Q&A: Scent Strip Advertisements

Lourdes Salvador's Column ...Co-founder of MCS America discusses the latest Multiple Chemical Sensitivity issues.

 

Q&A: Scent Strip Advertisements

 

by Lourdes Salvador

 

 

Q: I’m having a problem with scented ads ruining my newspaper. The fragrance permeates the whole paper and I have to throw it out. What can I do?

 

A: Many publications are startled by the outcry from subscribers when they include scent strips. Supposedly, scent strips don’t have a smell until they are opened by the reader. However, the strips are known for leaking powerful fragrances even before they are activated.

 

More progressive catalogues, newspapers, and magazines have a call list for subscribers who want to be notified when there is going to be anything scented in the publication. Others have a separate scent free edition for customers who wish to receive the ads without the fragrance.

 

If your publication does not have a scent free list or notification service, request that they start one. The more that publishers hear from their readers, the more likely they are to offer scent free options. Or, better yet, they may leave the scents out altogether.

 

Also, write a letter to the advertiser who purchased the scented ad and let them know you are unhappy with it. Many scent manufacturers will deny their scents escape the sealed scent strips or that they can be unpleasant or have negative health effects, but don’t let this stop you. It’s important that these companies hear from masses of people, lest they continue to poison the country with their ads.

 

Some points to remember:

 

1. Fragrances are made from 3,000– 5, 000 unregulated chemicals, 80% of which have not been tested for human safety.

 

2. Fragrance chemicals have been shown in studies to induce neurotoxicity. Neurotoxicity increases with repeatedly exposed to fragrance products.

 

3. Most all fragrance chemicals contain many of the same toxins as in cigarette smoke.

 

4. Fragrance chemicals are solvent-based and contain formaldehyde, benzene, toluene and phthalates, the hormone-disrupting chemicals that are implicated in birth defects.

 

5. Fragrances invade the airspace of others without their permission.

 

If each of us were to spend a few short minutes a day calling our elected representatives and the companies making and using fragranced products, we would create a very loud voice towards encouraging them to stop poisoning the planet and human life.

 

 

 

For more articles on this topic, see: MCSA News.

 

Copyrighted 2009 Lourdes Salvador & MCS America

 

 

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