Don’t take our word for it. Here’s every fact on this site, with its evidence grade, its caveats, and a link to the source, so you can check us.
We start you on the strong ones: findings that have been replicated or come from one large, well-controlled study. Moderate and weak facts are here too, labeled for what they are. Use “Link to this fact” to share a single card.
Skin allergy / Other evidence
Of 226 chemicals identified in 71 deodorants, 84 (37%) carried at least one chemical-structure 'alert' for skin-protein reactivity, and 70 of those were aldehydes, ketones, or alpha,beta-unsaturated aldehydes/ketones/esters – the reactive chemical classes already established as the dominant fragrance-allergen chemotype.
Moderate evidence.
Caveats
A structural alert is a hazard flag based on molecular structure only; the paper explicitly states it gives no information on potency (strong/moderate/weak) and is not a substitute for patch testing or animal studies.
Source: Rastogi et al. 1998 (Contact Dermatitis 39:293), Contact Dermatitis Link to this fact
Skin allergy / Other evidence
Fine fragrances (perfume, cologne) carry more contact-allergy risk per use than the same allergen amount spread over a larger, more dilute area, because sensitization risk depends on allergen dose per unit skin area, not total allergen delivered.
Moderate evidence: General dose-response principle from cited elicitation studies, not this review's own new experiment.
Source: Johansen 2003, Am J Clin Dermatol 4(11):789-798, American Journal of Clinical Dermatology Link to this fact
Skin allergy / Measured in people or real products
Hydroxyisohexyl 3-cyclohexene carboxaldehyde (HICC/Lyral) was labeled on 13.5% of 632 deodorants in this 2015-16 Danish sample, significantly lower than the 33.0% found in an earlier 2007 Danish deodorant survey of 88 products (chi-square p<0.0001).
Moderate evidence.
Caveats
Different sampling methods and sample sizes between the two surveys (app-based self-selection vs. market survey); the comparison is suggestive of declining HICC use ahead of the EU ban, not a controlled before/after study.
Source: Bennike 2017/2018 Link to this fact
Skin allergy / Measured in people or real products
In a post hoc analysis of the same trial, infants with AD/eczema by 32 weeks had significantly higher egg-white IgE sensitization than those without (56%, 24/43, vs 33%, 16/49; P=.043; OR 2.86, 95% CI 1.22-6.73), and any skin lesion (AD/eczema or skin rash) carried an even larger OR of 3.73 (95% CI 1.49-9.36) for sensitization versus no skin lesion, consistent across 20 of 25 different IgE cutoff values tested.
Moderate evidence: Post hoc, not a prespecified comparison; association, not proof that eczematous skin causes sensitization rather than the reverse.
Source: Horimukai et al. 2014, Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology Industry-funded Link to this fact
Skin allergy / Other evidence
Hairdressers' hands carried measurable hair-dye chemicals even before they started mixing dye (PPD in 3 of 33, 3-aminophenol in about 20 of 33), pointing to carryover from earlier clients and contaminated trolleys, dryers, and phones.
Moderate evidence: Nine hairdressers had dyed earlier the same day; surface contamination data were not shown; background and task exposure can't be fully separated.
Source: Lind et al. 2005, The Annals of Occupational Hygiene Link to this fact
Skin allergy / Other evidence
Povidone-iodine reactions are often due to the povidone carrier or to irritation rather than iodine; the review says iodine itself has not been shown to be the allergen in reactions to povidone-iodine, contrast media, or amiodarone.
Moderate evidence: Relayed reasoning from reviews; false-positive patch tests are also possible, so ROAT is advised.
Source: Lauriola 2025, Italian Journal of Dermatology and Venereology Link to this fact
Skin allergy / Other evidence
Hairdressers carry a higher hair-dye allergy burden: hand dermatitis risk 1.7-2.5 times the general population, and 15.3% of 300 Spanish hairdressers patch-tested positive to PTDS.
Moderate evidence: Selected, older hairdresser series (1994-2016) with different test panels; rates vary widely between series.
Skin allergy / Review of other studies
In eczema, skin ceramides are shorter and scarcer, partly because the immune signals IL-4 and IL-13 switch off the enzymes (ELOVL3/ELOVL6) that lengthen fatty acids, and they also suppress the barrier protein filaggrin.
Moderate evidence: Mechanism drawn from keratinocyte and skin-equivalent work plus clinical lipidomics; author discloses grants from Sanofi-Genzyme and LEO Pharma.
Source: Berdyshev 2024, Allergy, Asthma & Immunology Research Link to this fact
Skin allergy / Measured in people or real products
In this prospective nurse cohort, carrying a filaggrin (FLG) loss-of-function mutation without a history of atopic dermatitis did not raise hand eczema risk (adjusted OR 0.7, 90% CI 0.3-1.7), whereas FLG carriers who also had atopic dermatitis had the highest odds (OR 3.6, 90% CI 1.7-7.5).
Moderate evidence.
Caveats
Only 28 FLG+/AD+ and 38 FLG+/AD- subjects, so CIs are wide; the interaction test was not significant overall (OR 2.1, 90% CI 0.6-7.1); the authors' own case-control study found an FLG effect (OR 1.6), see the register entry.
Source: Visser et al. 2014, Contact Dermatitis, Contact Dermatitis Link to this fact
Skin allergy / Other evidence
In healthcare worker studies, hand dermatitis rose with the number of handwashes per day (for example US workers washing 10 or more times a day had about 1.95 times the incidence, and Korean nurses washing more than 30 times a day had an odds ratio of 13), while alcohol-based hand rub was not associated with hand eczema in several studies.
Moderate evidence.
Caveats
Individual cohort and cross-sectional studies summarized by the review; Korean figure is from self-reported hand eczema with wide confidence interval; two follow-up studies found non-significant ratios; some healthcare studies found no association with duration of washing.
Source: Jacobsen 2022 Link to this fact
Skin allergy / Other evidence
More than 1 in 5 patch-tested patients (640 of 3,056, 21.1%) had a clinically relevant reaction to something outside the standard 80-allergen series, most often a personal care product or cosmetic (53.8% of those reactions), so a negative standard panel does not rule out a product allergy.
Moderate evidence: Relevance judged by the treating clinician; the specific allergens were not recorded; referral population.
Skin allergy / Measured in people or real products
Skin care products caused the most cosmetic reactions (26%), then non-color hair preparations (16%) and facial makeup (12%); perfumes, colognes and toilet waters were only 7%.
Moderate evidence: Selected referral series of contact dermatitis specialists, 1977-1980 (40 months); not general-population rates.
Source: Eiermann 1982, Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology Link to this fact
Skin allergy / Review of other studies
Benzyl alcohol was named the American Contact Dermatitis Society's 2026 Allergen of the Year; US dermatologists describe it as an underrecognized contact allergen that is a preservative, solvent and fragrance ingredient in personal care products and skin medicines.
Moderate evidence: Narrative review; selection by a dermatology society that promotes the award; no new data.
Source: Zheng et al. 2026, ACDS Allergen of the Year (Cutis), Cutis Link to this fact
Skin allergy / Measured in people or real products
In a German car-industry cohort followed from apprenticeship, people with atopic skin diathesis had about 2.5 times the odds of current hand eczema (adjusted OR 2.47, 95% CI 1.71-3.55; 110 cases vs 120 controls), and it was the only significant factor measured.
Moderate evidence.
Caveats
Single-company cohort with an active skin-protection program; small sample; prevalent cases; controls deliberately enriched with people of unhealthy skin; the narrow CI looks unusually tight versus the crude prevalences (38.5% vs 10.9%).
Source: Apfelbacher et al. 2010, Contact Dermatitis, Contact Dermatitis Link to this fact
Skin allergy / Measured in people or real products
Among 57 cases of current irritant hand eczema in the same car-industry cohort, atopic skin diathesis was again the only significant factor (adjusted OR 1.84, 95% CI 1.20-2.80), somewhat lower than for all hand eczema.
Moderate evidence: Same small single-cohort dataset as the all-hand-eczema analysis, not an independent replication.
Source: Apfelbacher et al. 2010, Contact Dermatitis, Contact Dermatitis Link to this fact
Skin allergy / Other evidence
Benzalkonium chloride, a disinfectant and preservative in hand sanitizers, eye products, cleaners and personal care products, gave allergic-pattern patch reactions in 6.9% of 2,546 patients tested (sixth highest), most of them weak.
Moderate evidence: Single clinic; weak reactions can be irritant, relevance not reported, and benzalkonium chloride is a known irritant.
Source: [[src-2018-trends-patch-testing-mayo-clinic-standard-series|Veverka 2018]], Dermatitis® Link to this fact
Skin allergy / Measured in people or real products
Stasis dermatitis patients also reacted more often to several preservatives and moisturizer ingredients: quaternium-15 (11.0%), diazolidinyl urea (6.0%) and propylene glycol (5.0%), with moisturizers and other personal care products the most common recorded sources.
Moderate evidence.
Caveats
Quaternium-15 odds ratio 1.48 had P = 0.038 against the paper's own cutoff of 0.039; propylene glycol is also an irritant at the 30% test dose; source data cover only positives with a recorded source (n = 19 to 33 per allergen).
Source: Silverberg et al. 2021, Arch Dermatol Res, Archives of Dermatological Research Link to this fact
Skin allergy / Other evidence
About 1 in 5 (22.5%) patients in 13 North American contact-dermatitis clinics had a relevant allergic reaction to something outside the group's 70-allergen standard panel, and about half of those came from cosmetics, beauty and skin-care products (47.4%).
Moderate evidence: Referral patients; the specific non-series allergens were not recorded.
Skin allergy / Other evidence
Parabens and benzophenones are personal-care ingredients (preservatives and UV filters), not fragrance ingredients; this pregnancy cohort did not measure fragrance compounds or product use, so it says nothing directly about fragrance and eczema.
Moderate evidence: Scope statement. Source of exposure (lotions, cosmetics, sunscreen) was not recorded.
Source: Miller 2025 (ECHO), Environment International Link to this fact
What you can do / Self-reported survey
Most people would rather have fragrance-free spaces: 65% prefer fragrance-free airplanes, 61% hotels, 51% health care, and 48% workplaces, against 16-22% who prefer them fragranced.
Moderate evidence: Preference survey, adults 18-65.
Source: Steinemann 2019, Air Quality, Atmosphere & Health Link to this fact
What you can do / Self-reported survey
People with asthma back fragrance-free spaces by wide margins: 66.2% vs 16.1% for fragrance-free workplaces and 72.1% vs 14.8% for fragrance-free health care.
Moderate evidence.
Caveats
Subgroup of a self-reported US online survey (2016, adults 18-65, Survey Sampling International panel); asthma is self-reported, and these are stated preferences, not measured behavior.
Source: Steinemann 2018, Air Quality, Atmosphere & Health Link to this fact
What you can do / Self-reported survey
Swedes overwhelmingly prefer scent-free spaces: 80.2% vs 6.0% for airplanes, 77.7% vs 9.8% for hotels, and 64.1% vs 14.0% for health care.
Moderate evidence: Self-reported online survey of Swedish adults 18-65 (2017, n = 1,100, Survey Sampling International panel); stated preferences, not measured behavior.
Source: Steinemann 2018 (Sweden), Air Quality, Atmosphere & Health Link to this fact
What you can do / Measured in people or real products
Perfume was the strongest single predictor of diethyl phthalate exposure, so skipping perfume and fragranced personal care products is the most obvious way to lower it.
Moderate evidence: Association only; not tested as an intervention.
Source: Parlett 2013, Journal of Exposure Science and Environmental Epidemiology Link to this fact
What you can do / Self-reported survey
More UK adults prefer fragrance-free over fragranced workplaces (44.7% vs 23.3%), health care (43.3% vs 26.7%) and airplanes (61.9% vs 18.4%).
Moderate evidence: Pluralities, not majorities, for workplace and health care; preference, not health benefit.
Source: Steinemann 2018, Air Quality, Atmosphere & Health Link to this fact
What you can do / Measured in people or real products
Taking the air freshener out of the car removes its main added chemical: without one, in-car limonene was about 5-6 ug/m3.
Moderate evidence: Small pilot; limonene only.
What you can do / Measured in people or real products
Using fewer scented personal care products is likely to lower phthalate and paraben levels, because levels tracked the number of products used.
Moderate evidence: Association; not tested as an intervention here (see HERMOSA).
Source: Braun 2014, Journal of Exposure Science and Environmental Epidemiology Link to this fact
What you can do / Measured in people or real products
When 100 teenage girls swapped their usual personal care products for ones labeled free of phthalates, parabens, triclosan, and oxybenzone for just 3 days, levels of these chemicals in their urine fell by 27-45%.
Moderate evidence: No control arm, 100 Latina girls in one town, 3 days, summer.
Source: Harley 2016, Environmental Health Perspectives Link to this fact
What you can do / Measured in people or real products
Musk levels in blood and milk seem to track current personal-care product use rather than lifetime storage: Hutter 2009 found that how often people used perfume and body lotion significantly predicted their blood levels of the polycyclic musks (galaxolide, tonalide) in 100 adults, so choosing fragrance-free personal care and laundry products during pregnancy and breastfeeding is a plausible way to lower a mother's musk levels and, in turn, transfer to the baby.
Moderate evidence.
Caveats
Route inferred in Reiner 2007 from the absence of an age trend in milk, and now supported by direct product-use data in two independent populations and matrices: Hutter 2009 (blood, non-pregnant Vienna adults) and Lignell 2008 (101 Swedish mothers, milk itself — the exact matrix this claim concerns). Lignell 2008 found perfume-use frequency predicted HHCB and perfumed-laundry-detergent use predicted AHTN in milk, but no product-use variable predicted musk xylene, matching Hutter's blood-based polycyclic/nitro split. Still correlational and cross-sectional; no study has measured milk musk levels before and after a change in a mother's product use, and no cosmetics-use variable has ever predicted a nitro musk in either study.
Source: Reiner 2007, Environmental Science & Technology Link to this fact
What you can do / Self-reported survey
Support for fragrance-free health care and workplaces is not limited to people with symptoms: in Germany roughly 70% of those who backed them reported no fragrance-related health effects themselves.
Moderate evidence: Our arithmetic from Table 5; preference, not outcome; German workplace support was only 33.2% (30.6% against, 35.3% unsure).
Source: Klaschka 2020, Environmental Sciences Europe Link to this fact
What you can do / Self-reported survey
Fragrance-free health-care policies should cover cleaning and laundry products, not just staff perfume; Canadian advocates ask for exactly this, and people who react name cleaning products as their most common trigger (50 of 60).
Moderate evidence: Advocacy position plus a self-selected focus-group sample; no evidence yet that policies reduce exposure or symptoms.
What you can do / Measured in people or real products
If you have known fragrance allergy, ask your pharmacist or read the full leaflet (not just the outer box) for topical medicines, and request fragrance-free formulations for wound care, NSAID gels, and antiseptics where alternatives exist; if a topical medicine causes a rash, ask for patch testing with the actual product and its individual ingredients, not just the standard fragrance mix.
Moderate evidence: Practical advice drawn from a single clinic's experience; a negative fragrance-mix patch test does not rule out fragrance allergy from a specific product.
What you can do / Self-reported survey
Many allergic patients who read ingredient labels still don't fully trust them: in one study only about half of patients affirmatively agreed that ingredient labels are accurate, so persistent reactions despite careful label reading are not necessarily a reading mistake.
Moderate evidence: Self-reported trust, not a test of actual label accuracy; the study does not adjudicate whether distrust reflects real label errors or post-hoc reasoning from continued reactions.
What you can do / Review of other studies
Never mix chlorine bleach with ammonia or acidic cleaning products, since this releases chlorine gas or trichloramine, both strong respiratory and eye irritants documented to cause acute lung injury in cleaners and housewives.
Moderate evidence: Drawn from background literature the authors cite (occupational case reports and reviews), not from new data collected in this study.
Source: Nickmilder, Carbonnelle & Bernard 2007, Pediatric Allergy and Immunology Link to this fact
What you can do / Measured in people or real products
Read the ingredient list for the named allergens rather than trusting marketing words like 'sensitive' or 'soft' on a deodorant label; in one German sample, products carrying such words were no less likely to contain perfume or a strong allergen than the market as a whole.
Moderate evidence: Single-country label survey; does not establish the words are misleading everywhere, only in this sample.
Source: Klaschka 2012, International Journal of Hygiene and Environmental Health Link to this fact
What you can do / Measured in people or real products
Choosing an unscented candle over a scented one made from the same wax measurably lowers the release of combustion pollutants (VOCs, PAHs, formaldehyde), based on this chamber study, though unscented candles still produce carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxides, and ultrafine particles from ordinary combustion.
Moderate evidence: Demonstrated for purpose-built research candles across 4 wax types and 5 fragrance families, not verified for any specific retail candle brand.
Source: Salthammer 2021, Environment International Industry-funded Link to this fact
What you can do / Review of other studies
The main BPA exposure routes this review names are ingestion of food and beverages from polycarbonate plastic containers and epoxy-lined cans, plus dermal or inhalation contact with BPA in thermal receipt paper and household dust, rather than fragranced personal-care products specifically.
Moderate evidence: Sourced from the review's introduction, which itself cites general BPA exposure literature rather than PCOS-specific measurements.
What you can do / Government agency
HUD's own 1991-92 guidance gives two concrete examples of reasonable accommodation for chemically sensitive tenants: (1) a tenant sensitive to pesticides can ask for advance notice before the building is fumigated and for boric acid to be substituted for the chemicals normally used; (2) an applicant sensitive to carpet chemicals can ask the housing provider what type of carpeting is used throughout the building before deciding whether to rent.
Moderate evidence.
Caveats
These are HUD's own worked examples from internal guidance, not a binding regulation with a fixed list of required accommodations; HUD explicitly says reasonableness depends on the individual's circumstances and is bounded by undue financial/administrative burden.
Source: HUD guidance (1991) Link to this fact
What you can do / Self-reported survey
65.5% of autistic adults would support a fragrance-free workplace policy and 77.2% would prefer fragrance-free health care facilities and professionals, compared with 46.1% and 45.8% support among non-autistic adults.
Moderate evidence: Stated preference, not an intervention study; self-report survey.
Source: Steinemann 2018, Air Quality, Atmosphere & Health Link to this fact
What you can do / Review of other studies
Most dry-cleaning alternatives to perc are not proven safer: a 2016 review found the long-term health effects of hydrocarbon solvents 'not well understood', flagged siloxane D5 (GreenEarth) as bioaccumulative, and listed chronic effects for hydrocarbons and liquid CO2 as 'unknown'.
Moderate evidence.
Caveats
Secondary review funded by Australian Wool Innovation (wool industry body); 'systematic' is a self-label with no study counts or appraisal; relies on agency, trade and manufacturer sources. 'Unknown' means not studied, not shown harmful; much of the hazard data comes from agency and manufacturer documents.
Source: Troynikov 2016, Journal of Environmental Management Industry-funded Link to this fact
What you can do / Other evidence
In a stationary SUV, running the ventilation in outside-air (external inflow) mode gave total VOC levels about 56-57% of those in the other modes, and 7 of 8 health-relevant VOCs fell; the recirculation setting cut particles by 43-51% but kept recirculating benzene and phenol from the car's own materials.
Moderate evidence.
Caveats
One medium SUV, one spray, engine on only for these runs, parked; the paper words the 56-57% figure both as 'to' and 'by' (abstract vs Results/Conclusion), so the size of the effect is unclear; not tested while driving.
Source: Lee 2024, Science of The Total Environment Link to this fact
What you can do / Other evidence
Do not use homeopathic products in place of medical care for chronic, serious, or potentially serious conditions; the Australian NHMRC (2015) advised against this, and EASAC warns that using them can delay appropriate evidence-based care.
Moderate evidence: Policy advice from public bodies; individual placebo-responsive symptoms may improve, which EASAC acknowledges.
Source: EASAC 2017, EASAC Statement (September 2017) Link to this fact
What you can do / Other evidence
FDA says homeopathic injectables and eye products are higher-risk because they bypass the body's natural defenses; in 2019 FDA found non-sterile homeopathic eye drops (Puriton) contaminated with Bacillus and with a pH high enough to risk corneal scarring and vision loss.
Moderate evidence: Based on FDA testing of samples from specific products described in warning letters; not all eye products.
Source: FDA 2022 Homeopathic Drug Products guidance Link to this fact
What you can do / Other evidence
To earn EWG Verified a personal care product must score 'green' (1 or 2 on a 1-10 scale) in EWG's Skin Deep database and avoid EWG's unacceptable ingredients.
Moderate evidence: Score is a weight-of-evidence hazard rating from ingredients, not a measured exposure; product-level sensitization data can cut the allergy component by 50%.
Source: EWG 2026, EWG program criteria (PDF) Link to this fact
What you can do / Other evidence
In a Rutgers/Columbia questionnaire study, people who always or usually consulted health apps or websites used personal care products with lower average Skin Deep hazard scores than those who rarely did.
Moderate evidence.
Caveats
Cross-sectional, one university community; the apps use the same label information the score uses, so part of the link is built in; lower score does not equal lower measured exposure.
Source: EWG 2025 (Friedman & Huang), EWG news (web page) Link to this fact
What you can do / Other evidence
Suffolk County's 2018 report sorted perchloroethylene into its red (least preferable) category for both human health and environment, and liquid carbon dioxide into green for both.
Moderate evidence.
Caveats
A county health department's qualitative color code built from other agencies' reviews, not a measured or quantitative risk ranking; data volume differs a lot by solvent (decades for perc, little for newer ones). No industry funder named.
Source: SCDHS 2018 Link to this fact
What you can do / Other evidence
Do not use unapproved homeopathic eye drops to treat cataracts or other eye disease; see an eye-care professional and report reactions to FDA MedWatch.
Moderate evidence: Advice follows from FDA's unapproved-drug and route-of-administration statements; no harm data in the letter.
Source: FDA warning letter 708635 (25 Aug 2025), FDA warning letter (MARCS-CMS 708635), 25 August 2025 Link to this fact
What you can do / Other evidence
In 400 men, each additional type of personal care product used in the past day went with about 12% higher urinary MEP and 14 to 29% higher parabens.
Moderate evidence: Observational; crude count of products; same cohort and lab as the women's study, so not independent replication.
Source: Nassan 2017, Environmental Health Perspectives Link to this fact
What you can do / Other evidence
The industry panel warned that cetrimonium bromide and palmitoyl carnitine can enhance skin penetration of other chemicals (phenylazoaniline, benzocaine, benzoic acid), so products combining them with ingredients whose safety depends on low absorption need careful formulation.
Moderate evidence.
Caveats
Penetration enhancement shown in artificial membranes (enhanced below 0.5%, inhibited above 1.0%); no human product data. CIR is financed by the Personal Care Products Council, the cosmetics industry trade association.
Source: Becker et al. 2012 (CIR), Int J Toxicol, International Journal of Toxicology Industry-funded Link to this fact
What you can do / Other evidence
The committee's recommendations ask Health Canada to consider guidance on how to approach MAiD requests when suffering is predominately derived from an unmet social need (e.g., housing), and ask the Ontario Ministry of Health and Ontario Health to consider a provincially coordinated MAiD care system with interprofessional assessment and enhanced care coordination for people with unmet social needs such as housing.
Moderate evidence: All recommendations are worded "to consider"; the report does not say whether any recipient responded.
Source: Ontario MDRC Report 2024-3 (OCC, 2024; non-official copy) Link to this fact
What you can do / Measured in people or real products
Parabens are cosmetic and personal-care preservatives, not fragrance ingredients, so this child-behavior study provides no evidence about perfume or fragrance.
Moderate evidence: Paper measured only methyl-, ethyl- and propylparaben; no fragrance compounds, phthalates or MEP.
Children and pregnancy / Self-reported survey
Every one of 13 Washington DC childcare facilities that reported health data had at least one child with physician-diagnosed asthma, with a typical (median) facility rate of about 10%.
Weak evidence: Center-Director-reported, not chart-confirmed; no exposure-outcome link tested; n=13.
Source: Quirós-Alcalá 2016, Environmental Research Link to this fact
Children and pregnancy / Government agency
In animal studies, a pregnant female's exposure to an endocrine-disrupting chemical can affect not only her offspring but her offspring's offspring, because developmental exposure can alter reproductive-cell programming that carries across generations.
Weak evidence: Evidence for these transgenerational effects comes from animal studies cited in the report; no multigenerational human dataset is cited for this specific claim.
Source: WHO/UNEP 2012 Link to this fact
Children and pregnancy / Other evidence
A 2020 review states that endocrine-disrupting chemicals found in the placenta (pesticides, personal care product chemicals, flame retardants, BPA, PCBs) could be associated with fetal growth restriction, thyroid dysfunction, and neurological disorders, but the mechanisms are largely unknown.
Weak evidence: Association stated through a single cited review; mechanisms rest largely on animal and small human studies; not a demonstrated causal risk.
Source: Street 2020, International Journal of Molecular Sciences Link to this fact
Children and pregnancy / Measured in people or real products
In the same study, higher DEHP in carpet dust (a plastics phthalate, not a fragrance one) was more common in homes of the 27 children with developmental delay (odds ratio 2.12, 95% CI 1.10-4.09 per ln-unit), but the authors report the finding did not survive correction for multiple comparisons and may be due to chance.
Weak evidence: 27 cases; exposure measured after the delay was already present (reverse causation possible); DEHP is not a fragrance ingredient; abstract states OR 2.10, table 2.12.
Source: Philippat 2015 (CHARGE), Environmental Health Link to this fact
Children and pregnancy / Review of other studies
In a 2019 review, newborn total thyroxine from heel-prick screening cards did not predict a later ADHD diagnosis (ORs 0.99 and 1.08, CI 0.95-1.24), and newborn TSH did not predict ADHD symptoms at ages 4-5.
Weak evidence: Few studies; sample timing after birth was not adjusted; some studies may share participants.
Children and pregnancy / Measured in people or real products
In the same Baltimore children, recent scented candle use went with about 2.6 times higher urine methyl paraben (2.57, 95% CI 1.09-6.06) and scented carpet powder with about 2.8 times higher 2,5-dichlorophenol (2.77, 1.21-6.34), but only in models adjusting for other products; the candle result was not significant on its own (2.32, 0.95-5.64).
Weak evidence: Wide intervals, many comparisons, and the authors say carpet powder may only mark carpeted homes; no ingredients checked.
Source: Fandiño-Del-Rio 2024, Journal of Exposure Science & Environmental Epidemiology Link to this fact
Children and pregnancy / Other evidence
In the same Korean first-trimester cohort, triclosan, benzophenone-3 and methyl-, ethyl-, propyl- and butylparaben (personal-care-product chemicals) were not associated with TSH or with the oxidative-stress markers MDA and 8-OHdG.
Weak evidence: A null from one small cohort with one spot urine per woman; it does not show safety, and it contradicts earlier cohorts the authors cite (propylparaben, BPS).
Source: Kim 2025, Environmental Analysis Health and Toxicology Link to this fact
Children and pregnancy / Other evidence
Tobacco smoke exposes a fetus to a mixture including carbon monoxide, ammonia, nitrogen oxides and metals, so animal nicotine findings cannot be assigned to nicotine alone in people; tobacco smoke is not a fragrance ingredient.
Weak evidence: Animal findings (rats, mice, guinea pigs) are not human evidence; no fragrance exposure studied.
Source: Knopik 2009, Developmental Neuropsychology Link to this fact
Fragrance is everywhere / Self-reported survey
Among Atlanta-area adults who reported chemical hypersensitivity, symptom onset was reported before age 20 in about a third of cases (32.4%), suggesting hypersensitivity is not exclusively an adult-onset condition.
Weak evidence.
Caveats
Retrospective self-report of childhood/adolescent onset in adults; no pediatric clinical verification; age-of-onset table has an internal mismatch with the running text for the older age brackets (see the page's Notes).
Source: Caress & Steinemann 2003 (EHP), Environmental Health Perspectives Link to this fact
Fragrance is everywhere / Other evidence
Shopping malls can diffuse a scent blend through their common areas, installed by a professional scent-marketing agency, so every visitor is exposed without any way to opt out; the mall studied used orange, grapefruit, bergamot, cinnamon, cardamom, ginger, and pimento 'and other additives'.
Weak evidence: A single research mall; no concentration or full composition was reported, and the paper makes no health or allergen claim.
Source: Teller 2012, Journal of Marketing Management Link to this fact
Information, not medical advice. See also: myths we won’t tell you.