Why Women Should Be Concerned

Women have traditionally been the primary consumers of fragranced products and are the main purchasers of products that contain fragrance. Women continue to be the ones primarily responsible for shopping and purchasing of products used in the home, for themselves and for their families. Women continue to have the greatest exposure to fragranced products through both personal care products and the things that are used in maintaining a household.

Much of marketing of fragranced products is targeted toward women. Such marketing contributes to the misconception that "fragrance" is required in every product that is used. Our clothes must smell fresh for days, our homes must have the odor of a field of flowers, and clean means scented. Clever marketing has made the fragrances a multi-billion dollar industry at the expense of women and their families' health.

Fragranced products contain materials that are known to cause skin allergies and are irritating to both the skin and the respiratory system. In addition synthetic musk compounds have been shown to penetrate the skin. Synthetic musk compounds are present in a wide variety of products from personal care to laundry products. These materials are found in fat tissue, blood lipids, and breast milk. Not enough information is available to determine if these materials may present health risks to women and in the case of pregnancy and breast feeding to their children.

Women need to be informed so they can make decisions based on facts and not advertising hype. As things stand, it is difficult to make informed choices because the information is not readily available Companies need to be put on notice that women want and need to know how safe the products are that they use on a daily basis.

Some of the questions women need to be asking:

1. Are products properly labeled so informed choices can be made?

2. Are fragranced products safe through all routes of exposure?

3. What are the long term effects of fragrance chemicals that are absorbed and stored in fat tissue, including breast tissue?

4. Do fragrance materials that are suspected of being animal carcinogens and co-carcinogens play a role in breast cancer?

5. What is the effects of fragrance materials that cross the placental barrier on fetal development?

6. Are materials used in fragrances potential hormone disruptors?

7. What are the effects on infants of the fragrance chemicals that are found in breast milk?

8. What are the effects of fragrance materials in the environment and the concequences of contamination of waterways and the water supply.