(originally published April 2007, updated October 2009)
I admit it; I was an air freshener abuser - big time. My cleaning cupboard had
more air freshener varieties than you can poke a stick at. But in fooling my
nose, I was also poisoning myself and the wider environment. There are
certainly greener ways to keep nasty smells at bay.
The majority of air fresheners you buy in the supermarket do not destroy
odors, but simply mask them. They create a coating on your nasal membranes
that fool your brain into thinking that the smell has gone. As for those air
fresheners that claim to kill bacteria, our bacteria paranoia is leading us to
kill good bacteria while creating strains of drug resistant bad bacteria.
While anti-bacterial air fresheners have their place, they should really be
limited to hospital environments in most cases.
Air fresheners - chemical cocktails
Many commercially air fresheners contain a cocktail of toxic chemicals that
aren't healthy for us or the environment. Some of the chemicals you may find:
Formaldehyde - known carcinogen
Phenol - skin and nervous system irritant
Petroleum distillates such as butane and propane
Methylformamide - Organ system toxicity, cancer, developmental/reproductive toxicity
Butanoic acid - Neurotoxicity, Endocrine disruption, Organ system toxicity
Nitro- and polycyclic musks - linked to cancer, hormone disruption
.. and the list goes on.
I've read that up to 3000 synthetic chemical ingredients are used by the
air freshener industry.
One of the other problems of these air fresheners is that these toxic
chemicals accumulate in carpet over time, which is particularly of concern to
parents with young children. Being rather sticky, the chemicals also wind up
on our shoes and feet to be taken into the outside environment where they wind
up in soil.
Added to all that, there's the non-recyclable or reusable packaging of
these products - millions of spray cans and plastic bottles hitting our
landfills each year; not to mention the production of chemical ingredients and
the packaging.
A recent trend in air fresheners are the 24/7 products that spray
automatically every X minutes - whether it's needed or not. Based on the
chemical cocktail described above, I feel these are terrible products that
should be pulled from the market.
Something else you should know about air fresheners is that we tend to
build up a tolerance to them. We get used to the smell and start using more to
get that same olfactory "kick". If you really feel the need to use
these products, try rotating the fragrances you use regularly.
The whole air freshener product life-cycle is an environmental nightmare.
Green commercial air fresheners
Thankfully, some manufacturers are responding to consumer concerns regarding
the health and environmental issues associated with these products and
commercial "green" air fresheners can be purchased. Still, be wary
of these products - a common trick companies play is to say something along
the lines of "contains natural pine scent", which it may well do -
but what about the other ingredients? Check the labels and if the label is
unclear, contact the company for a complete ingredient list.
Alternatively, you can try search for the product's MSDS online. An MSDS is
a Materials Safety Data Sheet. These *usually* contain more information than
what you'll find listed on a product's packaging and may also include
toxicological and environmental data.
Run a search on Google like so:
product MSDS
Where "product" is the name of the air freshener.
Armed with that information, you can then also use online databases such as
Skin Deep to find out
the potential effects of the chemicals.
Green home-brewed alternatives
Here are a few tips for greener ways to help keep your home smelling fresh.
Of course, be cautious of how you use some of these ideas if you have young
children or pets scurrying around the house.
- A simple one, but improving air circulation outside to inside will do
wonders. Open windows when you can.
- A tablespoon of salt in a half an orange with the flesh scooped out. I'm
told this is a good one for the toilet.
- 1 to 2 teaspoons natural vanilla extract placed in small containers
around your home
- Pot pourri made from lavender, roses or whatever scented plants and
flowers you may have in your garden.
- Use baking soda to soak up acidic odors; also great for ash trays
- Baking soda can also be used as a spray - one teaspoon dissolved in cup of
water and then sprayed as a fine mist.
- Use vinegar to neutralize
alkaline odors. Yes, vinegar is a little
smelly itself to start off with, but the initial pong quickly fades.
- A couple of drops of essential oil in an atomizer/mister full of water
sprayed around (bear in mind this only masks the smell rather than
neutralizing it)
- A couple of drops of essential oil on a cotton ball place in
inconspicuous places around a room
- Placing citrus fruit or cinnamon in a pot with water and simmer gently
(rather energy resource intensive though)
- If you have extraction fans in the kitchen or toilet, ensure the screens
are kept clean. If you haven't cleaned yours for a while, try it out and I
guarantee the difference will amaze you.
- Treating the cause rather than the symptom is always a preferred
strategy. For example, pet bedding can create an awful stink and while it may
not be viable to wash it every week, simply putting it out in the sun
regularly and giving it a good shake will help.
Have any tips or recipes for a more natural air freshener? Please share
your ideas below!
