Finding a public washroom is a difficult task if you are sensitive to scents and chemicals. Most washrooms are equipped with the “dreaded air freshener.” Are restaurants required by law to have air fresheners in their washrooms? UPdate asked someone who knows, NS Department of Agriculture Health Inspector Calvin Latham. “There is no regulation requiring air fresheners,” stated Latham. “That is purely the choice of the restaurant. Air fresheners don’t do anything for health. All we require is mechanical ventilation. We don’t even recommend anti-bacterial soap in washrooms, just good hand washing.” UPdate asked if this was a recent change. “I’ve been doing this job for 22 years,” Latham responded. “I would never look for an air freshener, it wouldn’t even occur to me.”

Air fresheners work either by using a nerve-deadening agent which interferes with the ability to smell, or by covering up one smell with another. The most common ingredients in air fresheners are ethanol, formaldehyde, fragrances, naphthalene, phenol and xylene.

Continue reading…

A lot of diners are perfume-phobic, including Chowhounds, as you can see on this discussion and this one. Michael Bauer, the San Francisco Chronicle’s restaurant critic, has actually gone so far as to suggest banning perfume in restaurants.

Smell, of course, is intimately connected to taste. Randi Leehan, wine buyer and general manager at LA wine bar BottleRock, says that even soaps and detergents can compromise the ability to appreciate a wine. “I need to cleanse my nose like you cleanse your palate—just walk outside and take a breath of fresh air before I can taste the wine. … Musk is the worst because it stays with you the longest and it’s so strong.”

Continue reading…

Do you ever get irked when you buy an unscented skin care product only to find out that it really does have a scent?

Perusing though old magazines in the waiting room the other day, I came across a great tip from Women’s Day Magazine. If you’re looking for unscented skin care products, look for those that say “Fragrance-Free” not “Unscented”.

Many times a chemical additive is used to mask the scent in products labeled unscented. In products labeled fragrance-free, you can be sure they really are free of the scent you’re trying to avoid.

Continue reading at: Jen’s Skin Care Blog

What is a ‘Fragrance Free’ Zone ?

Fragrance Free zones and buildings are areas where people are prohibited from wearing or using any product that contains a scent. The list of banned items includes cologne, aftershave, air fresheners, incense, and anything else designed to produce an odor, even if the odor the product produces is marketed as a ‘good’ one. Also banned are a wide range of products whose primary purpose is not to produce a scent but that are sold in scented versions. Examples of such items include: hair-spray, laundry and hand soap, hand lotions, fabric softener, shampoo and conditioners, make-up, cleaning products, and many, many more.

It is not enough to merely avoid applying or using these products inside the fragrance free area you enter. If you are going to be entering a fragrance free area anytime during the day, then you must not use any scented products anytime that day. Using a scented conditioner after a morning shower and then going to a fragrance free doctor’s office in the afternoon is a ‘No-No’.

Is This ‘Fragrance Free’ Stuff a Bit ‘Over The Top’ ?

Continue reading…

The words on ingredient labels can be misleading. The word fragrance, a misleading term, is too often overlooked, as it might really indicate a combination of 100 or more different chemicals. Many of them may be toxic or harmful like phthalates, petroleum based ingredients, or flowers sprayed with chemicals or fertilizer. Organic perfumes are fragrance-free and reduce the risks associated with cosmetic toxicity. Perfume requires only three fundamental ingredients: 1. Essential oils 2.Distilled water 3. Grain alcohol. Natural perfumes composed of essential oils from plants and flowers can energize, unlike harmful ingredients, and are therapeutically potent.

In 1966, the Hartford Research Institute for Fragrance Materials (RIFM) was formed to test perfume product safety, but only 1,300 of 5,000 materials used under the fragrance heading were tested. Furthermore, RIFM only tested skin effects rather than potential neurological, circulatory or respiratory adversities. No wonder my eyes itch and water up when I spray most perfumes! I’d come to detest and mistrust them for that reason before even conducting this research.

Continue reading…

During recent renovations, S.C. Johnson and Son gave a choice to its employees, some of whom have asthma and environmental allergies: they could work from home or transfer to a desk elsewhere within the Brantford, Ontario headquarters. The idea was to prevent susceptible staff from being exposed to the dust, paint fumes and other irritants that would be in the air. The company, makers of well-known household products such as Ziploc, Windex, Shout, Pledge and Raid, is known to be accommodating, especially when it comes to employees’ health.

S.C. Johnson and Son has nursing staff available to each of its two manufacturing plants and two sales offices across the country. There is a central medical centre that can refer employees to specialists, and will make recommendations to the employee’s manager and the human resource team on how to best accommodate the person’s needs. For example, if a worker in a manufacturing plant has a sensitivity to a fragrance, the company might move that person to a different production line. The company cafeteria also has clear signs and menus to protect people with food allergies.

Continue reading…

Renfrew County’s offices are becoming scent free.

Recently, Bruce Beakley, human resources director, told the finance and administration committee the administration building is working towards scent-free workplace.

Employees will be encouraged to curb the use of scented personal care products such as perfumes, colognes and shampoos whenever possible at the work site or when attending meetings.

“The intent of this initiative is to assist those affected by strong scents within the County of Renfrew Administration Building,” he said.

This came out of the county’s Occupational Health and Safety Committee, which developed the policy after a number of staff identified it as a problem.

Continue reading…