![]() “Read the instructions on the side of the bottle and be sure you are spraying the recommended amount,” says Dr. When it comes to using these products around our pets, a little information is your best defense. “Also, birds are more sensitive to potential airborne toxins than are other animals, so I generally recommend a ‘better safe than sorry’ approach with the use of air fresheners around them.” Jennifer Coates of Fort Collins, Colorado. ![]() ![]() If you simply have to have essential oils in the home, make sure they are kept in a location where your pets cannot come into direct contact with them,” says veterinarian Dr. “Essential oils, which are included in many air freshener products, can be very toxic, especially to cats. Essential oils are also defined as volatile, and while these substances are extracted from flowers, bark, berries, roots, seeds, and woods, and do have some potential medicinal and positive effects, they can still be very toxic to people and animals, particularly when they are used improperly. For “green” products, emissions of these compounds were not significantly different from the other products.” Natural Alternatives to Air Fresheners: Are Essential Oils Safer?įor the air freshener industry, the latest catch phrase is “essential oils.” Despite this natural-sounding name, these products are by no means entirely safe. federal laws, and each product emitted at least one of these compounds. Of these 133 VOCs, 24 are classified as toxic or hazardous under U.S. Some VOCs can cause cancer in animals some are suspected or known to cause cancer in humans.Īnd in a study published in the Environmental Impact Assessment Review, testing of top selling air fresheners and laundry detergents “found 133 different VOCs emitted from the 25 products, with an average of 17 VOCs per product. Headaches, loss of coordination, lethargy and nauseaĭamage to liver, kidney and central nervous system According to the Environmental Protection Agency, the health effects of VOCs may include: These substances can cause a laundry list of maladies. You wouldn’t open a can of paint in your living room to improve the quality of the air, but this isn’t too far removed from what happens when you break out an air freshener. Unfortunately, this is the same volatility that occurs in paints and varnishes, fossil fuels, benzene, formaldehyde, refrigerants, aerosol propellants, cigarette smoke, and the dry-cleaning process. In other words, volatility is just how air fresheners are meant to behave: dissipate into the air, thereby changing its scent. This transformation is called volatility. This causes these compounds to easily turn into gasses or vapors from a solid or liquid form. VOCs are organic chemicals that have a high vapor pressure at room temperature. Mahaney, one of the main offenders in the ingredient list for most air fresheners are volatile organic compounds (VOC). The Ingredients That Makes Air Fresheners Dangerous for PetsĪccording to Dr. Sadly, some forms of air fresheners can be quite toxic, especially to animals (and children!) who might ingest the substances or not have the wherewithal to avoid parts of the home where they’ve been used. “If we are putting some kind of chemical into the air merely to mask scents, then we have to be concerned about the negative implications for our pets,” says holistic veterinarian Dr. However, there are some ways to play it safe when using these products in the home. So, do pet owners need to forever do away with their room sprays, plug-ins, candles, oils, and solids? That’s a question that’s not so easily answered. Some of the things we do to improve our environment, such as cleaning or using chemical air fresheners, can pose dangers to our animal friends, whether furry, feathered, or scaled. But unlike children, instead of this being a temporary obligation, it’s something we’ll need to do throughout the lives of our pets. Reviewed and updated for accuracy on by Jennifer Coates, DVMĪs parents and caregivers, one of the earliest lessons we learn is the concept of “baby-proofing”-keeping toxic substances and dangerous situations well out of the way of our children.
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