In many cases it could be the carrier oils or other chemicals used to create the formula you buy off the shelf. No matter how expensive the oils, there are other chemicals in these products that can be unhealthy.

 

It is not recommended that children be exposed to essential oils even though someone on the Internet has suggested parents forego the medications that are proven by long time studies and use the oils that have little if any oversight on their manufacturing and no studies on the use of them for children.

 

I am an advocate for clean indoor air, and I speak out on this subject because if we ignore the health issues caused by the pollution of our environment, if we don't make the effort to learn about what we ingest, what we breathe and put on our skin, our children and our elderly will endure symptoms of illnesses we can't cure or manage. No one wants his/her child to have to live in a "bubble" or have to be homeschooled because of the unclean air in the classroom. That is happening, and I have talked with parents who had to make this decision.

 

Please speak up if you are exposed to use of scented candles, oil diffusers or "air fresheners" in public places.  Our voices are the best tools  we have to make others aware of these dangers.

https://profilesandpedigrees.blogspot.com/2013/01/hats-off-to-marriotts-grande-ocean-for.html

https://profilesandpedigrees.blogspot.com/2017/04/may-multiple-chemical-sensitivity-month.html

 

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Hat's Off to Marriott's Grande Ocean for their Clean Indoor Air

I like to give credit where credit is due. In my travels over the past fifteen years, I've found that most motels and hotels pollute their indoor air with "air fresheners" and room deodorizers. So, to combat that trend, I call ahead. I speak to someone in housekeeping. Usually when I explain the result of my breathing the air in a room that has been "sprayed" or cleaned with products that include strong chemicals or fragrance, the housekeeper is sympathetic to my plight. If possible and if I have called early enough they make every effort to see that my room is safe for me. I reward them as best I can with a tip. That makes my request more lasting in their memory.

Thank the Folks Who do it Right.

I have named places in the past that are understanding of the needs of us who have serious consequences from polluted indoor air. I want to say that the housekeeping staff of the Marriott's Grande Ocean where we stayed in Hilton Head, SC was superb. Bryan promised me he would see that there were no toxic fragrance products used in our villa. And there were none. The soaps were not offensive, the sheets had not been dried with dryer sheets, and no fragrance had been sprayed in the rooms.

I don't know if that is the normal procedure for this resort or if my phone call made a difference, but I will continue to make that call when I travel.

Pulmonologists advise their patients to avoid triggers that cause asthma or respiratory illness. They say it as if it's a simple thing to do. But we encounter triggers everywhere we go. I have to move when a woman wearing perfume comes and sits at a table beside me, but sometimes it takes only a few whiffs to start my throat closing up.

Most of the patients in hospitals are bombarded with triggers that make them sick, from cleaning products to the personal body products used by the staff. Children suffer from the products used in their homes by well-meaning parents. They suffer at school from the cleaning products used to kill germs when there are other gentler products that will suffice.

I hope one day we can travel and stay at motels that automatically use green, fragrance-free products that don't make us sick. Until then I wish that all of my readers would take notice of businesses using safe non-toxic products and would compliment the staff or management. If we don't let them know, they can't learn the importance of safe indoor air. 

Click the links below to read what others say about this problem.

http://allergies.about.com/od/medicationallergies/a/mcssyndrome.htm

 

http://healing.about.com/cs/mcs/a/chemsensitive.htm

 

http://healing.about.com/b/2003/12/05/ill-effects-from-offensive-scents.htm

Sick Air Makes People Sick

Being a teacher I feel bound to educate anyone who will read or listen to the harmful effects of "room deodorizers" and spray cleaners. 

Not only do they bring on asthma attacks but they cause asthma attacks in those who never had them before.

The minute I walk into a store or office where room deodorizers have been used, my throat begins to close and my breathing becomes difficult. I have to leave as quickly as I can and even then the affects of those chemicals don't go away. Those of us who live with MCS, are often sickened to the point of being bedridden for several days. Sometimes these attacks go into bronchitis and last for weeks. Indoor air is more polluted than outdoor air, especially here in our mountains, where we have less automobile pollution. 

The following is an excerpt from an article by the Environmental Working Group. Read carefully. You might save your children, parents or others from respiratory problems that can't be cured.

Clorox, Fantastik, Febreze, Formula 409, Easy-Off, Lysol, Mr. Clean and Spic and Span. 

Many of the spray cleaners sold under these brand names are laced with quaternary ammonium compounds or ethanolamine, ingredients classified as asthmagens by the Association of Occupational and Environmental Clinics, a professional association of clinics and health experts. These chemicals can trigger asthma attacks and can cause new cases of the disease in people who are asthma-free. Ingredients classified as asthmagens don't belong in spray products. 

EWG Green Tip:

Skip spray products that contain ethanolamines (MEA, DEA and TEA) and "quats." Beware of ADBAC, benzalkonium chloride or ingredients with "-monium chloride" in the name from the label or the company's website.

 Do not use disinfecting sprays, since most of them contain asthmagens. 


EWG Green Tip:
If a room has an odor problem, track down the source and eliminate it instead of covering it up with fragrances. A bowl of baking soda in the bathroom can absorb odors. 

GCB tip: Mix white vinegar with water in a simple spray bottle and spray to clean the air.

Living Green - How Can We do it?

Sometimes I think I'm damned if I do and damned if I don't.

Advice on living green is to open your windows and air out your house. My sweet husband, BB, and I love the outdoors and can't wait to open our doors and windows in spring. He sits on the deck even when he has to bundle up in a heavy coat. I just crave fresh air. But I am allergic to some of the trees on our mountain side and a few weeks ago, they burst into bloom almost overnight.

As I drove on our road I admired the lovely spring colors, almost as colorful as fall, but different in that spring colors on the trees here, are soft and almost pastel - pink and pale green, soft yellow and white.

Hardly noticing I was getting sick, I kept my windows open and walked Rocky, the dog, began planting things, and before I knew it my sniffles and coughing from allergies had become a full-fledged sinus infection which soon had both ears filled with fluid. After a week on antibiotics, my ears opened but I came to my senses and closed my windows in the house.

As bad as indoor pollution is for me, outdoor air is terrible at certain times of the year. We have had a week of rain and the blooms are gone, the trees have leafed out and I can breath again.

Now I can go back to open windows, but I wait until evening when the pollen is not as bad. With my green cleaning products -- vinegar and water and baking soda, some 7th Generation products, and one called Planet, I can survive now.

If I had the money to do so, I'd only have "green sheets" "green towels" "green pillows and pillow cases," "green furniture" - no particleboard, no formaldehyde, no VOC's in the paint. But I'd have to throw out almost half my furniture and then we'd be sitting on the floor, and the floor is just too dusty (I'm allergic to house dust). So I live as green as I can which means as healthy as I can for now.