Fragrance: One Reader’s Story
Last week we posted about synthetic fragrance in the workplace, and a great (but also bummer!) conversation ensued in the comments. Over email though, one reader sent us a longer account of her personal experience working in a fragrance-filled environment, and we wanted to share it with you.
When I read this email I cried. It’s no small thing to be told that you’ve affected someone’s life in a good way, and we always get a little choked when we hear it. But mostly this story is so upsetting (but then redeeming!) that it touched me in a very real way.
Note: By publishing this, we are not in any way saying that one woman’s experience proves a larger trend. We have also removed the name of the store where our reader (who also asked to remain nameless, though she was happy to share the story) was employed because 1) you can guess, 2) we don’t want to get in trouble, and 3) it really could be any store that pumps fragrance in the air.
Hi ladies,
Thank you so much for everything you guys have done. You have made an amazing difference in my life, and I’m trying to pay it forward by raising awareness with all of my loved ones.
First off, I love everything you guys are doing. You both have changed my life with your book. Reading today’s blogpost on synthetic fragrance in the workplace really resonated with me, because synthetic fragrance in the workplace destroyed my thyroid.
It all started about 8 months ago when I was getting some routine blood tests because my husband and I wanted to start a family. When my blood tests came back, my doctor informed me that I have hyperthyroid. I got referred to an endocrinologist who ran a bunch of other tests, included one to see what my thyroid looks like because my different levels were really weird. When my doctor got my test back, he saw that my thyroid had been completely destroyed except for a tiny portion where it looked like it was healing itself. He asked me what had changed in my life that might explain my thyroid repairing itself.
For two years before this, I worked part time at [insert BEAUTY STORE] in order to pay for grad school. I was constantly around synthetic fragrance and a whole slew of nasty products that made me feel and look like crap. I was sick all the time and had terrible cystic acne. After grad school, I quit [BEAUTY STORE] when I got my first real job at the Indianapolis Museum of Art. This was also when I found your book. I got out of the terrible environment that [STORE] provided and switched all of my products to legitimate naturals, not the green-washed ones for sale at [STORE]. In weeks, I felt better, my cystic acne went away, and little did I know, my thyroid began to be able to repair itself.
My endocrinologist is pretty conservative, and didn’t want to believe that changing all my personal care products and being out of [STORE's] contaminated air is what was causing the change. However, two months ago, I had my follow up appointment and my thyroid has completely healed and all of my levels are normal.
I will never go back to [STORE] and will never use dirty products again, because I know that getting rid of all the crap has saved my life. I wish that someone could go in and study employees of places like [STORE] and see how being in an environment with all the toxic products really has a detrimental affect on the human body.
Pretty powerful stuff, no? We so appreciate all the comments and accounts we hear, so keep them coming. If you too have a longer testimonial to share don’t hesitate to email us at nomoredirtylooks at gmail dot com. We would never publish anything without asking your permission, and when we get to the next book, you can bet that we’ll be contacting some of you for your stories.
Wow! Synthetic fragrance anyone?
Yes, I agree. Everyone needs to work together to bring the clean beauty products in every store/place and destroy the products full of chemicals. I see Winners, Sears, Walmart beauty counters sometimes feeling and smelling like chemicals (I guess). I wish they all carried clean products. And same goes with the food. North Americans buy more unhealthy food. I wish at least the government could do something about this (about selling only organic food, since its better for us).
I think it’s very telling that once you switch to natural products and with natural fragrances, you become repelled and grossed out by synthetic ones. I think our bodies telling us that those scents are not good for us!
It was interesting for me to read this story because I was also diagnosed with a type of hyperthyroidism called Graves Disease when I was 18. It came on suddenly without explanation. I had it for a period of 8 months, after which it went into remission on its own without any explanation (thank goodness). The doctors said that the causes are sometimes a mystery, though it can be hereditary. Of course every situation is different, but reading this made me want to avoid chemicals even more than I already do since they may affect the endocrine system and who knows what else! Just another reason to go the holistic, all natural route. I’m 25 now and my hyperthyroidism has not come back since, and hopefully avoiding hormone-disrupting chemicals will help deter it in the future.
@sam When we were researching the book there was a huge study underway looking at nail salon workers. Early whispers were that the data was quite shocking. This conversation is reminding me to check back and see if anything has been published yet.
Wow.. amazing story. I love fragrance in general, and have used pretty much every popular department store brand under the sun since high school (I usually get samples and travel sizes, of course). While I don’t *think* I suffered any ill effects from them, it’s the mere thought that they could be and likely were stirring up some crap inside my body that frightens me. I’ve since stopped using them and I do admit, lately some of them smell way too strong for me now.
It’s stories like this one that I hope will wake people up – it’s not rude to expect others to keep their toxic stuff away from me. It’s not okay to pour out toxins into the environment. It’s not okay to expose others to your cigarette smoke or your synthetic perfume. You don’t know who it’s hurting or how it might be hurting them (and, frankly, it’s probably hurting all of us, some are just more aware of the specific effects). And I am specifically talking about fragrances and other synthetics/toxins that are not good for anyone – I don’t expect anyone to ever accommodate my personal dislike for flowery smelling essential oils, for example. That’s my problem and it’s my job to stay away from things I’m sensitive to on a personal level. But it’s just common courtesy to not poison your neighbors and coworkers.
And, all the best to the person who shared this experience with all of us!
I’m sorry to be a doubting Thomas, but this story rings incredibly false to me. For starters, human organs don’t just “repair” themselves. I mean, there is disease and healing, of course, but statements like “my thyroid had been completely destroyed except for a tiny portion where it looked like it was healing itsel” and “my thyroid began to be able to repair itself” are pretty much medically impossible. Sadly, we are not lizards (whatever David Icke might say) and are not able to regrow lost tissue. But, more importantly, if someone’s thyroid was failing, they would not be suffering from hyperthyroidism. Hyperthyroidism is a function of an overactive thyroid. A thyroid “destroyed by synthetic fragrance” (cue ominous music), would, in fact, not produce sufficient hormones and your author would suffer from HYPOthyroidism. I would imagine that someone who went through such a terrible ordeal would know the difference.
I’m afraid you guys were punked by someone over-eager to preach to the choir and preach about the evils of the cosmetics industry. And the sad thing is that it is completely unnecessary. As someone who gets nausea and headaches from other people’s cheap perfume and violent allergy attacks from many industrial air fresheners, I am fully aware of the dangers inherent in synthetic perfume. I would just hope that you guys would not invalidate all the wonderful work you are doing by publishing this melodramatic tosh.
I have a friend, whose mother owns a salon. The mother is a manicurist. She has terrible problems with the skin on her hands, (she is basically losing it); her doctor has directly attributed it to the chemicals used in her profession and used for so many years.
@Lolly: Thyroiditis can damage the thyroid and cause hyperthyroidism.
I think it sucksthat you are so quick to jump to knock down someone’s experience. I don’t think any part of this account seemed melodramatic…. just frightening.
@Lilly: In very rare cases, yes, it suppose it possibly could. It would be rare. I am, however, extremely and profoundly sceptical that a) that is, in fact, what happened and b) that a badly damaged, almost completely destroyed thyroid would then magically repair itself. I am not knocking someone’s experience. I am knocking suspect medical claims.
I am not at all surprised by what, for example, comagirl wrote and would never think to refute her statement as it makes perfect sense. Moreover, there is an established link between ingredients in synthetic perfumes (phthalates) and hormonal disturbances. So it wouldn’t come as a shock to me to find that sustained exposure to synthetic fragrance could, in theory, affect the function of someone’s thyroid. It would not, however, affect it in the way described by the author quoted in the post. Now, it is possible that the writer of the letter did not phrase her story accurately. Perhaps she was emotional about her experience and thus prone to exhaggeration (how often do we say to friends “Oh my god, it hurt so much, I almost died!”). In that case, it was the job of the blog’s author’s to conduct further research into whether what she wrote actually made sense.
I am not calling anyone a liar. I am simply saying that in amongst dozens of interesting, scary and paradigm-challenging stories that are publsihed on this blog and in its comments (and that were written about in Siobhan’s and Alexandra’s wonderful book), this is one that simply did not ring true.
This story is really interesting and I want to thanks for sharing it. Out of interest, has anyone else experienced a link between synthetic fragrances (or other products) and cystic acne? I have pretty bad skin and I’m always trying to figure out what might be causing it so that particular part of this story really stuck out for me.
Also does anyone have a favourite natural fragrance? Essential oils? I love a bit of Neal’s Yeard aromatherapy roll-on in Relax.
As someone who has Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis as well as chemical sensitivities, I completely concur with Lolly’s skepticism of this story. I was baffled when I read it thinking, if someone’s thyroid was that destroyed they would also be suffering from such profound symptoms of HYPOthyroidism that would’ve driven her to a doctor long before a trip for routine tests. Also, I know of no test that would be able to determine that a portion of the thyroid had “repaired itself” unless it was a series of ultrasounds performed over a significant period of time if it is even possible. This endocrinologist would’ve immediately put this woman on thyroid replacement hormones as severe hypothyroidism left untreated could lead to death.
Hey Chris, thanks for this input, you raise some very astute points. As we mentioned in the post, this is just one person’s experience, not written for publication or fact checked, and uses laymen’s terminology. We obviously encourage healthy skepticism always and just wanted to remind everyone of those facts.
Skepticism is healthy, and I view the medical related statements to be in the terms a layperson would use. That is, I wasn’t expecting it to sound technical and precise. No buzzers went off for me, and I do a good deal of discussing hormones in my job, though I’m by no means an expert in that particular field. It just sounded to me like it could be one of the rarer instances of hyperthyroidism (certainly doesn’t sound like Grave’s disease, the most common cause). Or maybe a misuse of terms or extreme language. Mostly, it sounded to me like the way a doctor explains a problem to a layperson, repeated by the layperson. And the skin issues are potentially linked to thyroid problems.
I guess really, who knows – anyone can say anything. But I hope that we’d all be straightforward here, I’d like to think we’re all in the business of helping each other out. I appreciate the sharing in this post and always!
Lolly and Chris – I encourage you to question assumptions made about causes and effects related to the etiology of disease. However, unless either one of you are physicians, I don’t think you are qualified to make the kind of statements you have regarding thyroiditis. Even a patient with thyroiditis can not fully grasp what is and is not possible. Like many chronic diseases today, thyroiditis is a complicated disease with often unknown origins. Personally, I was diagnosed with thyroiditis 7 years ago when I noticed that my thyroid was larger than normal (for me). I had no other symptoms and my physician did not even believe my thyroid was enlarged, stating that it was within normal limits. She agreed to do a TSH anyway, and was shocked to find my TSH was 48. That’s a damn high TSH to have no other symptoms. I consider myself lucky that I know what is and is not normal for my body.
It is also possible to have Hashimoto’s and be hypothyroid most of the time, however go through periods of hyperthyroidism caused by thyroiditis related to other changes in your body (like pregnancy). This is despite the fact that most of your thyroid is non-functional.
I also want to correct your assumption that we are not able to repair ourselves. The human body has a tremendous capacity to heal. The human liver is capable of fully regenerating itself when as much as 75% of it is destroyed (which is why we can do a liver transplant from a living donor). There are many examples in the medical literature of the body healing once the causative agent is removed. We may not be able to regenerate internal organs (other than the liver), but we have a remarkable ability to heal. I think it is rather arrogant of you to discount this reader’s story as impossible based on your limited personal experiences with medicine and thyroiditis.
I wish I could “like” Dr. MomTH’s post in the way you might on say.. facebook. The example of liver regeneration is precisely what came to mind when I first read the skeptic’s view above. I’m all for skepticism, and I too thought “I think she means hypothyroidism, not hyper” but the fact is that without her medical records in front of us we cant cry foul simply because her case history doesn’t seem to make intuitive sense at first glance.
Also: there have been quite a lot of research and reviews done recently regarding occupational exposure and risks and potential links to any number of diseases. Here’s just one regarding a fairly common ingredient I see on dirty products: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21777214
Can we all just agree to stop trying to diagnose the person who wrote the email? This seems to me to as Rebecca put it, be an account “by a layperson for a layperson,” and just because this person’s experience isn’t similar to one that you personally have had, doesn’t mean that it’s not possible or that the person was lying. The published email looks like nothing more than a letter of appreciation along with the Cliff Notes version of this person’s experience… I doubt that the writer ever thought it would be published here when they wrote it, so what would they have gained from making something up?
Skepticism is healthy in any circumstance, but all of this speculating about what specifically is ailing this person is taking away from the fact that being in environments full of synthetic fragrance and other toxins has negative consequences and can make the body do screwy things.
What I really want to know after reading this is if there are any readers out there who have worked at these cosmetic stores and had any similar symptoms?
Thanks for sharing the story – it would have been more powerful if you were honest about the store. If it was a food contaminated with toxic bacteria, and people could die or be made sick, would you protect the name of the brand of food?
Back when I was working for the Handcrafted Soap Makers Guild, I was studying aromatherapy and learning more about the hazards of synthetic fragrance. I knew they gave me a headache (only since having children however) – I had been a real perfume lover and literally followed men who smelled like Lagerfeld around Macy’s in my single days!
A soapmaker called me and told me her story — she was sick, and might even die. She could not tell her story publically because she was in the process of getting a divorce and needed to make arrangements for her children in her will, because she wanted someone other than her soon-to-be ex-husband to get custody if she died. I think it was liver failure but I am not 100% sure because it was aboout 12 years ago. Her doctors had basically ruled out every possible cause for her disease other than the synthetic fragrances she had been using to make soap with.
She knew in her heart, it was once she was exposed to these synthetic fragrances that she started to feel ill. She begged me to share her story and tell other soapmakers — please, use natural ingredients like essential oils instead, and warn them of the dangers. I did what I could at the time.
I applaud your efforts to educate the public about the dangers of synthetic fragrances — but I think the message gets lost among all the other things women are told to be afraid of in their cosmetics. There is more lead in many people’s drinking water than in lipsticks – yet women are told to be afraid of any lipstick made with red pigments because they contain lead. No one is going to die from using lipstick – even if they reapply hourly and lick it all off all day long. But a person with asthma could die if a co-worker comes in reeking of synthetic fragrance. Die. There on the spot. Not after decades of exposure.
There is no benefit to synthetic fragrances in cosmetics – they don’t improve the skin, or the formula. They just smell. While we often to not have viable alternatives for ingredients such as preservatives (in all formulas) we always – always – can replace synthetic fragrance with something natural. Always. This is one ingredient – one INDUSTRY – that is all risk and NO benefit – except to the companies and individuals getting rich from selling these products.
Sue