The Effects of Fragrances on Pregnancy and Human Health
There’s only so much you can predict you’ll need when you’re preparing for a baby. By her third child, you’d think my mother would be an expert. When my youngest brother was born in the summer of 2012, even I felt more than ready to help care for my new sibling. Still, there was so much more that we had never even considered. Shortly after my brother was born, a combination of events happened, including my mother being re-hospitalized and our family moving into a new house. This left my grandmother and myself, a tired 55 and 15 year old, as the caretakers to both my mother and new born brother.
At barely even a month old, my brother began breaking out in hives and rashes on a daily basis. For an entire week, it felt like my grandmother and I were on a witch hunt as we tried to uncover what was causing his reaction. When we brought it up at a doctor’s appointment, they seemed to be just as confused as to what was the cause and simply suggested it could be a dust allergy. Everything was washed, including my brother; every inch of our new home was cleaned, and we even changed his formula to be lactose free (that led to a different discovery that he was lactose intolerant). It was only we realized the rashes and hives were the worst where our clothes had touched him while we fed him did we even think to start looking at the detergent we used.
Immediately, we started washing our own clothes and linens in the same “safe” detergent that we used for my brother. For a few days his rashes seemed to subside somewhat, but it didn’t make the problem go away completely. It was only when we switched to a completely fragrance free detergent did we start to see a tremendous improvement. Which lead us into a complete lifestyle change, that resulted in a as fragrance free life as we could get at the time. Never had fragrance sensitivities plagued anyone in my family and what we experienced was only the tip of the iceberg.
We Aren’t Alone in This
In a study done by Anne Steinemann (2016) only 34.7% of the U.S. population reported health problems in relation to fragranced products and reportedly more than two-thirds of our population are unaware of the adverse effects they could have. But what exactly is fragrance? When you think it, what comes to mind? Typically, most think of a scent of a product or perfume. Yet how could an obvious mixture of chemicals define itself with just one word? Well, unsurprisingly the U.S. has no policies that require manufactures to disclose this information, so the ambiguity surrounding the term remains and needless to say, the term fragrance is a common ingredient listed on a multitude of products, especially personal care products. I believe that with greater knowledge as to what is in fragranced products and its effects could lead to greater demand for regulation of these products.
In the United States today personal care products for women are a dominating force and necessary in order to maintain beauty standards. In some cases these products are just a daily necessity for women and include products ranging from toothpaste to tampons. In fact, a majority of the population that is negatively affected by the concoction of chemicals that make up fragrance are women (Steinemann, 2016). This poses a great concern in regards to not only what women are exposed to but also, how these chemicals affect pregnancy.
It’s Not Just Women’s Health
One of the biggest concerns with chemicals like DEP is that they have been found, in studies done on rats, as an endocrine disruptor. In studies done by both Ivell et.al (2013) and Chen et.al (2017) chemicals similar to DEP, DBP and DES, were found to effect the development of male born offspring. According to Ivell et.al (2013), “In particular, several of the symptoms of what in humans has been termed the testicular dysgenesis syndrome (e.g., cryptorchidism and hypospadias) can be reproduced in some strains of rats by such early maternal exposure.” Overall, the studies conducted suggest a parallel to recent rising infertility rates among men suggesting it is related to prenatal exposure to phthalates which cause late-onset reproductive disease.
Most studies that have looked into the effects of fragrances on women’s health have primarily focused on the most common Phthalic acid esters: Diethyl phthalate (DEP) and di-n-butyl phthalate (DnBP). Both DnBP and especially DEP are found most often in fragrances like perfumes to retain scents and deliver agents in aerosols (Braun et.al, 2012). A study done by Parlett, Calafat, and Swan (2013), found a positive correlation between women’s use of PCPs and urinary concentration of multiple phthalate metabolites. This association was seen the most through the use of products like hair spray, nail polish, and deodorant (Parlett et.al, 2013). A more recent study conducted by Braun et.al (2014) found the same trends among pregnant women and confirmed that higher levels of exposure was found through the use of lotions, cosmetics, and colognes/perfumes. Overall, they have proved a positive correlation between perfume use and significant exposure to DEP.
Rising male infertility is not the only concern related to phthalates found in fragrance and other personal care products; a study done by Bagasra et.al (2013) found a possible connection between fragrances and Autism as well. According to Bagasra et.al (2013), a majority of perfumes possess a degree of mutagenic potential. This study involved the observation of Human neuroblastoma cells (NBC) exposed to perfumes and the Ames test to understand the mutagenic capability of the perfumes. The results of testing suggest some of the perfumes can have an effect on fetal brain development resulting in autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and exhibit serious mutagenic potential (Bagasra et.al 2013).
What could I do?
So how do we prevent exposure to the possible chemicals present in fragranced products? According to Steinemann (2016) the highest rates of exposure result from the use of personal care products and laundry products. These are followed by cleaning supplies, household products, and air fresheners/deodorizers. So start out by taking a look at the ingredients in the products you use on a daily basis! We already know that the biggest threats are hair spray, nail polish, and deodorant. While it may seem difficult these are actually some of the easiest products to address. With both nail polish and hair spray, a simple reduction in the amount you use will both reduce your exposure, save you money and, trips to the beauty store! Also, start reading the ingredients lists, you might be surprised by even products that seem to be natural.
Like with any environmental movement today, it can be difficult to do a 180 and completely change your lifestyle. We’ve seen these same struggles before like with the standards to build Green Buildings across the U.S. or buying organic and local groceries. But as our consumption patterns change, so do our options. When my family was faced with having to change we didn’t and couldn’t change every product we used to be without fragrance. As I mentioned earlier, it starts with limiting the products that don’t have alternatives. We stopped painting our nails as often and when we did we made sure that we kept the windows open and the air circulating. It might also seem difficult at first, but we completely stopped using hairspray along with, air fresheners (You know the plug into the wall kind).
For the products we could change like detergent, we switched to using products made by Seventh Generation. They’ve provided my family with the option of a fragrance free detergent as well as, baby care products that kept my brother free of rashes. And compared to the cost of Benadryl and allergy medication, the cost of these products were worth the extra cost of the product at the time. Just like the cost of organic groceries, over time the cost of these product too have become more affordable as demand has increased for them.
Now, even products that didn’t have alternative fragrance free options do now. Innovation and determination to provide women with fragrance free personal care products has led to the creation of products like Primal Pit Paste and LOLA. Primal Pit Paste is a new deodorant brand that provides the care of deodorant without the use of harsh chemicals or fragrances. It is also one of the only organic and natural deodorants to be fragrance free while still working amazingly.
Similarly, LOLA provides women with the option of having fragrance free health products including tampons and condoms at an equivalent price range compared to ordinary products and a subscription service that cuts out trips to the store.
While the U.S. has made little to no attempts at regulating the use of the term fragrance and still allows companies to use it to cover up their “trade secrets,” it is products like these that give me hope that as a society we can start pushing for these changes through the products we choose to purchase. It may seem overwhelming, having to read the labels and figure out what you should or shouldn’t use, but hopefully with our own due diligence we can make it easier for the next generation and never have to worry about the negative affects our products could have on us again.
References
Bagasra, O., Golkar, Z., Garcia, M., Rice, L. N., & Pace, D. G. (2013) Role of perfumes in pathogenesis of Autism. Medical Hypotheses, 80(6). Retrieved from http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0306987713001321
Branch, F., Woodruff, T. J., Mitro, S. D., & Zota, A. R. (2015). Vaginal douching and racial/ethnic disparities in phthalates exposures among reproductive-aged women: National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 2001–2004. Environmental Health, 14. Retrieved from
http://doi.org.ezproxy.lib.utexas.edu/10.1186/s12940-015-0043-6
Braun, J. M., Just, A. C., Williams, P. L., Smith, K. W., Calafat, A. M., & Hauser, R. (2014). Personal care product use and urinary phthalate metabolite and paraben concentrations during pregnancy among women from a fertility clinic. Journal of Exposure Science & Environmental Epidemiology, 24(5). Retrieved from http://doi.org.ezproxy.lib.utexas.edu/10.1038/jes.2013.69
Chen, X., Li, L., Li, H., Guan, H., Dong, Y., Li, X., … Ge, R. (2017) Prenatal exposure to di-n- butyl phthalate disrupts the development of adult Leydig cells in male rats during puberty. Toxicology, 386. Retrieved from http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0300483X17301440
Ivell, R., Heng, K., Nicholson, H., & Anand-Ivell, R. (2013). Brief maternal exposure of rats to the xenobiotics dibutyl phthalate or diethylstilbestrol alters adult-type Leydig cell development in male offspring. Asian Journal of Andrology, 15(2). Retrieved from http://doi.org.ezproxy.lib.utexas.edu/10.1038/aja.2012.138
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Lang, C., Fisher, M., Neisa, A., MacKinnon, L., Kuchta, S., MacPherson, S., … Arbuckle, T. E. (2016). Personal Care Product Use in Pregnancy and the Postpartum Period: Implications for Exposure Assessment. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 13(1). Retrieved from http://doi.org.ezproxy.lib.utexas.edu/10.3390/ijerph13010105
Parlett, L. E., Calafat, A. M., & Swan, S. H. (2013). Women’s exposure to phthalates in relation to use of personal care products. Journal of Exposure Science & Environmental Epidemiology, 23(2). Retrieved from http://doi.org.ezproxy.lib.utexas.edu/10.1038/jes.2012.105
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Zhang, X., Jing, Y., Ma, L., Zhou, J., Fang, X., Zhang, X., & Yu, Y. (2015) Occurrence and transport of synthetic musks in paired maternal blood, umbilical cord blood, and breast milk. International Journal of Hygiene and Environmental Health, 218(1). Retrieved from http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1438463914000807
