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"Almost from the moment of our arrival on the planet, we humans have been obsessed with improving the package we came in. Not much has changed over the centuries. Without giving it a second thought, we diligently spritz, spray, paint and powder, blissfully unaware that our cosmetic and personal-care products expose us to more than 200 synthetic chemicals a day – many of which can cause allergic reactions, irritate your skin, affect your nervous and reproductive systems, even cause cancer." Lifetime
Fitness.com |
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As I have noted on a previous page, fragrance in body products was once made of natural ingredients from flowers, roots, bark, herbs etc. Today it bears little resemblance to that of yesteryear, except that they both have an odor. Synthetic chemicals are what mostly comprise today's scents. It is in perfume, lotions, cosmetics, diapers, baby products, aftershave, soap, shampoo, conditioner, hair gel, deodorant/antiperspirant, household cleaning products, dish detergent, laundry detergent, fabric softeners, even garbage bags! And the list goes on. By the time people clean their homes, get themselves ready for the day, do the laundry, wash the dishes, they are living in such a complex soup of chemicals, little wonder more and more people are contracting asthma, ADD (even in adults), and so many conditions we never heard of years ago. |
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Bonnie's Story "In my twenties I wore perfume. Often at coffee break I'd have to go and wash the fragrance off, because my stomach was upset. I was making the connection.However, I'd be right back at it the next day wearing it on my ankles instead of behind my ears, where I could smell it! I didn't know anything about environmental and chemical sensitivities. I was born on a farm of sturdy heritage! Even today my father exclaims that "none of you kids had allergies when you were little, what happened to you"? “Well Dad, maybe that year I spent in a wheelchair with a kidney disease was the beginning!” |
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Knowing that the kidneys are the blood filtration system for our bodies, it could have been the chemicals that we used that filled the barn when we sprayed the horses down so the flies wouldn't bother them! “Or, was it the orange pop we were allowed to have because it was orange? Hmmm, maybe it was the Cheer our clothes were washed in? I know, maybe it was the cigarette smoke that filled our house?! I can't forget the floral sprays for the bathroom and cigarette smoke!” Maybe it was all of it. It is called ‘total load
or the full cup syndrome’. |
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My life was like any other, or so I thought. Then one day I took my son, age 6, to his final piano lesson at the conservatory. We picked up a lovely bouquet of flowers for the teacher on the way, their fragrance filling the car. We presented the assortment along with our thanks to the teacher, and then found my son couldn't tell his left hand from his right when he sat down to play. Hmmm. Memories started flooding my brain.- upset stomach when I wore fragrance behind my ears. A year earlier, when we were in Mexico and my husband had just washed his hair with Pert shampoo. He was expected at the neighbor's motorhome to finalize our afternoon plans with them. She took one whiff of his freshly washed hair, the fragrance wafting, and within a minute she was on oxygen |
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WOW, is that what the flowers did it to my son? It was around that time that I started going to allergy support groups, to learn about what had happened to me and what was happening to my son. I soon cleared all the cleaning supplies out of my house, changed our soap, shampoo, laundry supplies, etc. to those without fragrance and chemicals. It was then that I noticed the rest of the world with all its fragrance! BANG! I could smell laundry sheets, plug in deodorizers, shampoo, underarm deodorant, and ah – the popular brands of soap killed me, especially the pink stuff in public bathrooms, skin lotions, hairspray, hair conditioners, marking pens, kitty litter, essential oils, candles, fabric softeners, plastic bags. The list goes on and on, toxic chemicals masquerading as fragrance, inhaled and absorbed. As fragrance chemicals can be absorbed, inhaled or ingested, they can modify brain blood flow, alter blood pressure, pulse and mood, trigger migraine headaches, etc. And – oh yes - 95% of the chemicals used in fragrances are synthetic compounds derived from petroleum, which may react with other airborne chemicals! I could smell everyone! For people who are chemically injured, fragrance exposures may be debilitating or even life-threatening. For everyone, exposure to fragrance chemicals adds to their "total body load" of synthetic chemicals which can greatly increase the chance of developing health problems. Today I'm much better than I use to be. My head doesn't ache anymore, mostly I don't lose my ability to be able to think clearly, lose my voice or feel my lungs are in a vise. Luciano Pavarotti had a clause in his personal appearance contracts that said there must be no distinct smells anywhere near him. (Providence Journal 4/7/2001) Mostly, I just try to move to another seat." Bonnie Reid is a Certified Practitioner of Lymphatic Detoxification in Victoria, British Columbia |
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There is some really good information at these sites. Check them out. Scents
Are Not What They Seem Facts
About Perfume Fragrance:
Emerging Health and Environmental Concerns Scent
Research Chemical
Sensitivities and Perfume Fragrance
Chemicals as Toxic Substances Common
Chemicals Found in Perfumed Products The
Work of Julia Kendall A
Good Long Look No
Scents Please! |
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