It started out with aerosol sprays you used on garbage day or after a trip to the bathroom. Then came those handy plug-in air fresheners that dissolved the heady aroma of “summer breeze” into your home before turning into a forgotten dust-catcher behind the recliner.
With air fresheners being used one day and forgotten tomorrow, companies simply weren’t getting enough of their product sold. They had to come up with something more prominent. Something attractive that, instead of being lost and forgotten about behind a toilet or couch, would be proudly displayed (and often repurchased) every month.
Now there are chemically-scented oils that look good on your coffee table and sensor-sprays that waft that “vanilla dream” scent right into your face every time you walk into the room. You don’t even have to spray it yourself anymore. It literally just hits you!
Here at Health Scams Exposed, we thought this was pretty suspect. Granted most families are too busy to clean their home constantly, but what in the heck smells so bad that a continuous stream of artificial scent has to permeate every corner of your home 24 hours a day?
Nothing. That’s why air freshener is just a scam. It’s those commercials you see on TV and the advertisements you see in magazines.
Slowly, over time, you have been lead to believe that your home smells like a cross between a rotting trash pile and the business end of a whale and that you must, under pain of death, mask this hideous odor at all costs.
Nobody’s home smells like this and using artificial air fresheners every day is slowly killing you.
The Real Reason Air Fresheners “Smell Good”
It may surprise you to know that the air fresheners you use don’t actually make the odor in your home go away. Your home smells good when you use them because they actually change the way your nose perceives odors. A chemical called p-dichlorobenzene deadens the nerve cells in your nose by coating your nostrils in a type of film.
The Centers for Disease Control classifies p-dichlorobenzene as a “possible occupational carcinogen”. It has also been reported to cause asthma, allergy attacks, eye irritation, liver disease, kidney malfunction, gastrointestinal problems, and skin rash.
Dangerous Chemicals Lead to Mystery Symptoms
Do you suffer from frequent headaches, allergies, and stomach problems? Millions of people live with chronic pain and discomfort of one kind or another and are dependent on some of medication to get through the day. Your doctor may never have told you that your mystery symptoms may be as simple as a reaction to all the chemicals in your home.
Chemicals in scented air fresheners include:
- Phthalates
These plasticizers are powerful endocrine disruptors that have been known to contribute to male and female infertility in laboratory mice. Studies have shown that children exposed to phthalates in the womb have an increased risk of developing neurological and behavioral problems.
- Parabens
Research has shown that there is a direct link between the parabens found in deodorant and breast cancer in women. It is no better for you to breathe in artificial scents containing these dangerous chemicals either. Not only are parabens known carcinogens, they also contribute to the development of neurological problems, decreased immunity, gastrointestinal problems, and infertility.
- Formaldehyde
Formaldehyde is a preservative used in dead bodies; there is absolutely no reason for you to be breathing this stuff in while you’re alive. Side effects of this toxic poison include wheezing, coughing, throat irritation, burning skin and eyes, nausea, and stomach distress. The Environmental Protection agency has classified formaldehyde as a possible human carcinogen for over 20 years.
- Petrochemicals
Used in the manufacture of pesticides and air fresheners, petrochemicals cause breathing problems, headaches, chronic fatigue, suppressed thyroid function, nausea, weight gain, and neurological dysfunction.
- Benzene
This flammable, sweet-smelling chemical has a serious dark side. It is a know carcinogen that has been linked to the development leukemia and other blood cancers. Other dangerous side effects of this air freshener additive include anemia, low white blood count, and low platelet count, which can lead to internal bleeding.
How to Make Homemade Air Freshener
Synthetic air freshener is a toxic poison that should not be in your home. It is slowly doing neurological and immune system damage to you, your children, and even your pets. That doesn’t mean that you can’t freshen the air in your home, however. There are plenty of great-smelling natural air fresheners out there that will freshen up your home without the scary side effects.
These homemade air fresheners include:
Essential oils are commonly-used medicinally to heal minor ailments such as headaches and anxiety but they work perfectly as homemade air fresheners. When selecting essential oils, beware imposters. A lot of the oils sold in discount stores in the candle and potpourri aisle have chemicals in them too.
Instead, buy genuine essential oils at health food stores or online supplement stores. Lavender, sandalwood, vanilla, lemon, and cinnamon essential oils can be used with an electric or candle diffuser to freshen any room. Though some essential oils can be an expensive investment at the outset, a little goes a long way. It takes just a drop or two of oil to fill an entire room with an inviting aroma for hours!
- Baking Soda
For high-odor areas like bathrooms and kitchens, you can put a scoop or two of baking soda in a small plastic container and place it behind your toilet or garbage bin. Baking soda is a natural odor absorber and will pull the offending odor into itself so you won’t smell it. For best results, change the baking soda once per month.
- Coffee
You can use a scoop or two of coffee on the kitchen counter or in your trashcan liner to absorb odors before they become offensive. For most, coffee is an enjoyable and familiar smell that beats chemical air fresheners every time.
- Vinegar
To disinfect and deodorize any room in your house, forget about aresol spray; use white vinegar instead. Fill an empty spray bottle with one part white vinegar and four parts water. Spritz a fine mist of the mixture into any room to neutralize offensive odor.
- Simmered Fruit
Apples going bad? Don’t throw them out. Cut them up and simmer them along with some cinnamon sticks and vanilla to fill your whole home with the warm, inviting scent. You can use simmered fruit for two or three days before it starts to wither and needs to be replaced.
So many people suffer from debilitating stomachaches, headaches, and allergies and they don’t have to. Once you remove the toxic poisons in your home, both food and chemical, you’ll be amazed at how healthy your body was designed to feel.
When you use homemade air freshener, you’re not only keeping your family safe from disease, you’re doing your part to reduce your carbon footprint and live a cleaner, greener world for the next generation!
