Struggling… everywhere stinks! Toxic scent - is it just me?

[Strawbaler]

Is it just me or has the toxic fug of perfumed scents in everyday life reached unbearable levels?

I am fortunate to live in the countryside and work from home, but when I go into urban/busy places it can be headache inducing…

Toilets with chemical fresheners (especially the ones that squirt perfume periodically) make me feel ill

The smell from the washing powder aisle in the supermarket is so strong I rush through it as fast as I can

I feel that in the last ten years or so, the technology to make powerful, long-lasting scents has spread to everything.

I know there are links between chemical scents & phthalates etc and cancers, so I personally go out of my way to find unscented products, but it’s hard to avoid them in everyday life

I can smell my neighbours washing line from 75 meters away, that can’t be right?!

Is it just me?

Kind of agree, last couple of years I seem to keep smelling weed and it's rancid. Does make me wonder why police have sniffer dogs when the smell is so obvious and repugnant.....agree with the rest.

Are you peri menopausal/ menopausal?

I feel the same 😣

Everywhere in my town stinks of weed, so some of the smells you describe would be a welcome improvement here.

I think I'm practically nose blind to it all but when I was pregnant it's like it suddenly hit me. I couldn't walk down the soap powder aisle or the meat aisle. I couldn't cook half the food I would normally cook and really struggled working as a waitress. I nearly fainted once cooking mince. I literally had to turn everything off and go and sit in the sitting room.

I think some people have a better sense of smell than others though. Amwhen getting public transport I think some people have little to none sence of smell, people smelling of aftershave, perfume, BO, cigarettes or cannabis. 🤮

Yes it seems prevalent

Only time I've ever felt like that was when I was pregnant.

Anything with chemicals in made me retch and physically sick

Shampoo
Cleaning things
Perdume
Shower gel etc

It all game me awful headaches

Some of those smells still make me retch now!

Life limiting in two ways

1. it is next to impossible to be part of society. Many people with these conditions can’t hold jobs. I am only gainfully employed because I wfh exclusively. I can’t take public transportation. Often when I try to do something simple like run an errand I end up having to leave before anaphylaxis sets in or I pay the price with a multi-week rash and steroid treatments.
2. sometimes doctors are not able to get the symptoms under control. There was a point where my entire body was covered in rash for months. I was fantasizing about flaying off my own skin. Suicide rates are higher for people in this group because the pain and sleep deprivation can become unbearable. Thankfully there are new medications that are working miracles, but the more airborne exposure there is, the harder it gets to keep safe.

@Ormally

i use an app called SkinSafe. You check which categories you want to avoid or request a custom allergy code and it will tell you which products match your criteria.

I cannot fathom the stink people cover themselves with, cheap disgusting perfume and fabric softener, aftershave. Is it to cover up poor personal hygiene? It's a real health hazard, there needs to be more research into this and cancer, SIDS, lung complaints.

I am allergic to all perfumes, it has got a lot worse post menopause and allergies do sometimes get worse. But the scent used seems far less subtle. Air fresheners make me ill and are the worst, they are being linked to asthma and other health issues.

@RabbitFurCoat I use Tesco non bio powder, doesn’t seem to smell of anything.

My friend uses those scented bead things in his wash. They absolutely stink- it makes me feel sick to the point that being near him is difficult.

Agree in a clothes/gift shop today and the scent was overpowering.

I find a lot of washing products too strong as well and prefer more natural or subtle scents.

A lot of people don’t seem to have a good sense of smell now, possibly Covid related?

I have to get the lift at work due to knee problems and omg the stench in it sometimes is woeful. I would love if some of these men would have a shower/change their clothes once in a while! And the smell of cigarette smoke off some people is absolutely revolting. Any kind of perfume or antiperspirant would be an improvement!

That’s what I smell! Musty damp clothing, body odour, smelly feet, tonsil stones

Possibly your sense of smell has changed due to peri or menopause?? Many women report an enhanced sense of smell, myself included. Before I googled it I became convinced that I suddenly reeked of sweat, my feet smelled, the house smelled, cooking odours were overpowering, men's aftershave was way over the top etc, where before I never particularly noticed any of it.

Thanks to this thread I have been rereading a book about perfumes, written by someone who was a surgeon and afterwards, a wine maker (and wine taster).

A couple of things coming out of the book are that some smells can cause an immune reaction, though it doesn't say which. Also that some perfume molecules react in air to produce aldehydes or formaldehydes, and these can make trouble for reactions that are similar to allergies, especially in the case of certain thyroid malfunctions such as Hashimotos, I think. A few things may be pointing to thyroid, for me.

Totally agree with you. Given there's research linking phthalates with cancer and hormone disruption, it's beyond me why detergent manufacturers would include phthalate in their products, especially knowing that our children are walking around wearing clothes, and sleeping in bedding, washed in this substance.
When our neighbour does washing we can smell her detergent - while others may not be affected by perfume enhanced detergent we are, experiencing irritated sinuses (noses on 🔥), sneezing fits, and headaches - besides which it's beyond me why walking around smelling of nasty perfume is so desirable - I mean, would anyone, if any of those perfumes were bottled and marketed, spend £s to buy?

It’s just you.

Don't smell any air freshners in toilets, where is this.
I was just thinking toilets stink and are horrible. It would be nice to smell a nice scent instead of wee and crap.

It’s not just you. Most fabric softeners make me gag and strong perfume and aftershave give me headaches. I have told my breath to walk past Lush shops.

There’s so much toxic shite in everyday stuff, it’s no wonder our endocrine systems are all over the place and cancers are increasing.

www.breastcancer.org/risk/risk-factors/exposure-to-chemicals-in-cosmetics

Hey, have you read the book "sensitive" by Andre solo and Jenn granneman? You may just be one of the one on three people who is "sensitive" and, like many of us, is overwhelmed by smells as well as other sensory stimulations...