Poison in bottle: Is your perfume killing you?

Perfumes contain anywhere from 50 to 300 chemicals. But to keep their 'secret' intact, they are not required to mention them on the label.

Giorgia Green, a 14-year-old girl from Derby in UK, passed away last year after inhaling aerosol deodorant fumes in her bedroom. Like other teenagers her age, Green loved the smell to linger on in her room so she had sprayed the perfume which led to her death. Now, her parents want the parents around the world to know how dangerous some of these perfumes can be.

"People don't know how dangerous the contents of those tins can be," her father Paul said as per media reports. "I would like it so that no-one else in the country - or the world - would end up having to go through what we've personally gone through," he said.

Giorgia was autistic and often used the spray to calm herself down, her parents said. They do not want their daughter's death to go in vain and say that the text 'keep out of children' was small and not enough. The parents believe that the text should instead read, 'solvent use can kill instantly'.

So what makes these perfumes so dangerous and should we care?

4,000 chemicals used to make perfumes

Perfume industry is a well-guarded industry as the ingredients used for scents are often an individual business's trade secret. So the fragrance manufactures the world over are protected from disclosing the list of ingredients and so the chemicals used are simply covered by the word 'fragrance' - a cocktail of chemicals that could include anything.

According to a report in The Guardian, almost 4000 chemicals are used to make perfumes, and your one bottle of fancy fragrance could contain anywhere from 50 to 300 distinct chemicals. The ingredients, however, are not listed on the label. Given the fact that so many chemicals go unmentioned in a bottle of perfume, the risks are high and real.

The same report further states that three-quarters of the toxic chemicals detected in a test of 140 products came from fragrance, reported a 2018 study of personal care and cleaning brands. The chemicals identified were linked to chronic health issues, including cancer.

"There are chemicals in fragrances that do cause [cancer and reproductive effects], we know this from animal studies," Alexandra Scranton, director of Science and Research for Women's Voices for the Earth (WVE), was quoted in the report. "Do people who use a lot of fragrance get more cancer than those who don't? No one really knows because no one has looked at that," she concluded.

Smells good, but how good for health?

A report 'Exposing the failings of the fragrance industry's self-regulated safety program' in Women's Voices for the Earth gives a rather scary picture of the 'smell-good' industry.

More than 1,200 fragrance chemicals currently in use have been flagged as potential or known "chemicals of concern", according to the 2018 report. These include seven carcinogens, 15 chemicals prohibited from use in cosmetics in the EU and others cited in various international warning lists.

While the debate is still on, the industry advocates argue that even if many of their ingredients appear on hazardous chemical lists, the real question is exposure. They say that since the exposure to any individual fragrance ingredient in a product is below even one per cent, the fear is unwarranted.

Another study in 1991 confirmed that the chemical compounds found in many synthetic fragrances can cause central nervous system disorders such as: dizziness, nausea, slurred speech, drowsiness, headache, mouth/throat/skin irritation etc. On a more serious level, some of the hazardous compounds in fragrance, could cause autoimmune disorders, asthma, ADD and other learning difficulties.

What should consumers do?

While there are potential risks and insufficient studies to gauge the risks involved, what are the viable options? Scented products are part of modern lifestyle and with almost 10-15 products being used daily containing scents and fragrances, it is important for consumers to at least be aware.

• Many perfumes use pure essential oils. Our Indian "itr" or "ittar" should be your answer to many of your fears. Free of chemicals and harmful ingredients, ittar is derived from natural sources.
• There is a difference between 'fragrance free' and 'unscented'. Latter might contain a bunch of ingredients so opt for 'fragrance free' products
• Be aware of the allergies, however mild and keep such products away.