Shop by Room Whole Home About ➜ Learn ➜ Fragrances
Fragrances
Click bolded statements for links to research.
What are synthetic fragrances?
Natural fragrance, aroma, parfum, luxury scenting, fragrance oil— these are all innocent-sounding terms for the same thing: they’re synthetic fragrances, made from chemicals, in a lab. The singular word, “fragrance” on an ingredients list can actually be a combination of hundreds of the 3,600+ fragrance chemicals currently in use. In short, unless the fragrance in a product is 100% essential oil, it is synthetic.
Why are synthetic fragrances unhealthy?
Synthetic fragrances are notoriously bad for human health. They can cause headaches, cardiovascular harm, irritation, and reproductive toxicity.
Why are synthetic fragrances made?
Synthetic fragrances are much less expensive than essential oils, and can be manipulated in the lab to create an infinite number of scents for a (seemingly infinite) number of products — maybe you’ve even purchased a roll of scented garbage bags before. Fragrance is big business — a $50 billion one — so unsurprisingly, the industry prioritizes profits over human health.
What is being done about synthetic fragrances?
Consumers and non-profits are demanding that companies disclose the actual list of chemicals.
In response, the International Fragrance Association (IFRA) created its own Research Institute for Fragrance Materials (RIFM). This sounds good, but it’s entirely self-regulating. Its operations are opaque— they decide what chemicals are “safe” for use in fragrance, rather than requiring disclosure of ingredients, so consumers can make their own informed choice about whether its healthy enough for them or not.
Many of the IFRA-approved ingredients, like benzophenone, methyleugenol and styrene, are known carcinogens. When a company claims its scents are safe because they are IFRA-approved, it’s just not true.
The California Fragrance Right to Know Act now requires companies that use fragrances capable of harming human health in personal care products to disclose their ingredients. The results are revealing!
But for candles, and other home scenting, it’s still the wild west, and it’s worth either avoiding scented products completely, or choosing ones with a super-transparent list of ingredients.
Are all fragrances harmful to health?
No! Also known as Biophilic Odors, truly natural scents that connect us to nature, like pine forests, or the smell of rain, can decrease stress and cause other beneficial physiologic changes in the body.
Indoor Air Quality
