Alarm over fresheners

The EU’s scientific committee on health and environmental risks has recommended that air fresheners may pose unknown health risks to consumers and says their emissions should be subject to further research. It warns that emissions from air fresheners contain many more compounds than those assessed.

“Several of these could give rise to health effects,” warned the committee. It added that several main emitted compounds - for instance volatile organic compounds (VOCs), benzene, formaldehyde and terpenes such as limonene - “may undergo reactions (eg with ozone, hydroxyl or nitrate radicals) to form new compounds with other effects”. It also said there could be combined effects between some of these substances, warning “the knowledge in this field is so far very limited”.

The committee said further studies were needed on air freshener emissions and their use, notably focusing on compounds between different elements.