Student rushed to ER from exposure to Axe Body Spray; School reacts with ban

High school student Brandon Silk  has been treated by his doctors for allergies to Axe Body Spray for a few years. Recent exposure to the fragrance in the hallways of his high school caused him to be rushed to the hospital when his throat swelled causing him to have difficulty breathing. His throat swelled twice before when exposed to the same smell at school. Now his mother is scared to let him go back to school and wants Unilever to disclose the ingredients of the body spray to help determine what is causing his allergic reaction.

Brandon and his mother talked to local TV station WFMZ. Please watch their story and read the article by WFMZ for details….

http://www.wfmz.com/news/news-regional-lehighvalley/Mother-hopes-to-find-a-cure-for-son-s-allergic-reaction-to-AXE-deodorant-body-spray/-/132502/19404082/-/crdsgw/-/index.html

The Bethlehem Pennsylvania school where Brandon attends has put out a statement to parents on their website urging students not to wear Axe body spray due to Brandon’s allergy.  This is a great gesture by the school. I wonder how it will be enforced and for how long?

I am also scent sensitive and am touched by the reactions of many of the students at that school. Some suggest lobbying Unilever to disclose the ingredients for Brandon by posting to Axe’s Facebook page. Check out a video of reactions of students created by a local newspaper. I love their comments.

Smell Inc supports Brandon’s mom, Rosa Silk, and her quest to get the ingredients disclosed by Unilever. Unfortunately it’s an uphill battle. There is no legislation requiring these cosmetic companies to release the ingredients of the fragrance. The Environmental Working Group has proposed the safe cosmetics act to try to get this changed in the cosmetic industry.

Rosa isn’t the first mom to take on Unilever regarding severe allergies to Axe.  Read about the 2010 lawsuit filled in Indiana from an earlier post here at Smell Inc.

Something must be done. Body Spray, fragrances, perfumes, colognes…. it’s getting more and more obnoxious and it’s affecting others. When did it become trendy to reek? And when will these fragrances be considered second-hand scents and treated with the same regard as cigarette smoke. It’s affecting people the same way.

Fragrance Free Solution: Simple beauty products

Simple is a new fragrance free line of products. They offer facial wipes, cleansers, and moisturizer. I have found it at Target, CVS and my local grocery store. I have been using the wipes to remove my makeup nightly and really like them.  Simple calls themselves the “Sensitive Skin Experts”. I may not have sensitive skin but I do have a sensitive head that is prone to migraine headaches due to perfumes. So thank you “Simple” for offering a line of Fragrance Free products!

“Simple, Sensitive Skin Experts”  facial products are Fragrance Free.

Perfume Obsession: What will they think of next?

For someone who gets ill from fragrances, I’m keenly aware of how scents are everywhere. Our perfume obsessed society can’t get enough. Most people wear fragrances in their shampoo & lotion & deodorant & laundry detergent & then add some perfume of choice. In the spirit of excess, here are new unconventional ways to get even smellier.

DIGESTIBLE PERFUME– Yep, you eat garlic and it seeps through your pores later giving you that lingering smell. Well, there is a company called Beneo that is working on this concept for perfumes. It’s perfumed candy is Deo and it creates the smell of roses once it is digested. It is made from beets.  Rose smells from beets might not be too bad but I can just imagine how this could evolve.

http://www.beneo-group.com/A-Sweet-Scent-sation

It sounds like this trend started in Japan. Fuwarinka in Japan has PERFUME GUM that when chewed exerts its fragrance of peaches or roses through the skin. In 2002 another Japanese company called Tsuge Pipe Company created an EDIBLE PERFUME for cigarettes. A smoker could add the drops of mint, peach, strawberry or orange to their cigarette to change the smell.

Beneo doesn’t seem to be the only ones developing the sweating fragrance method for the western world…. Lucy McRae with biologist Sheref Mansy is creating “Swallowable Perfume”.  They have a slick video ad that shows a woman popping a capsule and sweating out metallic beads that supposedly give off a unique odor. They are still in the developmental phase. While the photography is done well… I think the ad is a little creepy. See it for yourself.

http://youtu.be/X9cVAZrY_9E

http://www.lucymcrae.net/swallowable-parfum/

If you’d rather wear your perfume than sweat it perhaps Lisa Hoffman’s new FRAGRANCED JEWELRY is for you. She has created wooden bead bracelets that when exposed to air release a perfume. Each bracelet comes with a  container with extra beads so the jewelry can always transmit odor. She has five scents to choose from…. Japanese Agarwood, Tuscan Fig, French Clary Sage, Madagascar Orchid and Tunisian Neroli. These are being sold at the Home Shopping Network.

http://www.hsn.com/beauty/lisa-hoffman-perfume-jewelry-tunisian-neroli-beaded-stretch-bracelet-with-refill_p-6642912_xp.aspx

If jewelry is too subtle, you could wear PERFUMED GLOVES instead. L’Artisan Parfumeur offers gloves that will give off a floral scent for three years! According to InStyle Magazine these gloves will go on sale ($480) starting October 30 through L’artisan Perfumeur’s website.

Really? What will they think of next?

The perfume obsession continues.

Another Fragrance Free Friendly Place: Tuttle Oklahoma

City Hall in Tuttle Oklahoma has asked that people should not add perfume or cologne when visiting. They may be asked to stand outside if they do.

Thank You Tuttle Oklahoma!

Want to see for yourself… here is a link to their website

http://cityoftuttle.com/

Here is an article in USA Today discussing the trend of workplaces adopting a fragrance free zone.

http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/story/2012-07-02/fragance-ban-allergies/55988704/1

Official military fragrance line

The Perfuming of America continues, now the military is getting involved. They have officially licensed scents for the different branches. The Marines have “Devil Dog” cologne. They are working on “Patton” for the Army and the Air Force has “Stealth”.

I can’t make this up.

Read the article in The Washington post.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/the-marine-cologne-strong-with-a-hint-of-military-spirit/2011/09/02/gIQAMSmgAK_story_1.html

Portland may adopt Fragrance Free Policy

Portland Oregon’s city council is considering a workplace policy to restrict strong fragrances for those of us who have health issues. Go Portland!

http://www.oregonlive.com/portland/index.ssf/2011/02/government_employees_ditch_col.html

UPDATE: Portland approved the policy, workers have been asked not to wear strong scented products.

Teens Get Fierce on Abercrombie & Fitch

Teens organize protests against Abercrombie & Fitch’s practices of spraying their signature scent “Fierce” inside and outside their stores.  Teens from “teens turning green” joined forces with over two dozen other health advocacy groups and sent a letter to the CEO asking him to stop. They have concerns over how their fragrance can affect people’s health.

http://www.teensturninggreen.org/A&Fstopstinking

http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/abercrombie–fitch-stop-spraying-toxic-fragrance-103952183.html

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/starre-vartan/abercrombie-and-fitch-ear_b_742599.html

What is a migraine and why do fragrances trigger my headaches?

When I often tell people that fragrances can give me migraine headaches, they say something about allergy issues. Most people do not understand that a migraine headache is a neurological disorder and can be triggered by fragrances.

I get migraines because my brain easily gets over stimulated. It’s this stimulation that tells my brain to increase production of certain chemicals. These chemicals can cause other reactions to happen which can result in nausea, throbbing pain, blood vessels dilating and constricting, difficulty concentrating, and a range of other unpleasant side effects.

The best way for me to manage my headaches is to avoid my triggers, keeping the stimulation under control. I think of it on a point system. It takes 100 points to get a headache. Not sleeping 7 hours is worth 25 points, eating poorly is worth 25 points, chocolate is worth 10 points, smelling strong perfume is worth 65 points, drinking 2 cups of coffee is worth 15 points, stress can be worth 35 points and so on. If I combine too many triggers in a day I’m done for. And yes, fragrances would be the trigger I assign the most points to.

With certain perfumes/ fragrances all it can take is a whiff of a passerby and my brain starts to tingle. I know I have to be extremely careful the rest of the day or I need to take Excedrin as a preemptive strike.  I am in complete control of most of my triggers except fragrances. People close to me avoid fragranced products but all the acquaintances I run into in a day, well that’s a different story. I don’t expect everyone to stop wearing fragrances but I would hope people would keep them a little more to themselves. You should not be smelling them unless you are in their personal space. When they walk past you and leave a scent trail, well that’s a bit much.

Why is my nervous system so sensitive? I suspect genetics has something to do with it but I’m not certain.

There are good resources out there that give more details about the chemicals involved in migraines, here are a few….

A short video that contains animation which shows the biological process of a migraine headache happening and explains which chemicals are involved… http://video.healthination.com/usnews/migraines.html

Magnum – Migraines awareness group detailed article about myths and facts of Migraines…  http://www.migraines.org/myth/mythreal.htm

HealthCentral- a website that has lots of good information on migraines…. http://www.healthcentral.com/migraine/understanding-migraine-000097_3-145.html

Proposed Legislation to Mandate Listing Fragrance Ingredients in Products

Representatives Jan Schakowsky (D-IL), Ed Markey (D-MA) and Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) are introducing legislation of the Safe Cosmetics Act of 2010. This legislation addresses many concerns about what chemicals are in personal care products and suggests that the self-regulation of the cosmetics industry has not been enough. The bill will require that labels of products list the ingredients of fragrances. Ingredients of fragrances have been protected for trade secret purposes and personal care companies have not been required to list the numerous chemicals that can make up a “fragrance”.

It’s no surprise that Smell INC is excited about this legislation. I’ve been wondering which chemicals in certain fragrances are triggering my migraine headaches. If this bill passes and is enforced maybe I can get some answers to my health issues.  This could be a real turning point for my neurological illness.

There are many sides to this legislation…. to be fair, I will post links to many viewpoints including those of the cosmetic companies.

Rep. Markey’s website, has bullet points of the Safe Cosmetics Act  http://markey.house.gov/index.php?option=content&task=view&id=4059&Itemid=125

Cosmetic companies group responds to this bill  http://www.personalcarecouncil.org/newsroom/20100721a

Consumer advocacy group pushing for this legislation  http://storyofstuff.org/cosmetics/

Article from Bryan Walsh for Time.com regarding this issue  http://ecocentric.blogs.time.com/2010/07/21/cracking-down-on-toxic-makeup/

If you think this bill is a good idea I suggest you contact your congressman/congresswoman and ask for their support.

Doctor Questions Fragrance Industry Regulations and Toxic Dangers in Perfumes

Dr. Samuel S. Epstein,  Professor emeritus Environmental & Occupational Medicine at The University of Illinois at Chicago School of Public Health and Chairman of Cancer Prevention Coalition, wrote an interesting article about  how the perfume industry is regulated and the possible health risks associated with fragrances.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/samuel-s-epstein/toxic-chemicals_b_625648.html