Fragrance Chemical Complexities and Overexposure, and the Health Implications

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I went to visit a friend of mine yesterday, and I saw a TV show named Big Brother Naija. I have heard people talk about it, but it has never gotten my attention because I feel it is a complete waste of time but since I was a visitor at my friend's home and they were actually, seeing the reality TV show, I grudgingly sat and was just seeing how they were living for the moment. While I was not fascinated by the event, something caught my attention. There was a lady referred to as Angel who wore about 6 cologne and perfumes and I wondered if she was actually safe with her actions. This got me to do a little bit of reading on the use of cologne or perfume and if it had any health impact.

A lot of people are fond of wearing colognes that they have numerous ones in their bags. Once they are done with any activity, they go straight to spraying, or using their deodorants, to help them have nice scents, covering the terrible smell they had prior to the application. So how much is too much with cologne?


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While I was studying, I saw a touching story of a woman named Louise Capewell, who found her 16-year-old son Jonathan unconscious on the floor as a result of a heart attack. He wanted to smell nice and ended up being a dead body. He had a high amount of Buthane, about 10x in his blood as well as the same amount of propane in the blood per liter whereas, the fatal dose of both propane and butane is 0.1mg per liter of blood.

Aside from Jonathan's case which occurred in 1998, recent studies have shown that over 100 people die in the United States from intentional inhalation of aerosols. Also in the UK in January, there was another headline of a 14-year-old, who died from inhaling deodorants. So what are the components of these deodorants that make them this toxic?

Most body sprays, although might have minor differences in ingredients, have common ones which are Butane, Propane, and Isobutane. Propane is a flammable gas and it is used for cooking and heating, and butane is used as a flammable fuel which is found in lighters and camping stoves. Butane and propane are used for deodorants because they have a higher vapor pressure helping to repressurize the space as the liquid exits the can.


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While Butane and propane have their effects, let me state that as with many things, concentration matters. Breathing in higher concentrations of any gas, even one as seemingly innocuous as oxygen can have dire consequences. When people spray deodorant in enclosed places, they change the composition of the air from 21% oxygen, 78% nitrogen, and 1% other gases, to having a higher amount of butane and propane due to a lack of ventilation.

A study looking at propane inhalation showed that participants who were exposed to propane at 100,000 ppm for 2 minutes experienced vertigo but didn't show any health risk at 10,000 for 10 minutes. So the higher the concentration of propane in the environment, the faster it gets to have heart failure. In an enclosed environment, propane replaces oxygen, leading to hypoxia.

Butane is also a crude by-product and it affects the body. Butane is a central nervous system depressant, which leads to depressed brain activities. Butane gets into the blood very fast and is able to pass the blood-brain barrier thereby leading to chronic headaches, depression, nose bleeds, cough, ataxia, loss of muscle coordination, shortness of breath, sinus infections, and so on. Excessive inhalation of butane can lead to kidney damage, liver damage, and brain damage which lead to chemical burns, and seizures. People can also have visual impairments.

Spraying deodorants in enclosed places and in large quantities to prevent choking as well as other health issues. First, I think the reason why a lot of people would just use these body sprays and deodorants is because they care about the nice sweet smell that is delivered and not the content of the spray. It is important to check the labels of the spray to see what composition made them. For a person who sprays excessively at once because they want to smell choky, there is a possibility of suffering from Sudden Sniffing Death Syndrome (SSDS), which can lead to cardiac arrhythmia where the heart begins to beat irregularly causing the heart to not pump blood which could trigger a heart attack.

So, what's the takeaway from this eye-opening discussion? It's clear that the allure of a pleasant fragrance shouldn't cloud our sense of judgment and reasoning to know the potential risks associated with its excessive use. Also, do not forget that checking product labels for their composition as well as doing research on them is very crucial.

Reference

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Indeed an eye opening fact @merrymercy
The other I was reading an article about cosmetics and thoughts of skin care specialist about their usage. Putting so many chemicals on your skin can be really dangerous.
Read and then use, take care of your skin and health.
Cheers

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