Remember years ago when air fresheners didn't rate an entire aisle in the grocery store and they certainly couldn't keep a store open, even when paired with scented candles?
We've gone "fresh scent" crazy trying to bring nature's smells inside by spraying chemicals throughout our homes.
The ads on TV make you think you have to spray "refreshers" everywhere or your guests will be horrified and your teenage boy's sweat will infuse the entire house.
And you like your teenage boy, but you don't want to smell like him.
Well, if you like him that much, put down the air freshener because it probably contains phthalates. If it smells good, the kind of good created by chemicals, it's likely got phtalates. The FDA says, "It's not clear what effect, if any, phthalates have on health," But some scientists' studies are finding that those chemicals may negatively affect boys' fertility and genitalia.
Seriously. If you want grandkids, put down the air freshner and snuff out that candle until you do your research.
Don't bother looking at the packaging that air "refresher." The FDA's phthalates report promises us, the agency "requires an ingredient declaration" on all cosmetics products, but then admits, with no shame, that manufacturers don't have to list phthalates if they're used as fragrances. When your entire product IS a fragrance, I'm going to guess you don't have to tell us anything and the government is OK with that.
Becaus they like boys to be able to propogate the species, the National Resources Defense Council ("the Earth's Best Defense") tested air fresheners. Twelve of 14 products had them, even the ones labeled "unscented."
(At the time of testing, Febreze Air Effects Air Refresher and Renuzit Subtle Effects came out smelling roses, and not the chemically created kind. They had not phthalates. If you must, must, must spray, use one of those two, please.)
Look, phthalates are in your bloodstream. There's not stopping that in this chemical world. But you can help limit the direct contact in your home. Do it for you. Do it for your kids. Do it for the rest of the world's population.
Julie Todd is the night editor at The Herald News in Joliet. She and her
husband are looking to cut the chemicals and get back to basics -- minus the
granola and hemp clothing. They live in a home they bought last year in
Plainfield, where they're making changes to create their own little patch of
utopia.
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