EPA’s Design for the Environment (DfE) Program (claims to) work “to reduce risk to people and the environment by finding ways to prevent pollution”, yet they recently began allowing DfE-endorsed products to contain fragrances.
Of the first 119 fragrance chemicals okayed for use, 93 have “hazard profile issues” such as being known sensitizers or lacking vital data!!!
“Researchers, pediatricians, and other health experts agree that “Scented chemicals increase risk that some per cent of exposed people will have allergic and hypersensitivity reactions. Allergic and asthmatic children are at especially high risk”
Those of us with MCS/ES, along with many others who now experience adverse or disabling health effects from fragrance chemicals rarely had them before being exposed to some supposedly safe petrochemicals (in everyday use) that tipped our bodies over an edge. For too many of us, it was from fragranced products that we first experienced and continue to experience chronic health problems.
So it is wonderful to see health experts formally urging the EPA to
SAY NO TO FRAGRANCES
“Pediatricians and respiratory experts, including the American Lung Association and the American Academy of Pediatrics, wrote to the EPA Administrator today raising concerns about the health impact of the recent decision of the US EPA’s Design for the Environment program to allow fragrances.”
…“it is standard environmental health practice to discourage the use of air fresheners, scented products, and fragrances in homes and other indoor spaces.
We were surprised and deeply disappointed to learn that the Agency’s Design for the Environment program (DfE) created a “fragrance” category of chemicals for commercial and consumer cleaning products. The vast majority of chemicals listed — 93 of the 119 total — have “hazard profile issues” because they are identified in one of
these three categories:
“Known sensitizer”;
“Lacks sufficient sensitization data”; or a
“Repeat-dose toxicant.”
According to DfE, “Each ingredient in a formulation has a function in making a product work.”
However, fragrances play no role in the effectiveness of cleaning products.
Such artificial suppression of other odors may even mask the continuation of an unsanitary condition after cleaning.
…
Unfortunately, these recent decisions on fragrances undermine the program.
Worse, it gives false assurances to consumers that products approved by the DfE program do not contain unnecessary volatile chemicals that could harm health.”
…
From the Children’s Environmental Health Network
The full coalitation letter to EPA (PDF) regarding the Design for the Environment fragrance decision and news release (PDF) on coalition letter, March 13, 2014
You can also download these and other statements here:
http://www.cehn.org/policy/recent_activities
♦
EPA’s Design for the Environment program
DfE’s (supposedly) Safer Chemical Ingredients Lists
♦
Choose fragrance free options. They are available.
♥
Check labels to make sure the words “parfum” and “fragrance” do not appear. Essential oils can also contain harmful petrochemical ingredients unless they are certified organic, and even then, they can be sensitizers and allergens.
Fragrance in the workplace: what managers need to know by C De Vader (2009)
Journal of Management and Marketing Research
” It took decades for the workplace to acknowledge the dangers of smoking and to recognize the deadly effects of exposure to second-hand smoke. Once acknowledged, it was a few more years before the workplace became safe for workers from the dangers of second hand smoke. This paper suggests that fragrance is following the same trajectory”
www.aabri.com/manuscripts/09244.pdf
————————————————————–
F.Y.I.
The DfE Fragrance list:
Green circle – The chemical has been verified to be of low concern based on experimental and modeled data.
Green half-circle – The chemical is expected to be of low concern based on experimental and modeled data. Additional data would strengthen our confidence in the chemical’s safer status.
Yellow triangle – The chemical has met DfE criteria for its functional ingredient-class, but has some hazard profile issues. Specifically, a chemical with this code is not associated with a low level of hazard concern for all human health and environmental endpoints. (See DfE criteria). While it is a best-in-class chemical and among the safest available for a particular function, the function fulfilled by the chemical should be considered an area for safer chemistry innovation.
Grey square – This chemical will not be acceptable for use in products that are candidates for the DfE label and currently labeled products that contain it must reformulate per DfE Compliance Schedules.
| Common Name | CAS Registry Number |
|---|---|
| Diethyl malonate |
105-53-3 |
| Dimethyl malonate |
108-59-8 |
| Glycerol triacetate |
102-76-1 |
| Methyl dihydrojasmonate |
24851-98-7 |
| Vanillin |
121-33-5 |
| 3-Cyclohexen-1-ol, 4-methyl-1-(1-methylethyl)- |
562-74-3 |
| 7-Octen-2-ol, 2-methyl-6-methylene-, dihydro deriv. |
53219-21-9 |
| alpha-Terpineol |
98-55-5 |
| Balinol |
28219-61-6 |
| Dihydrocitronellol |
106-21-8 |
| Dihydromyrcenol |
18479-58-8 |
| Ethyl ester 2-methylbutanoic acid |
7452-79-1 |
| Ethyl vanillin |
121-32-4 |
| Ethylene brassylate |
105-95-3 |
| Florol |
63500-71-0 |
| gamma-Decalactone |
706-14-9 |
| gamma-Heptalactone |
105-21-5 |
| gamma-Hexalactone |
695-06-7 |
| gamma-Nonalactone |
104-61-0 |
| gamma-Octalactone |
104-50-7 |
| Gamma-undecalactone |
104-67-6 |
| Helvetolide |
141773-73-1 |
| Hexanoic acid, ethyl ester |
123-66-0 |
| Hexyl acetate |
142-92-7 |
| Isoamyl acetate |
123-92-2 |
| Isobutyl acetate |
110-19-0 |
| Jasmal |
18871-14-2 |
| Jasmin pyranol |
38285-49-3 |
| Muskonate |
54982-83-1 |
| Myrcenol |
543-39-5 |
| Oxacycloheptadecan-2-one |
109-29-5 |
| Oxacyclohexadecan-2-one |
106-02-5 |
| Sandalore |
65113-99-7 |
| Terpineol (mixed isomers) |
8000-41-7 |
| Terpineol acetate |
8007-35-0 |
| Terpinyl acetate |
80-26-2 |
| Benzyl alcohol (*Flagged on 12/20/2013 for removal from SCIL in 12 months) |
100-51-6 |
| (d)-Limonene (*Known sensitizer, see above.) |
5989-27-5 |
| (Z)- cis-3-Hexenyl acetate (*Lacks sufficient sensitization data, see above.) |
3681-71-8 |
| 1,2,3,4,4a,7,8,8a-Octahydro-2,4a,5,8a-tetramethyl-1-naphthyl formate (*Lacks sufficient sensitization data, see above) |
65405-72-3 |
| 1,3-Undecadien-5-yne (*Lacks sufficient sensitization data, see above.) |
166432-52-6 |
| 1,4-dimethoxybenzene (*Repeat dose toxicant, see above.) |
150-78-7 |
| 10-Undecenal (*Known sensitizer, see above.) |
112-45-8 |
| 1-Decanol (*Repeat dose toxicant, see above.) |
112-30-1 |
| 1-Dodecanol (*Repeat dose toxicant, see above.; *Yellow due to hazard concerns, but allowed to provide functionality while meeting DfE VOC criteria. See section 4.2.7.1.) |
112-53-8 |
| 1-Nonanol (*Repeat dose toxicant, see above.) |
143-08-8 |
| 1-Octanol (*Repeat dose toxicant, see above.) |
111-87-5 |
| 1-Tetradecanol (*Repeat dose toxicant, see above.) |
112-72-1 |
| 1-Undecanol (*Repeat dose toxicant, see above.) |
112-42-5 |
| 2(3H)-Naphthalenone, 4,4a,5,6,7,8-hexahydro-4,4a-dimethyl-6-(1-methylethenyl)-, (4R,4aS,6R)- (*Known sensitizer, see above.) |
4674-50-4 |
| 2,6-Dimethyl-2-heptanol (*Lacks sufficient sensitization data, see above.) |
13254-34-7 |
| 2-Acetylnaphthalene (*Lacks sufficient sensitization data, see above.) |
93-08-3 |
| 2-Butanone, 4-(4-hydroxyphenyl)- (*Lacks sufficient sensitization data, see above.) |
5471-51-2 |
| 2-Heptylcyclopentan-1-one (*Lacks sufficient sensitization data, see above.) |
137-03-1 |
| 2-Methylbutyl salicylate (*Known sensitizer; repeat dose toxicant. See above.) |
51115-63-0 |
| 2-tert-Butylcyclohexanol (*Lacks sufficient sensitization data; repeat dose toxicant. See above.) |
13491-79-7 |
| 3-cis-Hexenyl methyl carbonate (*Lacks sufficient sensitization data, see above.) |
67633-96-9 |
| 3-Cyclohexene-1-carboxaldehyde, 2,4,6-trimethyl- (*Known sensitizer; repeat dose toxicant. See above.) |
1423-46-7 |
| 3-Decen-5-ol, 4-methyl- (*Known sensitizer; repeat dose toxicant. See above.) |
81782-77-6 |
| 3-Hexenyl salicylate (*Known sensitizer; repeat dose toxicant. See above.) |
65405-77-8 |
| 3-Methyl-5-heptanone oxime (*Lacks sufficient sensitization data, see above.) |
22457-23-4 |
| 4,7-Methano-1H-indenol, 3a,4,5,6,7,7a-hexahydro-, acetate (*Lacks sufficient sensitization data, see above.) |
54830-99-8 |
| 4-t-Butylcyclohexyl acetate (*Lacks sufficient sensitization data; repeat dose toxicant. See above.) |
32210-23-4 |
| 4-tert-Butylcyclohexanol (*Repeat dose toxicant, see above.) |
98-52-2 |
| 9-Decen-1-ol (*Lacks sufficient sensitization data; repeat dose toxicant. See above.) |
13019-22-2 |
| alpha-Ionone (*Known sensitizer; repeat dose toxicant. See above.) |
127-41-3 |
| alpha-Isomethylionone (*Known sensitizer; repeat dose toxicant. See above.) |
127-51-5 |
| alpha-Methyl ionone (*Known sensitizer; repeat dose toxicant. See above.) |
7779-30-8 |
| Amyl acetate (*Known sensitizer, see above.) |
628-63-7 |
| Amyl salicylate (*Known sensitizer; repeat dose toxicant. See above.) |
2050-08-0 |
| Benzenepentanol, gamma-methyl- (*Known sensitizer, see above.) |
55066-48-3 |
| Benzyl salicylate (*Known sensitizer; repeat dose toxicant. See above.) |
118-58-1 |
| Benzyldimethyl carbinyl acetate (*Known sensitizer, see above.) |
151-05-3 |
| beta-Ionone (*Known sensitizer; repeat dose toxicant. See above.) |
14901-07-6 |
| Butanoic acid, 3-methyl-, 3-methylbutyl ester (*Lacks sufficient sensitization data, see above.) |
659-70-1 |
| Calone (*Lacks sufficient sensitization data, see above.) |
28940-11-6 |
| Camphene (*Lacks sufficient sensitization data, see above.) |
79-92-5 |
| Carvone (*Known sensitizer; repeat dose toxicant. See above.) |
99-49-0 |
| cis-3-hexenol (*Lacks sufficient sensitization data, see above.) |
928-96-1 |
| Citronellal (*Known sensitizer; repeat dose toxicant. See above.) |
106-23-0 |
| Citronellol (*Known sensitizer; repeat dose toxicant. See above.) |
106-22-9 |
| Citronelloxyacetaldehyde (*Known sensitizer; repeat dose toxicant. See above.) |
7492-67-3 |
| Citronellyl acetate (*Known sensitizer; repeat dose toxicant. See above.) |
150-84-5 |
| Cuminaldehyde (*Known sensitizer, see above.) |
122-03-2 |
| Cyclohexanecarboxylic acid, 2,2-dimethyl-6-methylene-, methyl ester (*Lacks sufficient sensitization data, see above.) |
81752-87-6 |
| Cyclohexanepropanol, 2,2,6-trimethyl-.alpha.-propyl- (*Lacks sufficient sensitization data, see above.) |
70788-30-6 |
| Cyclohexanone, 2-(1-mercapto-1-methylethyl)-5-methyl- (*Known sensitizer, see above.) |
38462-22-5 |
| Cyclopentanone, 2-pentyl- (*Lacks sufficient sensitization data, see above.) |
4819-67-4 |
| Decaldehyde (*Known sensitizer, see above.) |
112-31-2 |
| delta-Damascone (*Known sensitizer; repeat dose toxicant. See above.) |
57378-68-4 |
| delta-Decalactone (*Lacks sufficient sensitization data, see above.) |
705-86-2 |
| delta-Dodecalactone (*Lacks sufficient sensitization data, see above.) |
713-95-1 |
| Dicyclopentadiene propionate (*Lacks sufficient sensitization data, see above.) |
68912-13-0 |
| Diisobutyl carbinyl acetate (*Lacks sufficient sensitization data; repeat dose toxicant. See above.) |
10250-45-0 |
| Dimethyl tetrahydrobenzaldehyde (*Known sensitizer; repeat dose toxicant. See above.) |
68737-61-1 |
| Dimethylallyl acetate (*Lacks sufficient sensitization data, see above.) |
1191-16-8 |
| Dipentene (*Known sensitizer, see above.) |
138-86-3 |
| Diphenyl oxide (*Lacks sufficient sensitization data, see above.) |
101-84-8 |
| D-Menthol (*Known sensitizer, see above.) |
15356-60-2 |
| Dodecanal (*Known sensitizer, see above.) |
112-54-9 |
| Ethyl butyrate (*Lacks sufficient sensitization data, see above.) |
105-54-4 |
| Ethyl dimethylhydrocinnamaldehyde (*Lacks sufficient sensitization data; repeat dose toxicant. See above.) |
67634-15-5 |
| Ethyl isovalerate (*Lacks sufficient sensitization data, see above.) |
108-64-5 |
| Ethyl linalool (*Known sensitizer, see above.) |
10339-55-6 |
| Ethyl linalyl acetate (*Lacks sufficient sensitization data, see above.) |
61931-80-4 |
| Ethyl undecylenate (*Repeat dose toxicant, see above.) |
692-86-4 |
| Eucalyptol (*Lacks sufficient sensitization data, see above.) |
470-82-6 |
| gamma-Terpinene (*Lacks sufficient sensitization data, see above.) |
99-85-4 |
| Hexanal (*Known sensitizer, see above.) |
66-25-1 |
| Hexyl Salicylate (*Known sensitizer; repeat dose toxicant. See above.) |
6259-76-3 |
| Hydroxycitronellal (*Known sensitizer; repeat dose toxicant. See above.) |
107-75-5 |
| Indole (*Lacks sufficient sensitization data; repeat dose toxicant. See above.) |
120-72-9 |
| Ionone (*Known sensitizer; repeat dose toxicant. See above.) |
8013-90-9 |
| Isoamyl butyrate (*Lacks sufficient sensitization data, see above.) |
106-27-4 |
| Isoamyl salicylate (*Known sensitizer; repeat dose toxicant. See above.) |
87-20-7 |
| Isobutyl salicylate (*Known sensitizer, see above) |
87-19-4 |
| Isocyclocitral (*Known sensitizer; repeat dose toxicant. See above.) |
1335-66-6 |
| Isopropylphenylbutanal (*Lacks sufficient sensitization data; repeat dose toxicant. See above.) |
125109-85-5 |
| Isopulegol (*Repeat dose toxicant, see above.) |
89-79-2 |
| Jasmone (*Lacks sufficient sensitization data, see above.) |
488-10-8 |
| l-Carvone (*Known sensitizer; repeat dose toxicant. See above.) |
6485-40-1 |
| Ligustral (*Known sensitizer; repeat dose toxicant. See above.) |
68039-49-6 |
| Linalool (*Known sensitizer, see above.) |
78-70-6 |
| Linalyl acetate (*Known sensitizer, see above.) |
115-95-7 |
| L-Menthol (*Known sensitizer, see above.) |
2216-51-5 |
| Melonal (*Known sensitizer; repeat dose toxicant. See above.) |
106-72-9 |
| Menthol (unspecified isomer) (*Known sensitizer, see above.) |
1490-04-6 |
| Menthol, racemic (*Known sensitizer, see above.) |
89-78-1 |
| Methyl 2-nonenoate (*Lacks sufficient sensitization data, see above.) |
111-79-5 |
| Methyl 2-nonynoate (*Known sensitizer, see above.) |
111-80-8 |
| Methyl benzoate (*Lacks sufficient sensitization data, see above.) |
93-58-3 |
| Methyl delta ionone (*Known sensitizer; repeat dose toxicant. See above.) |
79-89-0 |
| Methyl undecylenate (*Repeat dose toxicant, see above.) |
111-81-9 |
| Methylionone (*Known sensitizer; repeat dose toxicant. See above.) |
1335-46-2 |
| Naphthalene, 2-ethoxy- (*Lacks sufficient sensitization data, see above.) |
93-18-5 |
| Naphthalene, 2-methoxy- (*Lacks sufficient sensitization data, see above.) |
93-04-9 |
| Nonanal (*Known sensitizer, see above.) |
124-19-6 |
| Octanal (*Known sensitizer, see above.) |
124-13-0 |
| Octyl acetate (*Lacks sufficient sensitization data, see above) |
112-14-1 |
| Oxacyclohexadec-12-en-2-one, (12E)- (*Known sensitizer, see above.) |
111879-80-2 |
| Oxacyclohexadec-12-en-2-one, (12Z)- (*Known sensitizer, see above.) |
111879-79-9 |
| Oxacyclohexadec-13-en-2-one, (13E)- (*Known sensitizer, see above.) |
99219-32-6 |
| Oxacyclohexadec-13-en-2-one, (13Z)- (*Known sensitizer, see above.) |
111879-81-3 |
| Oxirane, 2,2-dimethyl-3-(3-methyl-2,4-pentadien-1-yl)- (*Lacks sufficient sensitization data, see above.) |
69103-20-4 |
| para-Ethyl-alpha,alpha-dimethyl-hydrocinnamaldehyde (*Lacks sufficient sensitization data; repeat dose toxicant. See above.) |
67634-14-4 |
| Propanoic acid, 2-methyl-, 3a,4,5,6,7,7a-hexahydro-4,7-methano-1H-inden-5-yl ester (*Lacks sufficient sensitization data, see above) |
67634-20-2 |
| Propanoic acid, 2-methyl-, 3a,4,5,6,7,7a-hexahydro-4,7-methano-1H-inden-6-yl ester (*Lacks sufficient sensitization data, see above.) |
68039-39-4 |
| Scentenal (*Known sensitizer, see above.) |
86803-90-9 |
| Sweet orange oil (*Known sensitizer, see above.) |
8008-57-9 |
| Terpinolene (*Known sensitizer, see above.) |
586-62-9 |
| Tetrahydrolinalool (*Known sensitizer, see above.) |
78-69-3 |
| trans-3-Hexenol (*Lacks sufficient sensitization data, see above.) |
928-97-2 |
| Tricyclodecenyl propionate (*Lacks sufficient sensitization data, see above.) |
17511-60-3 |
| Triethyl citrate (*Known sensitizer, see above.) |
77-93-0 |
| Undecanal (*Known sensitizer, see above.) |
112-44-7 |
| Undecanal, 2-methyl- (*Known sensitizer, see above.) |
110-41-8 |
| Vanillyl acetone (*Lacks sufficient sensitization data, see above) |
122-48-5 |
| Verdox (*Lacks sufficient sensitization data; repeat dose toxicant. See above.) |
88-41-5 |
| Verdyl acetate (*Lacks sufficient sensitization data, see above.) |
5413-60-5 |
Seriously "Sensitive" to Pollution 
UGH. This makes me want to scream. I wish there were a “like the post, hate the implications of the post” button.
Are you ever OK with being reblogged or linked to? I for some reason thought you weren’t. I seem to be meeting other thyroid bloggers and Lyme bloggers on Twitter, and I post my blog on Twitter. Thyroid bloggers need to read about endocrine disruptors because we are endocrine-disrupted, and as for Lyme bloggers, as you know, a lot of Lymies have many chemical sensitivities even if they don’t have full-blown MCS.
Maybe if I had more energy, I’d scream too… Instead I post here and on fb…
If you find any of these posts useful, please do share.
And yes, we are all interconnected and the world is getting smaller…
More people need to learn about the effects everyday chemicals are having on our bodies, because when we do, we can start avoiding them and demanding better, safer products and materials!
So few people understand the connection between health problems and “environmental” exposures… We like to believe that if things are sold, they must be proven safe first, when nothing could be further from the truth.
Good info. It is unfortunate that so many people think that “clean” needs to stink.
They only think that because the fragrance industry has been hammering it into their heads via all that advertising.