This is an excerpt from an article on Web MD (http://www.webmd.com/allergies/features/fragrance-allergies-a-sensory-assault?page=4)
"Being forced to breathe in others' fragrance choices is a lot like being forced to breathe in secondhand smoke," Dalton tells WebMD. "It's a loss of control over your personal environment, and for some it can have serious personal health consequences."
And that is precisely the logic behind several recent legal actions aimed at cleaning up our personal air space.
- In July 2007, a government worker from Detroit sued her employers under the Americans With Disabilities Act for what her lawsuit claims is "fragrance toxicity" in the workplace. Her claim: Exposures to fragrances also means increased exposure to chemical neurotoxins that adversely impact brain function. The suit is pending.
- In the fall of 2007, a group of students from California State University, Stanislaus, became so concerned about these same chemical exposures they asked campus officials to institute a fragrance-free policy. Their request cited headaches, nausea, and inability to concentrate, all caused by overpowering fragrance use among some students and faculty. The students are waiting for the administration's decision.
- Workers in the Portland, Ore., Bureau of Emergency Communications were recently banned from wearing fragrances under what has become one of the nation's first government workplace "fragrance-free" policies. Portland State University followed suit, and now similar programs are in place at Cecil College in Maryland."
A Votre Sante (Here's To Your Health), Alix
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