Fragrance: The New Secondhand Smoke? April 21, 2008 by
fragrancefighters
Do you remember when cigarette smoking was
typical on an airline flights?
I had my first airplane trip when I was five. My
excitement quickly changed when the noxious cloud of cigarette smoke
affected the dynamics of my plane trip. Back then I didn’t realize how
much I would grow to hate hearing the flight attendant announce “the
Captain has turned off the no-smoking signs and you are free to smoke.”
It seemed as if the entire plane lit up. My allergy to cigarette smoke
became immediately apparent. When we arrived in Montego Bay from Chicago
International I had a headache, was nauseous and had eyes that burned
non-stop. Mind you, I was very young, so youthful energy and excitement
helped me to rebound the very next day. However, I’d already learned a
hard lesson about myself and my sensitivities; and a harsh lesson about
travel in that era. I knew that I was going to be sick for the entire
trip home while people smoked on the plane. For the next twenty plus
years I had to endure both cigarette smoke and the resulting illness
when traveling by air. And it got more and more difficult to recover
each and every trip. Back then either no one knew or openly admitted the
dangers of exposure to secondhand smoke on airplanes. (Nan says: The
cigarette companies knew. This was a case of an entire planet’s
population choosing to live in denial!) Now, few doubt and even less
protest when confronted with evidence on the damage secondhand smoke has
on the lungs, heart, and brain and so on.
As I began working in the mid-70s the same challenge arose. I suffered
daily in the workplace. People smoked in almost any public place, and
there were no restrictions in most places of employment. In the early
80′s I worked in a crime lab in the Midwest (data entry; nothing like
CSI on TV). I worked the midnight shift, mainly in the enclosed,
intensely-air-conditioned-to-the-point-of-freezing room trapped with
cigarette smokers and their smoke. My first job in Los Angeles was
also at a small company doing data entry. Sometimes I would come to work
with a gas mask provided by a firefighter (and that’s a blog for
another day)! I wanted to make my point. By then, I was becoming less
and less able to tolerate cigarette smoke. When I made my first break
into “Corporate America” as a secretary at 24 years old, I hoped things
would be different. Not really! Cigarette smokers were everywhere. It
seemed each day provided a challenge.
When the “Big Boss” would come in from the corporate office in New York
things would worsen; he didn’t smoke cigarettes, he smoked cigars. I
quickly learned that when exposed to cigar smoke in close range, my
usual headaches became migraines, and my nausea went straight into
vomiting. After he’d made several trips to LA, this became intolerable. I
was taking sick time off in order to avoid dealing with cigar smoke!
What was worse–the five executives that I worked for were all afraid of
him. I would have no advocates for change in that group.
That’s when I found that I had to stand up for myself. Though this
wasn’t a complete skill set yet, I had learned a few scare tactics and
psych moves along the way. I first asked if I could speak to him
privately. As we went into an office I closed the door–and it’s an
amazingly powerful statement for the boss when his subordinate initiates
the closing of the door. (Nan says: Let’s hear it for those Jedi mind
tricks!)
Back to the story… I told
him every time he would come to our LA office and smoke his cigars I
would have go home ill. I simply asked him not to smoke in the office.
His reaction was surprising…and wonderful. “My wife makes me smoke
outside~~ I’m not allowed in the house with them,” he said of his
cigars. This man, my bosses were afraid to confront, was a cutie pie!
Whew!!!!!
Needless to say, I was more
than overjoyed when cigarette smoking was banned in the workplace in
the 1990s. Now it’s banned in most public places in Southern California.
Fragrance is truly “new secondhand smoke.”
My friend Nancie and I have read quite a few blogs and articles describing
fragrance as the “new secondhand smoke.” We’ve even mentioned it in this
blog. I quote the United States Access Board’s Board Policy to Promote
Fragrance Free Environments:
“There
are many people who experience unpleasant physical effects from scented
products, such as perfumes and colognes. However, there is a growing
number of people who suffer more severe reactions to these and many
other types of products and chemicals. This condition is known as
multiple chemical sensitivities (MCS) and involves people who have
developed an acute sensitivity to various chemicals in the environment.
People with MCS experience a range of debilitating physical reactions,
some even life-threatening, to chemicals used in a variety of products,
including fragrances and personal care products, deodorizers and
cleaners, pesticides, wall and floor coverings, and building materials.
Do you recognize the triggering agents and physical
reactions?
It’s a complex issue with a variety of triggering agents and physical
reactions. Different people are affected by different products in
different ways. The common factor is that the reaction, whatever the
type, is very strong and disabling. Information needs to be developed on
exactly what brings about such an acute sensitivity to certain
chemicals, how and why this happens, and what can be done about it.”
http://www.access-board.gov/the-board/policies/fragrance-free-environment
I didn’t know what to do during all those years of suffering due
to secondhand smoke in the workplace. From my research, the challenge
now exists with fragrances in the workplace, though many employers
maintain a fragrance-free policy. As the world gets more and more toxic,
more and more people are impacted by fragrances. Fragrance is
everywhere. From cleaning products used in the workplace, schools,
restaurants and public restrooms; to personal use in perfumes, lotions
and hand soap. People in the workplace are not just bombarded by
co-workers’ perfume, a plug-in air freshener used to mask other odors
can be even more offensive. I generally work from home, but recently I
had to go into my real estate office to pick up paperwork. I had to call
ahead and have them unplug the air freshener. And it is always a
challenge going to office meetings because of the mushroom cloud of
fragrance that hangs in the air.
What is the Job Accommodation Network (JAN)?
If
you are experiencing challenges in the workplace you can check out the
Job Accommodation Network (JAN). JAN is a free consulting service
designed to increase the employability of people with disabilities by
providing information on individualized accommodations, providing
technical assistance on the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), and
information on self employment. Please see the article
Accommodation and Compliance Series: Employees with Fragrance Sensitivity by Tracie DeFreitas Saab, MS of the Job Accommodation Network at their website
http://www.jan.wvu.edu/media/fragrance.html.
JAN can help accommodate employees with fragrance sensitivities, can
provide examples of fragrance-free workplace policy statements and has
other resources.
There is a contact page for
employers that have established a fragrance-free environment seeking
employees and also employees seeking fragrance-free environments at
scentfreesavvylife.com. Please
email us at scentfreesavvy@gmail.com if you are either.
