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Scented products cause indoor air pollution on par with car exhaust
- userbinator 2y ago...and so do perfumes, most likely.
- MrMcCall 2y agoAnd methanol is not good for anyone, in any measure. I'm pretty sure that's why, 100 years ago, there were so many blues folks with names like "Blind Lemon Jefferson" -- they had drunk bad hooch that got too much methanol instead of ethanol. Blindness is direct side effect of methanol poisoning.
- InitialLastName 2y ago> I'm pretty sure that's why, 100 years ago, there were so many blues folks with names like "Blind Lemon Jefferson" Also because in a predominantly agricultural society, music was one of very few self-sustaining pursuits for a blind (or otherwise unsuited to farm work) person. Looking through the 'blind' names in [0] most were either born blind or had an alternate explanation (usually accidents) for their blindness. [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_nicknames_of_blues_musicians https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_nicknames_of_blues_mus...
- MrMcCall 2y agoThanks!
- xnx 2y agoOn average, we inhale 20 lbs of air per day. This is greater by weight than the food or water we consume in a day. We should be paying a lot more attention to air quality.
- BugsJustFindMe 2y ago[flagged]
- worik 2y ago[flagged]
- MathMonkeyMan 2y agoA rule of thumb is that if you paid sales tax for it, it's probably not food. Of course "not food" is mostly fine.
- kevin_thibedeau 2y agoSome states tax all food.
- jameshart 2y agoEverything in New Hampshire is food
- zdragnar 2y agoNot a great rule of thumb as every state and municipality is different in this regard. Many places will have different rates for raw food, prepared to go / delivery, and prepared for on-site consumption. https://www.cpapracticeadvisor.com/2024/08/26/109453/109453/ https://www.cpapracticeadvisor.com/2024/08/26/109453/109453/
- Cyphase 2y agoCalifornia logic, I feel you.
- protocolture 2y ago[flagged]
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- autoexec 2y ago> But have you thought about how you’re contributing to air pollution inside of where you live by using seemingly innocuous products like scented, non-combustible candles? What is a non-combustible candle? Searching for "flame-free candle" just gives results for fake LED ones. The rest of the article talks about "scented wax melts" are they the same?
- CharlesW 2y agoI believe this is a strange way to refer to wickless candles, which are used with candle warmers.
- MrMcCall 2y agoYeah, I stopped going to houses that ran those plug-in diffusers. The rule is: don't put it into your lungs or onto your skin if you wouldn't put it into your mouth. Those people are just paying people to poison them, however slowly.
- sethammons 2y agoMost (all?) "essential oil" products, used in diffusers, are edible. I like the peppermint oil as a breath freshener.
- MrMcCall 2y agoMy dumbass Republican family members don't use the "essential oil" ones -- they use whatever cheap corporate bullshit from Glade or whoever. It's good to know, however, that non-chemical ones are available. Thanks.
- marcosdumay 2y agoProbably, those wick-only stuff that people put one end in an oil, and let it evaporate though the body.
- porphyra 2y agoI wonder just how bad those essential oil diffusers are, compared with, say, smoking, laser printers, and tyre microplastics.
- huang_chung 2y agoMy plan to sell flavoured printer toner has been foiled. Who would not want their print out to smell like fresh apple pie?
- JadeNB 2y ago> My plan to sell flavoured printer toner has been foiled. > Who would not want their print out to smell like fresh apple pie? I know it's a joke, but surely flavoured printer toner would taste like fresh apple pie?
- vidarh 2y agoGives a very different meaning to eating your words.
- jedbrooke 2y agoI mean scented markers are a thing (or are they gone now because they’re “too toxic”?) so scented (or flavored) printer toner doesn’t seem too far fetched and yes I am one of those people who enjoyed the smell of freshly laser printed pages
- wongarsu 2y agoAlso scented paper Maybe offer unique toner scents to companies as part of their brand identity. Imagine all letters from Jack Wolfskin smelling like pine cones, or the acceptance letter from a surf school smelling like the ocean.
- DonHopkins 2y agoMaybe you're not old enough to have cultivated a taste for (or addiction to) the smell of fresh ditto printed pages.
- deleted 2y ago[deleted]
- Bloating 2y agoOr burning CPAP machines: https://www.apneaboard.com/forums/Thread-ResMed-AirSense-10-Burn-Smell https://www.apneaboard.com/forums/Thread-ResMed-AirSense-10-...
- toddmorey 2y agoI wonder about the inline air fragrance systems used by pretty much every hotel these days to produce a "signature scent".
- alabastervlog 2y agoThese must be nicer hotels than any of the ones I’ve ever been to…
- kstrauser 2y agoThe signature scent of Motel 6 is leftover Long John Silvers and Waffle House.
- drusenko 2y agoI am having a hard time reconciling the claim in the post headline with common sense. One frustrating aspect to the study is that it was hard to determine whether they are comparing like for like per unit time. They say the “operation of a gas stove” and “running a generator” — but for how long? It doesn’t seem like they tested each of these things under similar conditions in their lab but rather relied on other studies for that data. Figure 2(b) right does seem to measure this but they haven’t labeled the chart with clear labels and the description is a bit ambiguous. After reading the study, I think the issue is that the claim it is making is slightly different than the one in the headline. They are measuring VOC and ~PM2.5 pollutants, but gas engines (and gas stoves presumably as well) produce other pollutants like CO, which is what kills you of you run a gas generator indoors.
- Havoc 2y agoIt’s likely selective factors being measured but on some metric the top engines produce outputs cleaner than air going in so I don’t think it’s all that improbable
- timewizard 2y ago> CO, which is what kills you of you run a gas generator indoors. That's the proximate cause. > They are measuring VOC and ~PM2.5 pollutants Which aren't good for your lungs long term. > the claim in the post headline with common sense. If you can smell it, it's because little particles of it are in the air, so your scented products necessarily put PM of some size into your home. In other words you are polluting your home merely to produce an olfactory sensation. The lack of common sense in the market for these products has always baffled me.
- MrMcCall 2y agoWell said. I'm not the first to say it, but: common sense ain't so common. Here's some recommendations from our household, related to my previous battles with mold-related illness: RabbitAir hepa-level air purifiers. Pricey, but worth it. Dr. Bronner's soaps. We use them for showering, washing hands and dishes. No dishwasher here; our son has taken responsibility for it, in exchange for our fascilitating his chess-oriented lifestyle. 7th Generation laundry detergent. Unfortunately, we have to use a public laundramat, so we're getting some of the polluted stuff washing through the machines' detergent/softener resevoirs, but the poor have no choice. We keep the windows closed during rush hour timeframes, and I keep watch on wind directions and know where the fresh air comes from. We also try to get out into green space away from traffic and get a walk in or just let the teens knock the soccer ball around a bit.
- seabass-labrax 2y agoI fully support research like this, because it's always good to get proper data about phenomena. However, I can't help feeling that the results are unsurprising: how could you smell the scented candles if they weren't producing nanoparticles? Surely the existence or abundance of these nanoparticles was never in question?
- protocolture 2y agoThis was my initial thought too. Like if I grow a bunch of nice smelling flowers, and crack open a window during the spring. Am I worse or better off than purchasing a scented candle. Should we as a species stop nice smelling things entirely.
- alabastervlog 2y agoImagine how much “air pollution” one inhales when taking a big whiff of a nice curry.
- bloomingeek 2y agoDon't you mean an hour after consuming said curry? :)
- deleted 2y ago[deleted]
- imp0cat 2y agoActually, it's the cooking that pollutes your indoor air the most. Once the food is on the table, most of the damage is already done.
- readthenotes1 2y agoThe sub-species that I belong to does stop smelling those nice things entirely as my nose clogs up, eyes water, and convulsions known to many as "sneezing" take over my body.
- theodric 2y agoI don't understand why you'd want anything in your house to release smells independently of delivering some essential function. I find it distracting at best, and headache-inducing at worst. Cosmetic products are particularly offensive. Let this study serve as a call to eliminate stinky products!
- jjk166 2y agoGenerally the "pleasant" odor is meant to cover up some combination of "unpleasant" odors. It's nice when the area around a liter box doesn't smell like cat piss.
- intreble 2y agoI agree wholeheartedly. The more unnatural the scent the more it impacts me. Cinnamon is tolerable but as we trend towards “beach day bonfire” it creates a feeling in my olfactory system similar to tasting something sickly sweet. I think it ties back to my brain smelling what I expect to be eating.
- jmward01 2y agoThe challenge with any article like this is that the correlated impact on health outcomes is always implied in the article but is rarely studied as part of the research cited. Just because a is bad and b has a property similar to a that doesn't imply b has the same harmful impacts as a. I really wish articles would limit big headlines like this unless the research cited was directly comparing mortality and health outcomes directly. If the study this article was based on came to the conclusion that 'average household aerosol use has a similar associated mortality risk as average city car pollution' then the title could have been warranted but instead we got a bit of click-bait. A slightly better title could have been 'Scented products cause unexpected levels of indoor air pollution'. I'd even argue 'Scented products cause concerning levels of indoor air pollution' is a reasonable title since it is worth our concern and further study.
- 7thaccount 2y agoNot much to add here other than as someone with terrible allergies and asthma, the constant need for plugin air fresheners, scented candles, scented laundry detergent, and scented lotions, perfumes, febreeze, and scented deodorant drives me crazy. I don't think normal folks realize how they're breathing in straight chemicals all day.
- TylerE 2y agoOne of the reasons I still mask. An N95, while not perfect (an N100 with a carbon layer would be the real ticket), blocks a lot of the common scents. Things like those dangly air fresheners every ride share driver has about 5 of.
- schiffern 2y agoSad how masking has become such a bugbear[1] that this eminently sensible and practical solution is somehow controversial. [1 ] https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/bugbear https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/bugbear
- 7thaccount 2y ago
- skwb 2y agoCompletely off topic to the actual article - but... I really get irked a lot by seeing (overly obvious) ai generated images being used for stock photos. One of the reasons my wife and I still subscribe to a couple of newspapers is that the photography helps bring to life the story being told. Why where these photos taken and how do they impact the story. You don't get that same visceral emotional reaction with low quality cartoon images.
- deleted 2y ago[deleted]
- caminanteblanco 2y agoDoes anyone have any clue what the point of "scentless wax melts" even is? Like isn't the scent the whole point of the product?
- forgetfreeman 2y agoThe point is to make money. Any notional utility by the consumer is a byproduct.
- KennyBlanken 2y agoAs is explained in the research paper, they are marketed as (or considered by the public to be) safer than candles because they don't involve combustion. They show that the same amount/type of particles are nearly the same between the two.
- neilv 2y agoWhen I saw the title, I half-expected it to be this researcher: https://www.drsteinemann.com/ https://www.drsteinemann.com/ I found her work years ago, when I had a suspicion of why I'd get headaches while folding laundry. A Web search turned up her papers, I stopped using dryer sheets and scented laundry detergent, and laundry-folding headaches stopped immediately. Separately, it turned out a bunch of people and pets who had windows near the laundry room vents of my large condo building would get headaches and breathing problems from the exhaust. The complaints stopped down after most residents stopped using scented laundry products. Though IIUC, the dryer exhaust can still contain some nasties, just not as much as before.
- culopatin 2y agoRandom smells can trigger headaches for me too. When I was little it was Fanta or Crush, something about the orange. Now I found the Trader Joe’s blood orange tea has the same scent and immediately triggers something. Diesel exhaust is another one, but that’s not just a scent. Surprisingly anything else motor related is fine. I’ve been soaked in brake cleaner and race fuel and it hasn’t been a problem.
- aaron695 2y ago[dead]
- Ekaros 2y agoWhen you get down to basics it is all about conservation of mass. Nearly all of the stuff in these products have to end somewhere. So if you have candle or air freshener and it "disappears" with use. It must go to air you breath and then well surfaces and so on. Meaning that well whatever is in them might get inhaled. Or improperly burned...
- instagib 2y agoIs 30 minutes too much to handle, to burn an indoor candle? behind one door and up one floor. two air handlers blowing with air purifiers of four. Found two filters sooty and the cpap tasted like campfire booty.
- shellfishgene 2y ago"A forest is a pristine environment..." Hmm, is that really so? The forest air is also full of pollen, fungal spores, viruses and bacteria, all kinds of volatile organic molecules and so on. The terpenes mentioned as problematic come from conifers after all.
- lm28469 2y agoThings we had hundreds millions of years to evolve with and adapt too... now we have brake pad dust and haribo strawberry flavored candles
- Cthulhu_ 2y agoWould the world be a better place if we had brake pad dust flavored candies? I like to believe so.
- zemvpferreira 2y agoI'm pretty allergic to all those things so I'm going to disagree with your implied preference and take the haribo and brake pad dust all day.
- jjk166 2y agoThere weren't many North American conifers on the African savannah when humans were evolving, and our ancestors' reproductive success was not generally affected by air quality. We haven't evolved immunity to things like volcanic gasses which have been around forever. Many plants deliberately evolved to produce toxins. A few of these we find delicious specifically because we did not co-evolve with those plants. Natural = safe is a bad heuristic.
- amluto 2y agoNot just conifers. In Los Angeles, liquidambar trees are planted all over for autumn color, and it turns out that they’re an enormous contributor to smog formation.
- hinkley 2y ago
- wyclif 2y agoI don't have any scented products in my house. Ventilation is key, especially in common areas like the living room. You should open the window occasionally even in the dead of winter to help circulate the air. Some other things I do are regular vacuuming and dusting; you might be surprised how effective this can be in freshening the air naturally. Dust can trap odors and make a room smell stale if not removed often. It also helps to clean soft surfaces frequently, because fabric traps odors. Abundant houseplants help naturally purify the air. Activated charcoal in discreet places absorbs odors without adding any scent. Unscented products like vinegar or baking soda work well for carpet and upholstery (the vinegar smell dissipates quickly).
- dkdbejwi383 2y ago> Abundant houseplants help naturally purify the air. apparently the effect is grossly overstated. You'd need to cram the place (in all dimensions) so tightly with plants there'd be no room for humans or furniture of any kind for any appreciable difference.
- tpxl 2y agoGiven that the planet is not crammed in all dimensions so tightly there'd be no room for humans, and yet we have fresh air outside, I'm doubting your statement a bit.
- deleted 2y ago[deleted]
- ctrlp 2y agoI cannot wait for the day when people stop scenting their homes and offices with scented products. They smell like chemicals and cause migraines in some people. If you're doing this, please please stop.
- chakintosh 2y agoMy air purifier was instantly showing red and running at max fan speed, it took me a while to realize that the incense i ignited is causing it to detect the extra particles in the air and spin up. Now the question is whether this is a limitation in air purifiers, their inability to distinguish inert and harmless particles from harmless ones, because all they do currently is just detect particles, not their nature.
- mrtesthah 2y agoWhat makes you think soot from incense is “harmless”?
- preinheimer 2y agoHow sure are you that it's harmless? Campfire smoke is pretty bad for your lungs.
- exabrial 2y agoYeah... I understand the intent here, but what people are going to hear is "oh car exhaust isn't that bad then".
- javier_e06 2y agoWhen we had the Canada fires months ago I bought a air quality sensor that measures among other things CO2. Right now shows 548 PPM which means good. I once lit up one of those scented candles and the sensor fire up to over 1200 PPM. It had a wooden wick. I think that was one of the reasons.
- kylehotchkiss 2y agoI use essential oils in water in an ultrasonic diffuser. Does that reduce the toxicity at all? Is the issue here mostly wax?
- an_aparallel 2y agoThe biggest and more recent phenomena is the (at least in Sydney, Australia), the popularity of ambroxan(?) laced perfume. You can't walk into a lunchroom or walk down the street without being literally assaulted by the stuff. I don't know what perfume makers are thinking, but this stuff makes my day unbearable at times. I guess a chemical with super strength sillage works in the market...