No health risk from scented products

Health[1] Health[1]Chemistry [2]Denmark [3]Videnskab.dk [4] Perfumes are in the clear. Many people react to scented items and the mere thought of a scented candle gives them a headache, asthma attack, or irritated throat or nose. But scientists suggest that many of these reactions arise simply from ‘the thought’ of scented substances and not the chemicals themselves. Typical perfumed substances found in everything from cleaning products to consumer products are not present in the air in large enough concentrations to have any harmful effect on otherwise healthy people. “A lot of people complain about feeling sick from a number of scents. So it’s of course interesting whether perfumes are found in amounts that can have a toxic effect on people,” says Peder Wolkoff who studies indoor climate at the National Research Centre for Work Environment. “Our research shows that the four most commonly used scents are only found in quantities that people can smell, but not in the concentrations needed to make people sick by inhalation,” he says. The new study is a review of the current knowledge in the field and is published in Environment International [5]. Read More: How the brain connects words and smells[6]