Fragrance Allergies and Public Gathterings

I'm highly allergic to fragrances of all kinds, including 'natural' and essential oils. I am daily assaulted by toxic smells and when I ask people not to wear fragrance the typical response is, 'Oh, I'm not wearing any'. Well, if your shampoo, lotion, sunscreen, shower soap, etc. are not fragrance free, you're affecting my breathing, and I ask that you read the ingredients of the products you use and please replace them with safe products. This goes for laundry and fabric softener. Also, when setting up a meeting, please ask folks not to use any products with fragrance. Thanks, sandy2y.

Lately I've noticed my sensitivity to all kinds of "fragrances" although they seem more like "odors". I've been to three shoe stores, and feel assaulted by the smell of plastics and or other chemicals. In the grocery stores, I have a similar reaction in the cleaning product aisles.

Both of my roommates like to use PineSol, and I feel sick from the fumes. I've asked them not to use it, but they think I'm over-reacting. One of my roommates bought several boxes of mothballs for his closet, (one's never enough for an obsessive compulsive). The fumes were overpowering, and yet he didn't seem to notice. I told him that the chemicals that he was breathing were toxic. My cat likes to go in his room, and mothballs are deadly for cats, and probably dogs too.

I've been trying to buy unscented cat litter, and find that mostly every brand is "odor controlled" with other "odors". I even find pine and cedar offensive, and it seems strong for cats.

I'm more sensitive to perfumes that people wear, even if I'm outside, standing close to them. I'm glad to see more public places banning fragrances.

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Posted in reply to the post by Sandy2y:

...I'm highly allergic to fragrances of all kinds, including 'natural' and essential oils....

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Hi Shandi:

Arm & Hammer has fragrance free cat litter. Any product one uses can be had FF, including changing to 'green' housecleaning products. I'm signed up for emails from Seriously Sensitive to Pollution, [email protected] from RadFem Hub. They have a wealth of info. Sounds like you're living in a toxic soup of carcinogens, and it doesn't get better unless you make a change.

Sandy

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Posted in reply to the post by Shandi:

Lately I've noticed my sensitivity to all kinds of "fragrances" although they seem more like "odors". ...

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Hi Sandy

I appreciate your response and information.

I looked up Arm & Hammer fragrance free cat litter, and there were several negative reviews. Some said it doesn't clump, and others said it had an odor. I notice that baking soda isn't the only odor control ingredient, but there's something else identified only as a "formula". It seems that many of these reviewers had used it for years, but thought that it was different than before. I will check into Seriously Sensitive to Pollution.

Thanks again!

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Posted in reply to the post by Sandy2y:

Arm & Hammer has fragrance free cat litter. ...

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We who feel our throats close up when someone walks by drenched in perfume, we who feel nauseous if we dare enter the Cleaning Products aisle in the grocery store, we who suffer migraines if our clothing is washed in scented detergent, we all know that yes, MCS is a Thing.

So, I'm glad we now have a topic for sharing some ideas to make our world a little less toxic to us sensitive types.

Here are some ideas from Invisible Disabilities dot org, for creating Fragrance Free Zones, plus a pretty good explanation of why we need them.

I'm going to print this out to share with my complex's management! Some things suggested, like using natural cleaning products and alternatives to "air fresheners" (and I love the quotation marks around "air fresheners") can save management money as well as save tenants illness.

No. My breathing, my brain fog, my runny nose, make this a health issue just like tobacco smoke.

Sandy

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Posted in reply to the post by creekfeet:

Psst. Me too, regarding sensitivity to fragrances.

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