Chemistry Disclosed in Household/Personal Care Products. (Great!)
A recent article, “Smells Like Hawaii (and Benzyl Acetate): Revealing the Chemicals in Glade’s Fragrances,” brings good news and relief to those of us who do our best to recommend commercial and household cleaning products that are green. Read: (a) not harmful to building occupants and custodial folks/others who have to work with them in enclosed spaces; and, (b) typically fragrance-free.
“But the chemicals behind scents like “Aruba wave” and “Hawaiian breeze” have largely been a mystery,” say writer Rachel Abrams. “Some of the ingredients for Aruba wave, for instance, include 2tbutylcyclohexyl acetate, 2,6dimethyl7octen2ol, allyl caproate, benzyl salicylate, ethyl 2,2dimethyl hydrocinnamyl and ethyl hexanoate.” Whew! Did you have any idea, Aruba Jane?
On June 8, SC Johnson revealed on its website the fragrance ingredients in more than 200 of its products. Like air fresheners, scented candles and perfumed oils. Here’s the intro to it–FACT SHEET: SC Johnson Fragrance Ingredient Communication. At this link is a closer look at the ingredients inside, as it terms it.
This company appears to be trying to assert its chops as a consumer-friendly sort as per a timeline of similar disclosures in the recent years. These disclosures have the effect of removing chemicals that may be linked to cancer or offer other possible adverse health effects such as to those with allergies or, even, compromised immune systems.
A list of what’s not inside the company’s products is also helpful. Alkylphenols (APs), just to mention one that’s claimed not to be in any SC Johnson product formulation, is a known environmental contaminant in the family of endocrine disrupting compounds.
Abrams says SC Johnson plans to disclose fragrance compounds in other brands such as Windex. Heh, one website boasts the best homemade window cleaner which ingredients are water, white vinegar and dishwashing liquid. No artificial fragrances of uncertain origin to worry about.
Others on this “bandwagon” of disclosure to drive better, more natural products include Target. Back in the fall of 2013, Target introduced The Target Sustainable Product Standard to further product ingredient transparency in the interest of both human health and minimal environmental impact.
Per the standard: “Using the UL Transparency Platform, powered by GoodGuide, Target will collect information from vendors and evaluate products against the standard. Products will receive a score from 0 to 100 (100 being the top score). The more sustainable products will be identified by our standard and rewarded with program incentives.”
Another on board is Reckitt Benckiser, the maker of Lysol. Its North American Product List is linked here. It even offers a link to something called The Artistic Science of Fragrances.
I suggest fragrances are a nuisance, if not worse. Including those who over-perfume themselves and step into elevators. Sometimes I’ve got enough time/maneuvering room to step back off such elevators before the door closes. Taking the stairs avoids the problem altogether, if practical enough, and is the better alternative anyway.
But, to put this line of thinking in its simplest terms…
