Serving Size: 4.92 MB Servings Per Container: 1 In Your Body On Your Body For Your Home For Your Family Seeking Medical Treatment How to Detoxify Your Body Guide to Symptoms A Healthy House Values, Vision & Mission Background & History Staff & Advisors News & Upcoming Events Join Our Mailing List Contact Us Recommended Resources Index of Terms Works Cited This product contains 100% natural ingredients. Back to Index of Terms The product Air Fresheners is in the following categories: Home Decor Air Fresheners CHEMICALS CONTAINED: Fresh air is a good thing, right? Conventional air “fresheners” may actually do the opposite, however, by adding potentially toxic or at least irritating chemicals to indoor air. Researchers have identified many chemicals in air fresheners with known toxicity, including toluene, limonene, and methoxybenzaldehyde. HEALTH CONCERNS: Researchers in one study observed that emissions from a common solid air freshener caused negative health effects in mice, from irritation of the eyes, nose, throat, and respiratory tract, to asthma-like reactions, to neurological effects. These effects were seen at levels comparable to what humans would experience when using the air freshener. Researchers even simulated emissions of the air freshener in a room and observed the same effects in mice. TIPS & ALTERNATIVES: We feel that the best way to freshen the air in a room is to add air to it that’s actually fresh. That means opening the window. We recommend opening the windows in your house for at least a half-hour a day – even in the winter. Not only will that get odors out of the room, but it will get other contributors to poor indoor air quality out too. (Remember that the EPA estimates that indoor air pollution is 3 – 5 times greater than outdoor air pollution.) But if you really want to make the air in your house smell a certain way, you can use non-aerosol room sprays made from plant-based ingredients, herbal potpourri, or essential oils in a diffuser. You can also simmer water and scented objects from nature (pine boughs, cinnamon sticks, orange peels, etc.) in a saucepan on your stove. (Only do this while you’re home and can keep an eye on the stove!). [By the way, you can also use the non-aerosol sprays or do the “open window trick” in your car, instead of using those little tree or candle shaped fresheners on a string.] Back to Index of Terms