healthbriefs
Washday Woes: Scented Products Pollute the Air S
ome scents make no sense for personal or planetary health. Using scented laundry products can release harmful—even carcinogenic—pollutants into the air, report University of Washington researchers. Their findings, published online in the journal Air Quality, Atmosphere and Health, show that air vented from machines using the top-selling, scented, liquid laundry detergent and dryer sheet contains hazardous chemicals.
When researchers analyzed captured gases from dryer vent fumes after par- ticipating households ran regular laundry cycles using liquid laundry detergent and a leading brand of scented dryer sheets, they found more than 25 volatile organic compounds, including seven dangerous air pollutants. Of those, two chemicals— acetaldehyde and benzene—are classified by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency as carcinogens, with no established safe exposure level. Benzene is linked to leukemia and other blood cancers, according to the American Cancer Society, and studies have shown that acetaldehyde can cause nasal and throat cancer in animals.
“This is an interesting source of pollution, because emissions from dryer vents are essentially unregulated,” says lead author Anne Steinemann, Ph.D., professor of civil and environmental engineering and of public affairs. “If they are coming out of a smokestack or tail pipe, they are regulated—but if they’re coming out of a dryer vent, they are not.”
The Phthalates–Diabetes Connection
W
hat we place on our skin might increase the risk for diabetes, based on findings by researchers at Uppsala University, in Sweden. They noted a connection between phthalates found in cosmetics and plastics and the risk of seniors developing diabetes; even a modest increase in circulating blood levels of such chemicals doubled their risk. Monica Lind, associate professor of environ- mental medicine at the Section for Occupational
and Environmental Medicine, and Dr. Lars Lind, professor of medicine, analyzed new information from a study that involved more than 1,000 70-year-old men and women in Uppsala. The participants submitted blood samples for analysis of various environmental toxins, including several substances formed when the body breaks down phthalates. Even after adjusting for obesity, blood lipids, smoking and exercise habits, the researchers saw a definite connection between blood levels of some of the phthalates and an increased prevalence of diabetes. The Linds also found that certain phthalates were associated with disrupted insulin production in the pancreas.
Most people come into daily contact with phthalates. These chemicals are commonly used as softening agents in plastics and as carriers of fragrances in cos- metics, personal care products, air fresheners and scented candles.
natural awakenings October 2012 17
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