A Common Item Found in Cars Pose Huge Risk to Health
That dangling tree in your rearview mirror is not freshening your air rather, it is contaminating it
Car air fresheners have been making me feel so sick that I would rather hop on public transportation than ever Uber again.
Every time I step into someone’s car and smell that synthetic, manufactured smell I feel like I’m going to puke.
The hilarious irony is the way they shape the air fresheners into trees as if there is anything remotely close to nature being used to create that chemical smell.
Ive noticed since becoming holistic with pretty much everything around me (ensuring I use all non-toxic, natural products) that my body has become so intuitive and sensitive with toxic products.
I remember not understanding why the woman in the office I worked at briefly, would demand others to wear non-scented soaps, perfumes, or lotions around her because of her sensitivity— I thought, how does that make sense?
But now I will remove myself from an elevator and wait to take another one rather than stand in a confined area with a man who uses body spray in obscure abundance.
I’d rather take the smell of B.O over it honestly.
So my heightened sensitivity brought me into researching all about car air fresheners. Since my body was telling me this is no bueno, and I wanted to find the facts behind exactly why, and if using these products are truly hazardous for our health.
Nothing surprises me in my findings these days, after all, we still have McDonald’s on every corner so people selling things that harm you is not new to the corporate business world. Of course I found that these items are incredibly dangerous for our health.
If you took a gander at any of these air fresheners ingredients list, you’ll see it is solely “fragrance.”
What is fragrance?
A totally synthetic, lab made “smell,” that has been dubbed by health and wellbeing research publications” the new second-hand smoke.”
Whoa. So sitting in a car for 30 minutes with a car air freshener is the equivalent to sitting in a car inhaling the smoke of someone smoking cigarettes beside you? Wild but true.
Synthetic scents are a true risk to our health and should have been banned from our shelves years ago.
95% of the chemicals used in store-bought car air fresheners are petroleum derivatives.
These derivatives include aldehydes, toluene, and benzene. All of which have had independent studies performed where links to birth defects, cancer, allergies, and central and peripheral nervous system damage have been found to be caused as a result of interaction with these chemicals.
So you may be wondering why those ingredients aren’t printed on the back of the box, well that’s because car air freshener manufacturers are not forced to disclose their list of toxic chemicals they use to scent the product.
Luckily for us there is a committee trying to improve this disparity in knowledge. The International Fragrance Association compiled a list of all the chemicals used in the products. As small as an action as this is, at least it allows people to decide with the knowledge whether or not to allow harmful, disease-causing, toxic chemicals into their cars.
Some of the more common chemicals found in these products include aldehydes, toluenes, and phthalates, as I described before. So what exactly are these chemicals and what can they do to us?
ALDEHYDES
Aldehydes are found in germicides, fungicides, and insecticides for plants and vegetables. Somehow in the same breath, they are also found in deodorants, perfumes, and air fresheners.
When someone is exposed to large concentrations of aldehydes, they risk breathing and other respiratory system problems. Spraying air freshener in the air or driving a car with a tree air freshener hanging by the review mirror is enough aldehydes exposure to cause breathing problems.
TOLUENE
Toluene is found naturally in crude oil, and is used in oil refining and the manufacturing of paints, lacquers, explosives (TNT) and glues. In homes, toluene may be found in paint thinners, paintbrush cleaners, nail polish, glues, inks and stain removers.
Toluene is linked to a long list of health problems that go from mild to severe. This neurotoxin can cause headaches, irritation, brain fog, damage to the central nervous system, heart, lungs, kidney, and liver. In addition, other serious problems, such as hearing or vision loss, memory loss, and even death when a person is exposed to high concentrations.
PHTHALATES
Phthalates help fragrances to last longer. That’s why they are so common in air fresheners of any kind, including car air fresheners. The Natural Resources Defense Council, in their study Cleaning the Air: Hidden Hazards of Air Fresheners, found that found 86% of air fresheners, including those labeled as all-natural or unscented, tested positive for phthalates. They go on to mention that phthalates “can cause hormonal abnormalities, birth defects, and reproductive problems.”
I think what makes me the most sad with the control of media and the “hive” minds that ensue from the spread of controlled knowledge, is that people need to hear it from their daily webcasters or it simply doesn’t exist to them.
When the government decided that cigarettes were no longer lucrative, they sold them out, and made sure everyone now knew just how dangerous they are for our health, only after thousands had to die at the expense of their negligence.
There are so many other products on the market outside of car air fresheners that contain these harmful products and you may be thinking, well that’s too much work to decipher through allllll of the products to avoid synthetic chemicals but small action can breed huge results.
Even if all you do after reading this is ban car air fresheners from your home, check the ingredients list on perfumes or lotions you use, and spread the knowledge; you are doing enough to reduce the toxic build-up in your environment, and you are on your way to healthier living.
Also, there is always a more natural way. Find a list of natural car air fresheners here.