Whether you want your house to smell like clean laundry or a meadow at dawn, rest assured—there’s an air freshener for that. But did you know that your sweet-smelling home may be damaging your health?

Over the past decade, scientists have been studying the effects of common chemicals found in your kitchen and elsewhere in your home. What they found: Many common household air fresheners may have harmful side effects.

One-quarter of the ingredients in air fresheners are classified as toxic or hazardous.

According to Anne Steinemann, a professor of civil engineering at the University of Melbourne who has extensively studied the health impacts of fragranced household products, one-quarter of the ingredients in air fresheners are classified as toxic or hazardous.

“Ultimately your risk depends on exposure,” she says. “You don’t have to have symptoms. Just because it doesn’t kill you, it doesn’t mean it’s not harming you. Some effects are not immediately obvious.”

Should you be worried about using air fresheners?

While it’s been established that air freshening products contain hazardous chemicals and that these chemicals are present in the air where you use them, not every researcher believes the average exposure will cause you harm.

Kent Pinkerton, director of the Center for Health and the Environment at the University of California Davis, specializes in inhalation toxicology and studies the health impact of particles present in outdoor and indoor environments.

“I’m not sure that we should say air fresheners should be banned from use,” says Pinkerton. “We don’t really have solid evidence of that. But certainly, some of the chemicals that have been measured from air fresheners should draw caution.”

For perspective on this issue, think about what your lungs experience daily, says Pinkerton. “Our lungs are designed as a filter,” he says. “In a typical day, even on the cleanest day, we will breathe into our lungs millions of particles, and yet we are perfectly fine. Either the particles are not toxic or we filter them out.”

Health risks associated with air fresheners

Air fresheners, especially those containing certain chemicals and ingredients, can pose several health risks. Some of the potential health risks associated with air fresheners include:

  1. Respiratory Irritation: Air fresheners can release volatile organic compounds (VOCs), such as formaldehyde and benzene, which can irritate the respiratory system, leading to symptoms like coughing, sneezing, wheezing, and throat irritation.
  2. Asthma and Allergy Exacerbation: People with asthma or allergies may be particularly sensitive to the chemicals in air fresheners. The fragrances and other compounds can trigger asthma attacks or worsen allergy symptoms.
  3. Headaches and Dizziness: Prolonged exposure to certain chemicals found in air fresheners, such as phthalates and VOCs, has been associated with headaches and dizziness.
  4. Hormone Disruption: Some air fresheners contain phthalates, which are known endocrine disruptors that may interfere with hormone regulation and could be particularly concerning for pregnant women and children.
  5. Increased Sensitivity: Long-term exposure to synthetic fragrances in air fresheners may lead to a heightened sensitivity to chemicals, a condition known as multiple chemical sensitivity (MCS).
  6. Indoor Air Pollution: Air fresheners can contribute to indoor air pollution by releasing various chemicals into the air, which can negatively impact overall indoor air quality.
  7. Adverse Effects on Children: Children, especially infants and young children, may be more vulnerable to the health risks associated with air fresheners due to their developing respiratory systems and potential exposure through inhalation or skin contact.
  8. Environmental Impact: Some air fresheners contain chemicals that can contribute to outdoor air pollution when they are released into the atmosphere.

It’s important to note that not all air fresheners are equally harmful, and some manufacturers produce products with reduced or minimal health risks. Choosing air fresheners labeled as “natural,” “VOC-free,” or “phthalate-free” may be safer alternatives.

Which air fresheners are toxic?

If you do use air fresheners, consider the possibility that products that contain these toxic chemicals may not be recommended:

Volatile organic compounds

Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) are airborne gas byproducts emitted by a wide array of household products, from paints to disinfectants and automotive products, says the Environmental Protection Agency. The most prevalent VOCs classified as toxic or hazardous in fragranced air fresheners are acetone, ethanol, d-limonene, pinene, and acetate, according to a 2015 study authored by Steinemann and published in Air Quality, Atmosphere & Health.

Depending on your exposure and sensitivity, toxic VOCs can produce a range of health effects, including eye, nose, and throat irritation, nausea and headaches, and even damage to liver, kidney and central nervous system, says the EPA, which offers a complete list of symptoms.

“The most common chemicals in fragrance mixtures are terpenes (limonene, pinene, etc), and they have inherent toxicity,” says Steinemann. “When they react with ozone in the air, they generate a range of secondary pollutants, like formaldehyde and ultra fine particles. Ultra fine particles have been linked with heart and lung disease, and respiratory difficulties.”

To minimize your exposure to VOCs, the EPA recommends increasing ventilation when using products that emit VOCs, meeting or exceeding any label precautions, and throwing away unused or little-used containers safely. For more VOC safety information, visit EPA.gov.

Formaldehyde

The scientific community seriously examined air freshener safety about a decade ago. Studies revealed that an abundance of potentially dangerous chemicals and chemical byproducts—such as formaldehyde—are released with each perfumed puff.

A 2015 study published in the journal Science of The Total Environment assessed the health risks of breathing in those chemicals in a realistic scenario: In a home while using other household products that contain the same ingredients.

Researchers found that electric air fresheners release significant formaldehyde emissions on their own (17% of the Critical Exposure Limit or CEL), and that combined with seven other common household products (such as all-purpose cleaning agents and furniture/floor polish), your exposure to formaldehyde can reach 34% of the CEL in just 30 minutes.

“Formaldehyde is a known carcinogen,” says Dr. Steinemann. “As for symptoms, you may experience eye, nose, and throat irritation, coughing, wheezing, bronchitis, and dizziness.” Reactions and reaction severity depend on your individual sensitivity, she explains.

Before you throw away all your household cleaners and scented sprays, consider this statement made by one of the study authors, Dr. Ovnair Sepai, Principal Toxicologist at Public Health England’s Centre for Radiation, Chemical and Environmental Hazards, in response to the media uproar about air freshener: “The use of scented candles and other household cleaners is not a public health concern under normal ventilation conditions or product use.”

“You increase your risk when you combine products with fragrance, such as cleaning products, hand sanitizer, laundry products.”

According to the World Health Organization, other indoor sources of formaldehyde include: resins found in particleboard and plywood, paints, varnishes, household cleaning products, cosmetics, and more.

“When using any chemical mixture with another, there’s the potential of a more adverse reaction” says Dr. Steinemann. “You increase your risk when you combine products with fragrance, such as cleaning products, hand sanitizer, laundry products.”

Worried about formaldehyde exposure in your home? Formaldehyde air testing kits and monitors are available at numerous retailers. “Formaldehyde is one of the few indoor air pollutants that can be readily measured, says EPA.gov. “Identify, and if possible, remove the source. If not possible to remove, reduce exposure by using a sealant on all exposed surfaces of paneling and other furnishings.”

Phthalates

If your pregnant daughter-in-law or young grandchildren spend a lot of time at your house, you might reconsider your home-deodorizing habit.

In a 2007 study of 14 home air fresheners, the NRDC found that 12 of them contained phthalates, including “all-natural” and “unscented” varieties. Phthalates, which are used to dissolve and carry fragrance, are linked to changes in hormone levels, poor semen quality, birth defects and reproductive harm, says the NRDC report. Furthermore, a type of phthalate called Di(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate, which is found in scented products like air freshener, is “reasonably anticipated to be a human carcinogen,” according to the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

1,4 dichlorobenzene

One of the primary ingredients in mothballs, room deodorizer, and urinal cakes, 1,4 dichlorobenzene (1,4 DCB) has been implicated in two serious health concerns: The compound may cause “modest reductions in lung function,” according to the NIH, and lifetime exposure has resulted in liver cancer in mice, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

“Even a small reduction in lung function may indicate some harm to the lungs,” said NIEHS researcher Stephanie London, M.D., lead investigator on the study, in an NIH News article. “The best way to protect yourself, especially children who may have asthma or other respiratory illnesses, is to reduce the use of products and materials that contain these compounds.”

Who shouldn’t use air fresheners

When considering the potential health risks of using a product like air fresheners, you have to consider the weakest links. In this case, that means people whose lungs are already susceptible (such as asthma sufferers or people with COPD) and children.

People with lung problems

For people with seasonal allergies, chronic asthma, COPD, or a common cold, air freshener is a definite no-no, says Janna Tuck, M.D., a practicing allergist in Cape Girardeau, MO, and a spokesperson for the American College of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology.

“For people with seasonal allergies, chronic asthma, COPD, or a common cold, air freshener is a definite no-no.”

“Plugins, sprays, candles, any fragrance — all contain irritants to the airways,” says Dr. Tuck. “Patients who have asthma, COPD, or allergic rhinitis, they already have inflammation, so irritants can exacerbate the problem.”

A 2011 news report released by the American College of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology linked the VOCs in air fresheners with a 34% increase in health problems in people with asthma. “The example I use is, if you don’t smoke and you go into place with smoke, do you get stuffy?” says Dr. Tuck. “And if you already have a cold, how much stuffier do you get? If you’re sensitive enough to these VOCs, they can cause permanent damage. As an allergist, I don’t recommend that any of my patients use air fresheners.”

Kids

“Kids don’t have a complete metabolic system—they can’t process things the way adults do,” says Pinkerton, who is also a professor in the department of pediatrics at the U.C. Davis School of Medicine. “Whatever is in the air, a child may have as many as 30 times greater exposure because of their size and their level of activity.”

In the end, Pinkerton believes it’s important for people to consider the risks, so they can make the best choice for their health and that of their family. “Our great concern is long-term exposures,” which, he says, haven’t been properly studied for air fresheners. “If we use air fresheners for years and years, is that a potential risk?”

How to get a great-smelling home with natural air fresheners

If you’re worried about the health effects of VOCs, phthalates, and other toxic chemicals in air fresheners, but you still want your home to smell like something, stick to natural sources, says Dr. Steinemann. “If you really want an aroma, brew mint tea or grind up a fresh orange,” she suggests. “Only natural, pure sources will be free of chemicals. Even essential oils emit similar chemicals to air fresheners.”

Another way to freshen up your home: Just open the windows. “Why use an air freshener at all? It’s not designed to clean and disinfect the air; it’s a chemical mixture that masks odor,” says Dr. Steinemann. “The best smell is no smell. That means your house really is clean.”

This is an update by Hella Staff to an article previously published in April 2019 written by Sara Schwartz.