From the Toronto District School Board (TDSB) in Canada:
“Scented products have an impact on everyone. For most people, perfumed, scented or fragrant products are enjoyed, but for those who have asthma, allergies or environmental sensitivities, exposure can result in illness, absence from work and even hospitalisation.
We want the Toronto District School Board to be a clean and safe environment for all of out staff, students and visitors. To help achieve that, the TDSB has launched a Scented Products Awareness Program encouraging the TDSB community to reduce the use of fragrances and scented products.
Using fragrances is a personal choice, however, by their very nature, they are shared. The chemicals vaporize into the air and are easily inhaled by those around us. Today’s scented products are made up of a complex mixture of chemicals which can contribute to indoor air quality problems and cause health problems.
This awareness program will do just that – increase the awareness within our community about the impact of fragrance on health, wellbeing and productivity of those impacted by scents.
What can you do to help?
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Be considerate of those who are sensitive to fragrance chemicals
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Avoid using scented products and use scent-free alternatives, instead
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If you do use scented products, use them sparingly. A general guideline for scented products is that the scent should not be detectable more than an arm’s length away from you
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Do not apply scented products in a public area
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Avoid using laundry products or cleaning agents that are scented”
You can find more information here, and by clicking on the following links, you can read all about how the TDSB is raising awareness about scented products and what you can do to help!
- Brochure
(140K 5/16/2008) - Frequently Asked Questions (28K 5/16/2008)
- List of scent and fragrance-free alternatives (23K 5/15/2008)
Hi michellina,
I tried emailing you but your contact form is not working properly. I also emailed you a few weeks ago but didn’t hear a response back – I think your form might be the issue. How can I get in touch with you? It just has something to do with one of your articles
I’ve sent you an email. Talk soon 🙂
Knowledge is power. If people know what can happen they will take measures to protect themselves and family from ‘allergies’ caused from perfumes. My son has asthma and when we stopped these products he stopped having attacks. Now it only happens at kindergarten, shops and around strong products! We need people to know about this in Australia!! This school is amazing. Is there somewhere like this here?
Hi Spiros,
Yes, you are so right: knowledge = power. If you mean primary schools, I don’t know of any that have implemented a policy like this as such but I can give you some links for further research:
My favourite group of powerful parents: http://www.momscleanairforce.org/2013/02/05/breathing-easy-at-school/
If you are in Victoria, there is a school that may be right up your alley. They have created our first school with healthy indoor air in mind: http://www.healthyhouse.com/cs_woodendschool.html
When approaching schools, it’s good to have some documentation that shows these ideas are of benefit to many people, not just one person; theses ideas are the way of the future, and the evidence is pretty hard to ignore!
And here: http://www.casle.ca/LinkClick.aspx?fileticket=zqVxOkSb5a0%3D&tabid=56
And here is one on fragrance and it’s many negative attributes: http://www.cctfa.ca/site/consumerinfo/FragranceReport_Final.pdf
Good luck!
Educating the next generation will make the world better for all of us.
I really like this wording: “Using fragrances is a personal choice, however, by their very nature, they are shared.”
The TDSB is actually in Canada though 🙂
Absolutely, it’s fantastic wording. And, ‘Canada’, duly noted and amended! Thanks 🙂