News Coverage
Best not to Douse Yourself with Artificial Fragrances
Published August 5, 2003
Avoiding artificial fragrances is a good idea if you're worried about low-level exposure to toxic chemicals, says the Environmental Working Group. Dr. Gregory Boardman, an environmental engineering professor at Virginia Tech, agrees that some ingredients could be toxic at some level. "But for the majority of things we encounter," he says, "it's not much of an issue. "For most of us, the biggest problem with fragrances is whether we're going to be allergic to them."
That doesn't mean you should feel free to douse yourself. Even if you can tolerate perfumed products, people who are sensitive to them, like Boardman
himself, may experience allergic reactions or worse.
So how much exposure is too much exposure when it comes to potentially toxic chemicals?
"It's difficult to know what's too much and almost impossible to predict how combinations of chemicals will affect you," says Boardman. The chemical toxicity question in general is not an easy one to answer, but
two recent studies are putting it to the test.
One study, "BodyBurden: The Pollution in People," was conducted by the Environmental Working Group and Commonweal in conjunction with the Mount Sinai School of Community Medicine in New York. The other study, by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, is called "National Report of Human Exposure to Environmental Chemicals."
Stu Greenberg of Cleveland's Environmental Health Watch told the Akron Beacon Journal that chemical toxicity is an issue that should concern, but not alarm, people.
Boardman, who has worked at Virginia Tech since 1976, concurs, though he says even "concerned" may be slightly too strong a word. "Yet I agree with that philosophy," he says. "We can't be blind to the fact
that somewhere along the line our foods [for example] may have been contaminated." Boardman's own research primarily involves industrial waste management and environmental toxicology.
One thing he asks his toxicology classes to consider is how long they'll live. "I think because most of us have some difficulty accepting that there is going to be an end, we do become overly concerned about things that will have a low-level impact on our lives. When we accept that we may only live to 80 or 90," he says with a laugh, "it changes your perspective." That is not to say he doesn't worry about the big picture. He's an environmentalist, too.
But, he says, "Our quality of life in the U.S. is really good, and there are some measures in place that ensure our safety."
The Akron Beacon Journal quotes Dr. Richard Jackson, director of the CDC's National Center for Environmental Health: "Just because a chemical can be measured . . . doesn't mean it causes disease."
Still, cautions Greenberg of Cleveland, "We're all exposed to chemicals every day in our lives. . . . We need to know more about what the risks may or may not be to our health."
