It shouldn't be surprising that we're fans of making your own air freshener rather than buying one housed in plastic with an unlisted ingredients list. Most manufacturers of air fresheners don't disclose the chemicals or fragrances used in their products, so it's really anyone's guess what that little contraption might be puffing out every 15 minutes. Slate did a bit of investigating:
In 1985 scientists confirmed the breakdown of ozone in the stratosphere due to the chlorofluorocarbons, or CFCs, found in aerosal sprays, so manufacturers began to look to other methods of dispersing fragrance, most of which eventually settled on an automatic delivery system which utilized heat (and therefore, energy) or fans to evaporate or disperse the fragrance. Even though most companies don't disclose their ingredients, independent researchers have conducted their own tests on a variety of household air fresheners and found they contained alarming rates of phthalates (as found by Gina Solomon, a physician with the Natural Resources Defense Council), VOCs, and the hazardous air pollutant acetaldehyde, a probable human carcinogen.
The latter was a study conducted by University of Washington researcher Anne Steinemann. In response to Ms. Steinemann's work, both the Fragrance Materials Association (FMA) and the Research Institute for Fragrance Materials (RIFM) released statements addressing the issues raised in the study. The FMA [PDF] wrote that Steinemann "claims that, simply because certain chemicals are present in the analyzed products they pose a health risk to all consumers. This is hardly sound science, but rather more like crystal ball gazing and cannot be compared to the sound, independent four-step safety testing process outlined above, which is carried out by the fragrance industry."
The RIFM [PDF] stated that "much is made of the fact that a couple of materials listed by EPA as Hazardous Air Pollutants [HAP] may be found in fragrances. This ignores the fact that HAP designation is based on an assessment of an ingredient’s propensity to pollute the open atmosphere; such pollution is based not only on simple presence but also on concentration, because many chemicals—including water—have no harmful effects at low concentrations, but may have adverse effects at high concentrations. In fact, many HAPs are natural constituents of ambient air. The point is that the concentration of products people might potentially be exposed to indoors is far less than that required to classify them as a hazardous air pollutant."
Whether it's hazardous or not, there are enough questions presented here that it seems fair to say that prolonged and frequent use of these products may pose a health problem. And personally, since they don't smell nearly as good as a homemade remedy anyway, we don't think it justifies the risk.
Read it: Smells Like Green Spirit at Slate
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I see them as harmful (no matter how safe it might be possible to make them) in that they are completely frivolous and unnecessary. Nobody needs them, there's just a perceived need created by the manufacturer. If your garbage stinks, take it out! If your bathroom stinks, turn on the fan and clean it more often!
In my opinion, all the resources put into them, from start to finish, are wasted.
Totally agree with qhartman. So my question is, what do you do with 'legacy' items of this nature? (For example, when my now-husband and I moved in together, he brought along an assortment of room sprays and other chemical cleaning supplies.) If we throw them away, they end up in the environment regardless, so should we just USE them up and at least get the cleaning benefits out of them? If I don't want the possible toxins in our house, should I donate them to someone (or an organization?) who's not so paranoid? They've been sitting around under our sinks for years now.
Try keeping some coffee grounds in an open dish in the bathroom. We use them in the emergency room when patients have, ahem, blow-outs in bed or a bedside commode. Unused or used coffee grounds both work just fine (though wet grounds can start to mold after four or so days). And miraculously, the room will not smell like a coffee shop. I've also heard truckers use cans of coffee grounds to help de-stinkify trailers after hauling onions and such.
Trish1980, you could burn some essential oils in the bathroom when you have guests over. Or leave a matchbook in there. Strike a match and the smell will disappear. I agree with the first comments, too. It's a completely unnecessary product.
Coffee beans work wonders - we use then in a shop where people are smelling essential oil perfumes. Those things are strong, and if you don't use something everything starts to smell the same.
The other option if you really want a perfume spell is to use a reed diffuser. You can use homemade mixes of oils in them, and re-usable glass containers. They work on evaporation so they don't take any energy, and if you need an extra burst to cover up a smell, you just flip the reeds over.
@tasterspoon, I personally would try to donate them - if they keep sitting in their containers you might have corrosion/breakdown problems and have to throw them out anyway. Have you looked online for places in your area that might be able to safely recycle some of the containers, like air fresheners? They might also be able to safely dispose of the waste.
tasterspoon, you may want to check in your area for a hazardous waste disposal program. We have been able to get rid of all the old paint we had laying around, as well as old garden chemicals, spray paint cans, electronics, etc. - all for free. We looked it up through our city website. It was a big relief to us that we didn't have to use up these products that had been sitting around for years after we had switched our habits for cleaning, garden care, etc.
I have an older female cat and her poo STINKS, and she doesn't always make it to the litter. Other than finding that HORRIBLE febreeze - Can anyone suggest something that will help cut through STRONG odor like cat urine and that is safe to spray directly on rugs if needed?
I am going to see if having coffee in her litter room helps - I never knew coffee could do that. Then again, it IS the reason I wake up each day, I shouldn't be surprised at how awesome it is in other ways haha YEA COFFEE!