Air Fresheners, Or Are They?
For years I've prided myself on believing that I take a very natural approach to the wellness of me and my family. However, I recently ventured into the aromatherapy market and found out, much to my dismay, that I was wrong. One of the primary "no nos" was air fresheners. Let's not even get started with all the petrochemicals and other chemicals that are in our other products like lotion, shampoo, conditioners, household cleaners, laundry detergents, and well you get the picture.
However, I thought that air freshener weren't TOO bad, were they? Oh I was so wrong! I read an article recently by Lesley Grimwood, a registered aromatherapist and member of the Aromatherapy and Allied Practitioners Association. What I read convinced me further that aromatherapy is not just something to be taken lightly and sniffed at! I recommend you find her article and read it thoroughly. (Air Fresheners - Not To Be Sniffed At).
Unfortunately, now the word "aromatherapy" is being applied so loosely in our sales and marketing that "true" aromatherapy may have noses turned up at it because using quality essential oils cost quite a bit more. In fact, if you'll notice the word aromatherapy is being applied to so many things including, yes, air fresheners.
What I found out from Lesley Grimwood's article was that these so-called air fresheners are really just odor "disguisers" full of chemicals that are causing some maladies to occur in us. Since reading her article I really went proactive and decided that we would be ridding our home of all of these chemical-laden products. We did so in our yards, laundry products, cleaning, and now personal products. Every single one of the chemicals in these products, especially all the petrochemicals, invades our bodies and they don't leave unless we do a thorough detoxification! Our poor pets suffer even more because they can get the chemicals we use on our floors into their bodies through their feet!
Here's what was found in the Bristol University study on 14,000 pregnant women mentioned in Leslie Grimwood's article: those who used air fresheners daily suffered 25 percent more headaches than those who only used them once per week. It also reported a 19% increase in post-natal depression, and the babies suffered too. Those under 6 months who were exposed daily to the air fresheners suffered 30% more ear infections and 20 percent were more likely to suffer from diarrhea.
Further findings how found how these air fresheners that are supposed to make our homes smell better and in the commercials give us the impression that we will FEEL better, do almost the opposite actually. The findings showed that there was increased anxiety, tension, headaches, depression, insomnia, diarrhea, etc. THAT is supposed to make us feel better?
Well, I have found the better alternative to these horrible air fresheners - essential oils diffused through a cold-air diffuser or mixed with spring water in an amber glass spray bottle. The incredibly great thing is that when essential oils are diffused into the air they don't just make the air seem fresher, the air IS fresher. Different ones do different things but they do affect every facet of your body in a positive, healing way. The oils when diffused can be into every cell of your body within seconds.
The essential oils have adaptagenic qualities so that they seek out where they are needed in the body. An essential oil is the lifeforce of the plant similar to our blood and immune system so they adapt very well in our bodies. They don't harm our bodies like the chemicals in these air fresheners are doing. Rather, they are helping our bodies while cleaning the air. Yes, I say CLEANING. The air really IS fresh after a diffusing of your favorite essential oils into the air.
Essential oils oxygenate and detoxify the blood in our bodies simultaneously. They create an environment where pathogenic organisms cannot live! With all the chemicals we're getting into our bodies through all the products we have in our homes, in our yards, in our air, in our foods, our bodies are degenerating because they cannot get rid of these toxins without help. This then can lead to disease.
However, when we inhale the essential oils either through a diffuser or directly or even by applying them to our bodies (I even ingest orally some of the ones I use as does my husband and our dog) the oils cross the blood-brain barrier and clean out the petrochemicals!! They're the only known substances that are able to do this!! And you just thought they smelled good!
So the next time you want to freshen things up in your home, try an essential oil instead and have true clean air!