Do you own a car? If so, you probably want your car to constantly smell fresh and clean all the time. After all, we all want a hygienic environment that will give us comfort and peace of mind. Aside from washing your car regularly, one way that you can make your car smell fresh is through using car fresheners. Almost 98% of Americans love to use car fresheners, making it one of the most in-demand car commodities. Is this sounds like you?
Health Hazards of Car Fresheners
Because car fresheners make cars smell good and fresh, most users ignores these product’s potential health effects. Natural Resources Defense Council reports that genetic disorders are one hidden side effects of these products, which is primarily due to harmful chemicals that these products are using.
Other conditions that are linked to car fresheners or air fresheners in general includes breathing difficulties, chest pains, allergic reactions, weak immune system, headache, dizziness, nervous system diseases, cancer and many others. Symptoms arises because of unknown poisoning effects of different chemical ingredients of these products.
What’s more alarming is that, the toxic chemicals used in most car fresheners are unregulated by the government because it isn’t required. This means that some products are using harmful ingredients excessively to make their products appealing and marketable. Chemicals such as phthalates, dichlorobenzene and other synthetic fragrances and deodorizers.
Synthetic fragrances such as benzene and aldehydes are known carcinogens which can cause cancers. Phthalates can damage your hormones which constitutes to genetic disorders such as birth defects. So if you are pregnant or you have children, better think twice if you want to use car fresheners.
How Car Fresheners Affect the Body
Long-term exposure to harmful chemicals of car fresheners are said to accumulate in the fatty tissues over time. So the more these chemicals are stored inside your body, the higher the risk you have. You can be affected by these chemicals by inhaling it when you are inside the car. So you can feel the effect even if you are not actually consuming the harmful ingredients. The first risk that you can get though are lung complications.
What You Should Do
It is practically up to you if you still want to use synthetic car fresheners that are made from harmful chemicals or ingredients. If there are herbal products that were made specifically as air fresheners, then We suggest that you use these products instead.
Reference:
www.nrdc.org
