Fragrances and Asthma / Allergies

@jenniferhunter I once asked my PCP how I could best avoid these situations in advance of an outpatient test I was scheduled to undergo at a local hospital (where I knew the restroms were heavily fragranced). The advice was to call the hospital's Risk Management Dept before the day of the test to request special accommodations. That method worked like a charm! The hospital removed the fragrance canister from one restroom, the ones nearest to the area where I would be. I did the same thing in advance of a surgical procedure, and the hospital was very accommodating. In that situation a CNA assigned to my care, who arrived for her shift freshly showered with a strongly fragranced bath product, was made to switch patient assignments with another CNA. We shouldn't even have to take these steps, but working thru Risk Management ahead of time seems to work to keep us safe. My record at the hospital was permanently flagged regarding my fragrance sensitivity.

Hi Jubilee, I, too, am extremely sensitive to fragrances and other chemical orders because of asthma. I use green products for cleaning and if I am near someone with perfume, I have to move away. And getting near someone who smokes isn't good for me either. Didn't know there was such a thing as a Risk Management Dept in a hospital. Good to know for future reference.

A while back I reached out to the American Lung Association to ask about any programs they might have to create awareness about fragrance sensitivities after reading through their website and not finding anything about this. Fragrances is not even included on their list of triggers in their Healthy Air initiative. I was interested in volunteering to help create awareness about fragrances. However, their response was only a very short and disappointing "thank you for reaching out to the American Lung Association...to make a donation, please use this link". I checked their website again today, and fragrance is still absent from their initiatives and concerns...despite the fact that more fragranced products are on the market than ever before.

@jubilee Kudos to you for advocating for yourself. Asthma is a disability and there are rules about accommodating disabilities. A person can file a legal claim against an employer, etc about not being able to breathe and an employers refusal to provide an accommodation. I guess that's why risk management is involved because the risk is financial to the hospital. I'm glad they had awareness about it because it is a serious problem that is too often overlooked. I have to say I'm disappointed in the American Lung Association's response to your inquiry. It makes me wonder if they are receiving funding from companies involved with fragrances and don't want to loose the revenue. I think the chemicals are public health hazards and should be banned substances. If you don't have asthma now, you can still acquire it from exposure to chemicals, pollution, and respiratory infections. I was recently at Mayo and found out that my asthma is the worse form called E asthma for the eosinophils (white blood cells) that are present in the airways. It's a form of asthma where it is triggered by allergies. I think this would be a great topic on talk radio or a podcast from a medical facility.

@jenniferhunter I stand corrected regarding the absence of information about fragrances and the American Lung Association website information. I looked through their website more closely this morning. It's not easy to trip across but I did find brief mention of fragrances on their employee wellness and at-home pages at https://www.lung.org/support-and-community/corporate-wellness/create-a-lung-healthy-work.html and https://www.lung.org/our-initiatives/healthy-air/indoor/at-home/keep-pollution-out-home.html. The problem remains that a person really has to be intentionally seeking information on their website, or any website...however, the general public that isn't affected by fragrances and other chemicals probably wouldn't likely be motivated to search for information without good reason. I don't recall ever seeing a public service announcement on TV about this, although a PSA might be a more passive way to educate the public. Maybe those of us who are affected buy sensitivities to fragrances and other chemicals need to let the American Lung Association and other interested organizations know that we need their help to get the word out to the general public.

@jubilee I couldn't agree with you more. Thanks for posting the link. You're right. I think most people who don't have fragrance issues would never see that. However, a lot of revenue is generated by fragrance ads on television especially at the holidays and I don't know if networks would be willing to air our concerns in PSA announcements. Perhaps public television or National Public Radio would be more receptive as discussing a public health issue that affects everyone, even if they are unaware. I hope there is research somewhere that could be the basis of a discussion.

@jenniferhunter you are so right...so many ads on network television tout fragranced products contribute to the TV revenue. But thinking about the "how to get the word out" question, after reading your post just now, made the word "celebrity" pop into mind. Parkinson's disease has Michael J. Fox, for example. So I googled "CELEBRITIES WITH ASTHMA" and found a long list at https://getasthmahelp.org/famous-people.aspx. Not sure where to go from there, though.

Today, I thought about all of you who are sensitive to fragrances.
I decided that it was the right time to do some holiday shopping in a large shopping mall (not my favorite thing to do). As luck would have it, I needed to walk thru the cosmetic/perfume department to enter the store, and to exit. I could hardly wait to get away from the overpowering combination of fragrances. I cannot imagine what you have to endure when you are out and about.
Surely, this must also be problematic for the workers who staff those counters.
Thank you for what you are sharing.

@jubilee That was a great idea. I wonder if any of them would join our cause to increase awareness. I guess we should put our heads together and figure out how we could do this, and then ask for support from celebrities and the medical community. There's a lot of celebrities out there marketing their own brand of fragrances too, so I'm sure they won't be in our camp. I remember a Miss America contestant speaking about asthma awareness answering a question, but it was general, and not specific to fragrances. Think about all the walks for breast cancer and Alzheimers, etc. If we can get something like that organized, it could get news coverage.

@rosemarya Yes, you get it. I can't walk through a department store without being affected by fragrance. Sure the overpowering scent is bad enough, but I react badly to it physically. What happens is it makes my airways swell, and then it traps phlegm. I get exhausted because I can't get enough air. I feel chest pain from the accumulated phlegm. I get a horrible headache and my face swells and ears actually turns red from inflammation of my blood vessels from the chemical exposure. This reaction will go on for a few hours, so even using an inhaler at this point helps me breathe, but I'm still suffering with the headache, swelling, and phlegm that my lungs kicked out in trying to protect themselves. I wonder what happens to people exposed to this daily who don't have asthma and what long term health effects they might have from the chemical exposure to their bodies? I think this isn't safe for anyone, and there isn't much regulation about what's put out there for consumers. Fragrances are considered cosmetics with a purpose of making a person more attractive, so they are not regarded as the complex chemical compounds and solvents that they really are. I'm like a canary in a coal mine. I hold my breath if I have to walk through a cloud of fragrances, and I don't go into department stores very often. The longer the exposure time, the worse I will be. We need to keep talking about it. Thanks for listening.