from the Chicago Tribune
The scented fabric sheet makes your shirts and socks smell flowery fresh and clean. That plug-in air freshener fills your home with inviting fragrances of a country garden.
But those common household items are potentially exposing you to dangerous chemicals, a University of Washington study has found.
Trouble is, you have no way of knowing it. Manufacturers of detergents, laundry sheets and air fresheners aren't required to list all of their ingredients on their labels-or anywhere else. Laws protecting people from indoor air pollution from consumer products are limited.
UW engineering professor Anne Steinemann's analysis of some of these popular items found 100 different volatile organic compounds measuring 300 parts per billion or more-some of which can be cancerous or cause harm to respiratory, reproductive, neurological and other organ systems.
Some chemicals are categorized as hazardous or toxic by federal regulatory agencies. But the labels tell a different story, naming only innocuous-sounding "perfume" or "biodegradable" contents.
"Consumers are breathing these chemicals," she said. "No one is doing anything about it."
Industry representatives say that isn't so.
"Dr. Steinemann's statement is misleading and disingenuous," Chris Cathcart, president of the Washington, D.C.-based Consumer Specialty Products Association, said in a statement.
"Air fresheners, laundry products and other consumer specialty products are regulated under the Federal Hazardous Substances Act and subsequently have strict labeling requirements," he said. "Companies producing products that are regulated under FHSA must name on the product label each component that contributes to the hazard."
Full Story: http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-toxic-fragrance_slider_7-24jul27,0,3334650.story
