Your Favourite Perfumes May Be Polluting the Planet: What Science Reveals

Team L&M

Do you love perfumes? Who doesn’t? All of us do. But before you indulge in these luxuries, be careful. Those of you who are in the science stream would know that all these are chemical compounds. And, chemicals impact the environment in some way or the other.

A study, published in journal Science of The Total Environment, reveales that the chemicals present in perfumes contaminate the environment. Researchers conducted the study in the canals of Venice.

Researchers found traces of perfumes in the canals, both in the inner city as well as outer city areas. The concentration of perfume molecules were found to be up to 500 times higher in the inner city canals.

• Perfumes are present not just in scents and deodorants. These are also present in
• soaps
• detergents
• shampoos
• moisturisers
• creams
• fresheners
• room deodorisers fabric softeners
• laundry detergents
• candles etc and many other personal hygiene products that we use daily.

Wastewater Treatment Falls Short

The samples collected during low tide showed concentrations comparable to untreated wastewater. This confims that fragrances continuously flow into Venice’s canals during both high and low tide.

This suggests that Venice’s existing wastewater treatment system is insufficient. The system treats wastewater through biological tanks before releasing it directly into the canals, but it does not effectively lower the concentration of these molecules.

Some of the most common chemicals in perfumes are ethanol, acetaldehyde, benzaldehyde, benzyl acetate, a-pinene, acetone, benzyl alcohol, ethyl acetate, linalool, a-terpinene, methylene chloride, styrene oxide, dimenthyl sulphate, a-terpineol, camphor, and limonene.

Manufacturers do not need to list these ingredients on product labels or disclose the specific ingredients classified as “fragrance” to regulatory authorities because trade secret protections shield them.

Some of these chemicals cause irritability, mental vagueness, muscle pain, asthma, bloating, joint aches, sinus pain, fatigue, sore throat, eye irritation, gastrointestinal problems, laryngitis, headaches, dizziness, swollen lymph nodes, spikes in blood pressure, coughing, and burning or itching skin irritations.