Standing on an elevator to head to this year’s Expo West natural products trade show, I was sharing the elevator ride with a family. The mother complained to her son that all the cologne he sprayed on himself was giving her a headache. The prime opportunity presented itself. I humbly asked the stricken lady “have you ever tried natural perfumes? Some people are allergic to all perfumes, but mostly it is synthetic perfumes that bother people so badly.” She said that she hadn’t. I suggested that she look online for some recipes and try making her own and see if it helps. We all got off at the ground floor and parted ways.
Fragrance allergies are common these days. WebMD has an article dedicated to understanding this phenomenon:
“Scent sells. So not only are there definitely more fragranced products in the world, the fragrances themselves are also more complex. And for many people, repeated exposures can bring about a constellation of symptoms,” says Tracie DeFreitas Saab, MS, a human factors consultant with the Job Accommodation Network at West Virginia University. DeFreitas frequently works with employers and employees on work environmental issues.
Those symptoms, she tells WebMD, can range from classic “allergic” reactions, such as sneezing, runny nose, and watery eyes; to headaches, inability to concentrate, and dizziness; to respiratory issues, such as breathing difficulties and wheezing; to skin reactions, such as itching, hives, and other rashes.
According to the American Academy of Dermatology (AAD), fragrances are considered the leading cause of cosmetic contact dermatitis. As a health problem, this sensitivity alone affects more than 2 million people, and studies suggest that sensitivity is on the rise.
I may be mistaken, but it is safe to say that most people get their perfumes from the mall or from the Axe spray aisle at Target. Needless to say, they are all made out of synthetic chemicals which are harmful to the human body in one way or another. These corporations do not care about human life and the ingredients they use are most often not properly tested for safety.
The Environmental Working Group (EWG), in conjuncture with the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics, issued an eye-opening report entitled “Not So Sexy: Hidden Chemicals in Perfume and Cologne.”
“Widespread exposure and a long-standing culture of secrecy within the fragrance industry continue to put countless people at risk of contact sensitization to fragrances with poorly tested and intentionally unlabeled ingredients (Schnuch 2007),” the report stated.
Laboratory tests commissioned by the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics and analyzed by Environmental Working Group revealed 38 secret chemicals in 17 name brand fragrance products, topped by American Eagle Seventy Seven with 24, Chanel Coco with 18, and Britney Spears Curious and Giorgio Armani Acqua Di Gio with 17.
The average fragrance product tested contained 14 secret chemicals not listed on the label. Among them are chemicals associated with hormone disruption and allergic reactions, and many substances that have not been assessed for safety in personal care products.
What people are spraying themselves with, whether they get it from the mall or from Target, has not been properly tested for safety and is not even legally required to appear on the ingredients list on the perfume labels. “Also in the ranks of undisclosed ingredients,” the report continues, “are chemicals with troubling hazardous properties or with a propensity to accumulate in human tissues. These include diethyl phthalate, a chemical found in 97 percent of Americans (Silva 2004) and linked to sperm damage in human epidemiological studies (Swan 2008), and musk ketone, a synthetic fragrance ingredient that concentrates in human fat tissue and breast milk (Hutter 2009; Reiner 2007).”
The government has not even stepped up to the plate to do its basic job of environmental and consumer protection, which is not surprising, since industry lobbyists have weaseled their way into top positions at the FDA and EPA. “The federal government is equally uninformed. A review of government records shows that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has not assessed the vast majority of these secret fragrance chemicals for safety when used in spray-on personal care products such as fragrances. Nor have most been evaluated by the safety review panel of the International Fragrance Association or any other publicly accountable institution.”
“Fragrance secrecy is legal due to a giant loophole in the Federal Fair Packaging and Labeling Act of 1973, which requires companies to list cosmetics ingredients on the product labels but explicitly exempts fragrance. By taking advantage of this loophole, the cosmetics industry has kept the public in the dark about the ingredients in fragrance, even those that present potential health risks or build up in people’s bodies. To make matters worse, FDA lacks the authority to require manufacturers to test cosmetics for safety, including fragranced products, before they are sold to consumers. As a result, people using perfume, cologne, body spray and other scented cosmetics like lotion and aftershave are unknowingly exposed to chemicals that may increase their risk for certain health problems.”
To me, these synthetic fragrances don’t even smell good. So why are we harming our bodies in order to douse ourselves with cheap, nasty smelling perfumes?
The cost is not worth it. “The Campaign commissioned a laboratory analysis of men’s and women’s fragrances as well as scented products marketed to teens of both genders; all products tested contained a range of ingredients associated with health concerns, such as allergic sensitization, and potential effects on the endocrine system or reproductive toxicity.”
While some people are allergic to all perfumes, synthetic or natural, it is clear that harmful chemicals in synthetic perfumes are the cause for a large portion of modern day fragrance allergies.
This not only affects us, but it affects babies in the womb.
When sprayed or applied on the skin, many chemicals from perfumes, cosmetics and personal care products are inhaled. Others are absorbed through the skin. Either way, many of these chemicals can accumulate in the body. As a result, the bodies of most Americans are polluted with multiple cosmetics ingredients. This pollution begins in the womb and continues through life.
A recent EWG study found Galaxolide and Tonalide, two synthetic musks, in the cord blood of newborn babies (EWG 2009). Both musks contaminate people and the environment worldwide, have been associated with toxicity to the endocrine system (van der Burg 2008) and were identified in the majority of products tested for this study. Similarly, a pregnant woman’s use of some fragrances and other cosmetics frequently may expose her growing fetus to diethyl phthalate (DEP), a common perfume solvent linked to abnormal development of reproductive organs in baby boys and sperm damage in adult men (Washington Toxics Coalition 2009). New research also links prenatal exposure of DEP to clinically diagnosed Attention Deficit Disorder in children (Engel 2010). This analysis found DEP in 12 of 17 products tested, at levels ranging from 30 parts per million (ppm) to 32,000 ppm in Eternity for Women.
These corporations do not care about human life, therefore they do not deserve our hard-earned income. We should not degrade ourselves, our health, and the health of others by purchasing synthetic perfumes that are harmful to human health.
The EWG article concludes with a call to action to all people of conscience. “People have the right to know which chemicals they are being exposed to. They have the right to expect the government to protect people, especially vulnerable populations, from hazardous chemicals. In addition to required safety assessments of ingredients in cosmetics, the laws must be changed to require the chemicals in fragrance to be fully disclosed and publicly accessible on ingredient labels.”
More than that, companies have to create alternatives to synthetic perfumes. That is why we at Reda Naturals offer all natural perfumes and body oils. They are 100% natural, plant-based, and free of synthetic ingredients. We offer both unique men and women’s blends based on Middle Eastern herbal traditions, giving it a lush, mystical tone.
To answer the question of this article, yes, it is more than due time to ditch synthetic perfumes. We can smell great without harming our health.
Eat the lawful and good things Allah has provided you, and be wary of Allah in whom you have faith.
Qur’an 5:88
Our bodies are an endowment upon us by our Creator, as is the planet and the environment we live on. The more we are attached to this worldly life, the less we care about the quality and the ethics behind that which we consume, especially food. In a society that promotes apathy, we don’t care what we put in our mouths.
Our consciousness level has been so dumbed down that we just wolf anything down. We also don’t seem to mind the monetary policy of the Federal Reserve which drives up the costs of food and energy, which are conveniently left off the inflation index. It’s no wonder that healthy, organic food cost so much, whereas the crops that are essential to junk food (such as corn, wheat, and factory-farmed meat) are heavily subsidized by the government, lowering their prices for consumers, thus incentivizing unhealthy living.
Whether you are a Muslim or a Christian, the above verse from the Qur’an has a universal meaning that we can all understand. It says to eat the lawful (halal) and good (tayyeb) things God has provided to us. However, this English translation is a butchery of the true, deep, and spiritual meaning behind the original Arabic.
Tayyeb has a multi-dimensional meaning to it, including ethical, pure, wholesome, etc. God wants us to be cognizant of what we put into our body. Not only do we destroy our health by eating poor diets, we also destroy the planet too.
Aside from polluting the groundwater, Monsanto’s RoundUp has been declared a carcinogen by the State of California and the World Health Organization. While the ad hominem derogatory slur of “pseudo-science” gets thrown around a lot (sometimes rightfully, as many so-called ‘natural health’ bloggers really jump the shark and discredit the entire field by making baseless claims), the real pseudo-science is when multinational corporations strongarm their way into silencing, manipulating, and/or slandering independent scientific investigations into whether or not their products are safe for the people and the planet. Such is the case of Monsanto colluding with the EPA to stifle a study into whether or not Roundup is carcinogenic. Where in middle school science classes do they teach that a step of the scientific method is if you feel the results of a study might come out negative towards your bottom line as a corporation, use your vast material resources and government cronies to stifle said research?
The irony is that Neil DeGrasse Tyson, who has a big pro-Monsanto streak, made an episode of Cosmos where he decried the corporate-government-research collusive relationship, using the example of how lead was removed from gasoline (unleaded). The government’s main science expert, according to the episode, worked for a research institution funded by the oil and lead industries, most likely through intermediaries such as the Rockefeller Foundation if I remember correctly. An intrepid independent scientist thought there was something wrong about the increased lead levels in the ocean and air, and since lead is hazardous to human health, he found that the source came from the leaded gasoline. He was mocked in the same way that people who question Monsanto’s perverse use of crony capitalism are mocked today.
As long as corporations can strong arm the government – or more realistically, the government welcomes such corrupt collusion without any coercion – into approving their products as safe, then we cannot say that the science is settled on issues like RoundUp. Only when trust and impartiality is restored, and intimidation tactics are punishable by law and the corporate-government revolving door is closed, then with freedom of scientific inquiry respected we can let the research fall as it may and determine whether these substances are safe or not.
One just has to look at Monsanto’s history of providing the US government with chemical weapons materials that were used in atrocious war crimes. Agent Orange, used on Vietnam, still has its gruesome and tragic effects seen to this day. White phosphorous, which burns flesh to the bone and gives leukemia to people in the regional area in the aftermath, was used by the U.S. in its wars of aggression in Iraq and Afghanistan, and by Israel in its wars of aggression against Gaza and Lebanon.
Does this sound like a company that cares about human beings? Farmers in India and Iraq often complain about the iron grip Monsanto has over their freedom to farm as they please, such as saving seed and other time-honored agricultural practices.
That is why it is so important to care about what we eat. Doing so respects our bodies as well as our minds and our souls. Getting sucked into the material world makes us docile and zombie-like. We were made to live as dignified, rational, and spiritual beings. Our bodies have a right upon us. While there is a lot of injustice in the world, which we should try our best to reform and rectify, the biggest impact we have is that which is in our immediate vicinity. We must change ourselves first before we can change others. If we are unjust to ourselves and our families, we cannot be just anywhere else. Practicing health justice will allow all other aspects of being a just human being will emanate from that.
We know it is unjust that much organic food costs a lot. Some of it is due to gimmicks, such as Whole Foods, but there is also the factor of inflation and the lack of government subsidies to healthy, sustainable agriculture.
Here’s a pro-tip: to save on healthy food, go to Trader Joe’s and Costco. They offer many organic and non-GMO products at lower costs than Whole Foods. Additionally, when we buy organic, we send a signal to the market that consumers want organic, therefore more organic food is produced, and the increase in supply means the price will lower over time. Not only are we investing in our health and avoiding massive medical bills (of course nothing causes immortality, it is just better to be healthy than to not be), we are investing in future savings by shifting the market and increasing the supply of healthy foods.
As the article started with a Qur’anic verse about eating healthy, let us close with a Bible verse to balance it out.
Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own? For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s. – 1 Corinthians 6:19-20
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*These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. Reda Naturals products are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.
