Comments on: Nice Perfume, must you bathe in it?

By: Do your rights trump mine? « Digital immigrant

Do your rights trump mine? « Digital immigrant — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 14:23:10 +0000

[...] read a post about perfume in the workplace and one commentor sums it up nicely: I foresee the same thing happening to fragrance wearers that happened to smokers. At least banning [...]

By: Mr. K

Mr. K — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 16:30:18 +0000

Thanks for the posts. I have known I had a sensitivity to some smells for several years. Ever since my son bought some Febreeze and sprayed everything in his room. Ugh…about drove me out of my own house. I now notice very specifically two distinct odor types. I relate those to smells I have known in the past, Febreeze and insecticide. It can be perfumes, candles, air fresheners or whatever but most often it has one of those distinct odors.
Well I now work in a cubicle enviornment. Guess what, it smells here. As people walk by wearing the perfumes…wham! I am hit with it. In fact, I know when one lady arrives at work. My eyes water, sinuses clog up and the smell…oh my! It is like she just bathed in it before she got out of her car. Nice lady but my goodness.
I really hate that these smells bother me so but I do not know what I can do to alleviate my sensitivity. Probably nothing.
Whoever wrote about Febreeze…thank you because that is a major offender to me. And to think, people believe it smells good?
Only thought I have for those who ask about it in the workplace and how to handle it…..file a workers compensation claim. File it for the doctors visit, file it for the missed days of work due to the migranes, file it for surgeries etc….once businesses start having to spend $$$, you will then have their full attention to the matter.
anyways…..her’s smellin ya comin

By: Kathy

Kathy — Thu, 21 May 2009 20:58:55 +0000

I too have problems with fragrance in office situations, department stores and grocery stores. Besides the fact that virtually all personal care products have fragrance in them, fragrance is also in virtually all cleaning products. Makes you wonder how they really smell if they did not have the fragrance in them.
Nowadays, most fragrance is petro-chemical based. I have been in a grocery store and passed bounce infused with Febreze display, I passed it the first time and immediately had a sharp intense pain sensation of a knife sticking into my forehead. I looked around for the offending person that would wear such a smell and shrugged and kept on going. I inadvertantly walked past the display again (with exactly the same reaction) and finally realized that, that was what was causing the problem. It was soooo vile and here the store had plunked it right in the midst of the food section. I purposely avoid the laundry aisle and have not been able to go down one for more than 20 years.

I foresee the same thing happening to fragrance wearers that happened to smokers. At least banning the use in the workplace and using natural deoderizers (baking soda, etc.) and fragrance free cleaning products. Unfortunately we are the ones who are in the forefront of this revolution similar to the suffragettes who fought for the right for women to vote.

Kathy D.

By: Tami

Tami — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 00:57:19 +0000

For several years I thought I was just a wimp and hated myself for being the way I am! 20 years ago I wore cologn and could have caused problems for others (I hope not). I too work in an office in a cube and I am getting to the place I TASTE like alchol from the perfumes the entire week. It does not go way when I get home. Usually on the weekend I don’ notice it. I too get terrible headaches, my eyes burn, my throat burns and my ears stop up. I have a letter from my allergist stating I have Vasomotor Rhinitis and gave it to HR. They have been very nice to me and even bought a air purifier for a 8×8 room that did not take the scents away. I don’t know what else to do. I actually loose sleep thinking about this and dreading to go to work. If I could afford to quit I would but I need health insurance. I just had sinus surgery from all the sinus infection I’ve had and am getting immune to antibotics because I’m on them every 6 to 8 wks for sinus infections (and I’ve not had a cold for a long time!) WHAT CAN WE DO TO MAKE THE WORK PLACE SCENT FREE? The state of Ohio is now SMOKE FREE. I don’t see much difference.

By: Lynn

Lynn — Sat, 14 Mar 2009 03:01:02 +0000

Very literally, one single waft of some fragrances can inflict in less than 2 seconds, a migrain that lasts up to 3 days. (A few culprits: Gain Laundry detergent, most “mountain burst”,”freshscent” fabric softeners, springfresh cleaners, all bounce sheets, and the majority of perfumes)

I have to run for an exit immediately, grabbing a water bottle and hoping I won’t start vomiting, and that it will be a “just the rest of the day” headache. (But guaranteed there will be a headache)

Then, when is it safe to return? Not when we can still taste the perfume 40 minutes after the wearer has left…Please. In simplest terms, it should be an assault charge to cause someone else this type of suffering.

By: Betty Bridges

Betty Bridges — Mon, 11 Feb 2008 19:52:25 +0000

I developed respiratory sensitization to a common fragrance chemical in 1988. Unlke the situation here, I simply had no choice but to stop working as nurse. Just a whiff of an offending product would cause severe constriction of my airways. I started researching information and was astounded to learn that ingredients in fragrance do not have to be revealed. Even after determining the chemical I was allergic to (took 8 years) it still did not help avoid exposures. Even those willing to accommodate me had no way of knowing what products they could use.

There is much more information available now, though not as much awareness as you would think. Fragrance is a frequent trigger for migraines and asthma. Some fragrance chemicals have carcinogenic effects, cross the placental barrier, are present in breast milk, and persist in the environment. People have no clue what they are bathing in.