Your skin, your body's largest organ, absorbs fragrance chemicals by direct application, by contact with fragranced items, and by exposure to air containing fragrances.

 95% of the chemicals in fragrances are synthetic compounds derived from petroleum (aka oil). Many  are the same chemicals in cigarette smoke, and yet the fragrance industry remains unregulated. 

Article link: TOXIC AMERICA: SCENTED CANDLES, PLUG-INS, PERFUMES, AND OFFSHORE PLASTICS 

*Fragrances are specially formulated and used for public behaviour control.

292 million Americans regularly wash and dry their clothes. Most use fragranced laundry products which pollute the water and the air. 
Laundry products fragrances accumulate in fabrics and are very difficult to remove from them.

Waste water treatment does not remove the constantly increasing quantity and types of fragrance chemicals. 

If you use laundry facilities where other people use fragranced products, your laundry will absorb their fragrances. 

A study by Greenpeace in 2005 discovered that at least 36 well-known perfume brands contained two toxic man-made chemicals "phthalate esters and synthetic musk." 

* Some fragrance chemicals can alter the skin's surface tension, 
 greatly facilitating the absorption of other chemicals into the skin. 

* 1-2% of the population may have a skin allergy to fragrances 

* Fragrances easily volatilize and linger a long time in the air. Clothing and bedding washed and dried with fragranced products provide a constant exposure to fragrance chemicals that are absorbed and inhaled. Infants' skin is especially susceptible. 

* Manufacturers specifically make fragrances to be long-lasting and their breakdown products can be more toxic than the original substances. 

* Neurological Effects, fragrance chemicals affect the brain and nervous system,  some effects being immediate and transistory, and other effects being chronic and long lasting.
*Effects on the nervous system can occur from chemicals absorbed, inhaled, or ingested.

* Fragrances can: modify brain blood flow, alter blood pressure, pulse and mood and trigger migraine headaches and some have potent sedative effects 

* AGAIN...Fragrances are specially formulated and used for public behaviour control.

Respitory Effects
* Fragrances can trigger asthma in school-age children. 
Asthma is now the leading serious chronic illness among youth, afflicting nine million American children.
* 72% of asthmatic cite fragrance as a trigger, asthma rates have doubled since 1980 
* 15% of people experience lower airway irritation from fragrance exposure 

Hormone-Disrupting Effects
Fragrances often contain large amounts of phthalates (used to impart an oily moisturizing film and to help dissolve and fix other ingredients in fragrances) a group of toxic chemicals, that are known estrogen and testosterone hormone disrupters. 

* Article link: Health Care Without Harm, a research and action group, found phthalates in most of the popular beauty products they tested. 
*100% of people tested have phthalates in their urine. 
* Studies suggest diethyl phthalate, commonly used in fragrances and personal care products, damages the DNA of sperm in adult men, which can lead to infertility, may be linked to miscarriages and birth defects, and may led to cancer and infertility in their offspring,  Phthalates have been associated with thyroid disorders, premature breast developments in baby girls and abnormal sexual development in male fetuses and infants (hypospadias and undescended testicles) Phthalates are found in the blood of pregnant women at levels of concern. They can cross the placenta and are found in breast milk. Women are exposed to phthalates at home, at work, everywhere. 

Systemic Effects
As fragrance chemicals can be absorbed, inhaled or ingested, they can possibly affect any organ or system. A combination of limited human data and a wealth of animal studies show that phthalates, as only one of many chemicals in fragrances, can impair reproduction and development, alter liver and kidney function, damage the heart and lungs, and effect blood clotting. 
*  Many air fresheners contain the pesticide paradichlorobenzene, a carcinogen. 

Environmental Effects Indoor and outdoor air quality 
Fragrances are volatile compounds and they are constantly released into the air and cause extensive indoor and outdoor pollution. Many people find it difficult to enter public buildings, attend public events, stand near people or walk outdoors due to fragrances present in the air. A Norwegian study found synthetic musk fragrance compounds in outdoor air, even in a remote area. 
 

Health Hazards of the most 20 Common Chemicals Found in 31 Fragrance Products 
Material Safety Data Sheet (MSDS) Analysis of the 1991 EPA Study
* Cancer - death due to respiratory failure 
* Neurotoxic reactions (central and peripheral nervous system), coma, convulsion, headache, depression, dizziness, irritability, confusion, panic attacks/anxiety, memory loss, impaired concentration, drowsiness, insomnia, impaired vision, stupor, spaciness, giddiness, slurred speech, twitching muscles, tingling in the limbs, loss of muscular coordination. The continuous low-level exposure to neurotoxins can lead to progressive and permanent brain damage. 
* Inhalation of fragrance can cause asthma 
* Eve irritant, drying and cracking of skin, fatigue 
* Damage to the immune systems, kidney and liver damage 
* Nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain, drop or rise in blood pressures 
One in five people experiences health problems when exposed to fragrances. 
 

Read the full article here. This article was authored by Klaus Ferlow , HMH (Honorary Master Herbalist, Dominion Herbal College, Burnaby, B.C. est. 1926), innovator, lecturer, researcher, writer, President, founder and co-owner with his two sons Peter and Harald, CH (chartered Herbalist) of Ferlow Botanicals, Div. of Ferlow Brothers Ltd, Vancouver, B.C. manufacturing/distributing organic toxin-free medicinal herbal and personal care products to professional health & wellness practitioners in Canada and parts of USA since 1993. The company was founded in 1975. Klaus is also President of the "Hearts to Health Foundation" and on the Board of Directors of the Health Action Network Society (HANS), Burnaby, B.C. est. 1984.  www.ferlowbotanicals.com, email: kferlow@shaw.ca. His educational articles have been published in dozens of Canadian Health Magazines, Newsletters, Newspapers and numerous websites around the world.