Key Takeaways:
- Learn about common carcinogens in perfumes, why it matters, and what to look out for
- Understand what endocrine disruptors are and how they harm overall health
- Explore Tabor + Olive’s line of perfumes without endocrine disruptors, and the ingredients and ethics that set us apart
Perfume has a very long history that is as sophisticated as the product itself. In fact, perfume has been celebrated for millennia, as is evidenced in ancient texts, including in numerous Bible passages that speak to perfume’s importance both for daily life and as a means of creating poetic allegory. Perfume has the power to evoke some of our most cherished memories with just one spritz or a gentle breeze, taking us back to the biggest events of our life as well as those everyday moments with a loved one.
However, behind far too many of those gentle scents are dirty little secrets: some ingredients in perfumes include carcinogens and other dangerous toxins, wreaking havoc on your health and wellbeing. However, there is some good news here: more people are waking up to these dangers and are demanding better, and more artisans are stepping up to meet that demand.
Read on for more information about the benefits of perfumes without endocrine disruptors, carcinogens, and other toxins, and what to look for instead from Tabor + Olive.
Carcinogens in Perfume: Why It Matters
Scientists are sounding the alarm about the dangers lurking in common household items and beauty products. After all, many companies will protect their “trade secrets” more than their trusting consumers. Those elegant words like “fragrance” or “parfum” are allowed to mask synthetic substances.
Behind those labels lurk ingredients like petroleum and petrochemicals, mutagens, and hormone and endocrine disruptors in their perfumes, without having to disclose anything.
What exactly are endocrine disruptors?
It’s imperative to find a good perfume without endocrine disruptors. Endocrine disruptors, sometimes referred to as endocrine-disrupting chemicals (EDCs), are chemicals that attack your endocrine system by altering and mimicking the production of natural hormones in your body. Some impact your thyroid as well as how your body produces insulin, disrupting your appetite and metabolism. Others harm reproductive hormones, while others still target your body’s ability to produce melatonin, interrupting your natural sleep cycle; all of it is bad for your long term health.
Common Carcinogens and Endocrine Disruptors
One of the worst of all is that some of these endocrine disruptors are also known or suspected carcinogens, meaning they can cause cancer by altering otherwise healthy cells and literally changing you at the molecular level. The kinds of carcinogens in perfume can include:
- Phthalates: These are notoriously called “everywhere chemicals” and “plasticizers.”
- Parabens: Like phthalates, parabens are endocrine disruptors that especially threaten reproductive hormones and organs.
- Triclosan: Similar to parabens, they are often added to prevent bacterial growth. Also like parabens, triclosan is a suspected endocrine and hormone disruptor.
- Synthetic musks: Not only does the name sound unappealing, but we could certainly do without these endocrine disruptors in perfume for many reasons. Synthetic musks replace traditionally animal-derived ingredients, and include toxic chemicals like ketones, tonalides, and xylene. They can be damaging to organs including the lungs, liver, brain, and reproductive organs.
- Mercury: This element is infamous for how lethal it can be; in smaller doses over time, they can cause cognitive problems and severely damage your liver, kidneys, and, ironically, your skin.
Just as sadly, many of these carcinogens in perfumes bioaccumulate, meaning they do not break down into the environment.
Ironically, the only natural thing are feelings of worry and mistrust about what could be lurking in those innocent-looking crystal bottles. After all, even “luxury” and designer brands do this to cut costs, manufacturing perfumes with endocrine disruptors, and without any regard for anything but their bottom line. This in turn creates a market that lowers the standard for all of us, and one that we at Tabor + Olive strive to disrupt.