Suchergebnisse

AbstractBackgroundAccording to a national representative survey, 19.9% of the German population describe various adverse effects on personal health upon exposure to fragranced consumer products. This study investigates whether these fragrance-sensitive persons have a higher risk awareness compared to the general public, whether they show a different safety behavior concerning fragrances and whether they reduce exposure and hence risk.ResultsThe presence of fragrances can have a major impact on the participation in public activities. Half of the fragrance-sensitive persons have ever been prevented from going to some place to avoid exposure to fragrances. More than half of them prefer fragrance-free alternatives (products, laundry, hotels, airplanes, health care facilities, or workplaces), while there are also fragrance-sensitive individuals, who indicate to prefer fragranced products and spaces. Half of fragrance-sensitive persons use perfumes to feel themselves more attractive. Furthermore, there is a large number of persons who prefer fragrance-free alternatives without being fragrance-sensitive. Around half of the general population indicate not to use a fragranced product if they know that it emits hazardous air pollutants. This shows that health effects associated with the presence of fragrances proved to be one out of several factors, but not the only one, which influences attitudes towards fragrances and their usage. The answers given reveal the multitude of aspects influencing risk awareness and safety behavior. According to the survey results, 7.4 workdays were lost due to illness from fragranced product exposure in the workplace per person on average, with estimated personal economic costs of 14.5 * 109Euro/year in Germany.ConclusionsThe high prevalence of persons who correlate their health effects with exposure to fragrances shows that existing risk communication instruments are too weak, even for people who are aware of a risk, like fragrance-sensitive persons. The data substantiate how important it is to respect cognitive dissonance, confirmation bias and the inadequacy of the deficit model in risk management. The issue of adverse health effects associated with fragrances has reached a dimension, which requires immediate action: The results of this study are strong supporting arguments in favor of fragrance-free policies.

Abstract
Background
Fragranced consumer products—such as cleaning supplies, laundry products, perfumes, and air fresheners—have been associated with adverse effects on personal health and with subsequent societal effects. This study investigates self-reported effects associated with exposures to fragranced consumer products in Germany. Using a nationally representative population-based sample (n = 1102), data were collected in March 2019 using an online survey of adults in Germany. Special questions allowed to differentiate the answers given by various vulnerable subgroups of the general population with the intention to better understand their specific situations.

Results
One out of five persons (19.9%) indicates to be fragrance-sensitive. More than half of these persons (55.3%) report respiratory problems and more than a third of them (35.6%) declare mucosal problems. Three out of four autists report to be fragrance-sensitive. Half of the general population (55.6%) think of products with natural fragrance ingredients to be healthier than products with synthetic fragrance ingredients and do not know that this is a wrong assumption. Even more people who report adverse health effects have this wrong impression. People who describe negative health effects caused by fragrances indicate to be exposed by their own use to a similar or even higher extent (up to 98.6%) compared to the general population (96.9%). Slightly more men say that they read the references to the products to get information about the fragrance ingredients compared to women. Three quarters of the population use fragrances to feel more attractive, but still 7.6% report respiratory problems when exposed to fragrances.

Conclusions
The high number of individuals who report to experience health problems upon exposure to fragranced products needs to be taken serious and further actions are urgent. Present risk communication measures do not seem to be sufficient to induce appropriate risk reduction behavior in affected persons.

BACKGROUND:Most personal care products (PCPs) contain hazardous ingredients, but current legislation in the European Union (EU) and South Africa (SA) does not require these to be labelled as hazardous products. Instead, ingredients must only be listed on containers to inform consumers of potential hazards. We assessed whether current legal strategies provide the means for effective risk communication (RC) mechanisms for PCPs in order to protect consumers' health and the environment.RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS:RC strategies used in developed countries are not necessarily better compared to developing countries despite the existence of extensive legislation in the former. Socio-cultural factors, scientific literacy and language differences are key reasons why the current ingredient lists on PCP labels are not an effective RC strategy. The assumption is that consumers will interpret the risks of these ingredients by conducting a risk assessment for their personal context. Realistically, the following risk mitigation measures should be implemented in developed and developing countries to reduce the public's potential exposures to hazardous substances: substitute hazardous ingredients with less hazardous; provide accessible mechanisms for consumers to comprehend RC measures; delete the exception clause in the EU Regulation on Classification, Labelling and Packaging (CLP); apply clear mandatory labels where PCPs health risks are clearly illustrated; and increase enforcement of legislation.The high incidence of fragrance allergies caused by PCPs is one example illustrating how current legal measures in the EU and SA fail to protect consumers and the environment from hazardous exposures. Therefore, efforts must be made to improve legally required RC measures.