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.

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