Dancing in Clean Air: Our
Fragrance-free Policy
The Seattle English
country dances are advertised as "fragrance free". This is because
about 15% of the general population and about 20% of our English country dance
community have adverse health effects from perfume and solvents, and become ill
from even small amounts of fragrance products. Reported adverse health effects
from perfume range from migraine headaches and asthma attacks to cardiac and
neurological symptoms, including permanent brain damage. This is not a
preference issue -- it is a serious health issue for a significant number
of people.
Please refrain from wearing
scented versions of the following products to dances:
|
perfume |
shampoo |
soap |
make-up |
|
cologne |
conditioner |
deodorant |
chapstick |
|
after-shave |
hair gel |
hand lotion |
hair spray |
In addition to
these products, consider that even your ball attire has the potential to
cause problems to other dancers, especially if it has been stored in mothballs,
if it has been recently dry-cleaned, or if you have worn it with cologne on a
previous occasion.
Safe products include:
|
Deodorant |
Tom's of Maine deodorant,
or the crystal Le Stick |
|
Shampoo |
Pure Essentials, Organic
Essence, Magic Botanicals |
|
Hair gel |
make your own from Knox
plain gelatin, Aloe Vero 80 |
|
Shaving cream |
Kiss My Face |
|
Laundry soap |
Country Save, Ecover |
|
Hand & body |
Grannies, Trader Joe’s
Fragrance Free, Alba Botanicals Fragrance Free Avoid those that are
cold-cream based |
(some of the brands listed above make fragranced
products also -- be sure to check the label)
In addition, hair-spray,
fabric softeners and dandruff shampoos (whether scented of not) can
trigger reactions in chemically sensitive people because of toxic contents.
Start reading the
label!
Products called
"unscented" may in fact contain fragrances! So, look at the list of
ingredients and choose products labelled "fragrance-free" instead. In
general, it is helpful to avoid anything with "fragrance" in the list
of ingredients. "Fragrance-free' is safer than "natural"
fragrances, many of which may contain toxic chemicals as preservatives.
By helping us to
stay healthy, you may be healthier too
Because of the
large number of people on the dance floor, even small amounts of scent on each
person add up quickly to intolerable amounts. Those of us with asthma and
chemical sensitivities can only attend if you help by wearing fragrance-free
products. Someone who is healthy this year may be tipped over the edge into
illness by small accumulations of fragrance, solvents and other chemicals in
doses thought to be safe. By changing to safe products, you can help insure
that this doesn't happen to you!