The Smell of Clean Is No Smell: Why Air Fresheners Are The Mask of Poor Performance and the Health and Productivity Risk they pose

When Your Cleaner Contractor Leaves a Health Problem Behind

When you last walked into a commercial facilities bathroom; your office, school, hospitality or healthcare and you were hit with the strong smell of “clean” fragrance.  The aerosol of synthetic fragrance on the wall working harder than an ant colony trying to keep the mask on the room's face.  

For many facilities and operations it has become the norm and a “signal” the room is clean. 

What is the deeper meaning of our reliance on these fragrance products in our businesses?  In most cases they are signs of:

1. The problem of odour either can’t or hasn’t solved by the product currently being used

2. The problem is only going to get worse until something changes

3. There is a hygiene problem -

1. These odours generally arise from microbial activity — bacteria and mould metabolising organic matter

4. The problem might be deeper - it could be build-up down drains, in grout, down urinals or in other hard to reach places.

When a cleaning contractor reaches for an air freshener rather than eliminating that source, they are not finishing the job. They are masking evidence that the job hasn't been done to a high and hygienic quality - and in doing so, they are introducing a second layer of chemical risk on top of the first.

Let’s Talk About Our Health. VOC’s, Undisclosed Ingredients and Potential Carcinogen’s

The health case for solving the source of these odours and minimisation of air fresheners begins with what they actually contain - and what their manufacturers are not required to tell you. 

Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) are chemicals that readily evaporate into the air at room temperature. 

Air fresheners are, by design, VOC delivery systems. Therefore the questions to ask are:

• Which VOCs,

• At what concentrations

• With what health consequences?

Research by Professor Anne Steinemann of the University of Washington — published in Environmental Impact Assessment Review (2009) and followed by multiple subsequent studies — provided some of the most rigorous evidence on this question. 

Analysing 25 common fragranced consumer products, Steinemann's team:

• Identified 133 different VOCs emitted across the product range, averaging 17 VOCs per product. 

• Of those 133 compounds, 24 were classified as toxic or hazardous under U.S. federal law. 

• Nearly half (44%) of the products tested generated at least one carcinogenic Hazardous Air Pollutant — including acetaldehyde, 1,4-dioxane, formaldehyde, and methylene chloride. 

• The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) considers these compounds to have no safe exposure level.

Perhaps most alarming is what appears on the label. Of the 133 VOCs detected across those 25 products, only ethanol was listed on any product label — appearing on just two products. Steinemann's earlier work on six best-selling air fresheners and laundry products found that nearly 100 VOCs were identified across the six products, yet not one was listed on any product label.

This is not an accident or an oversight. It is legal. No regulation in New Zealand, Australia, or the United States requires the full disclosure of chemical ingredients in consumer fragrance products. A single listed ingredient — "fragrance" or "parfum" — can legally represent a formulation of dozens or even hundreds of individual chemicals. 

A 2020 study published in Air Quality, Atmosphere & Health (Steinemann et al.) analysed 12 car air fresheners and identified 546 VOC occurrences, representing 275 distinct VOC identities. Among these, compounds classified as potentially hazardous included acetaldehyde and methanol. Notably, there was no significant difference in hazardous VOC emissions between products marketed as "green" or "natural" and conventional products. "Natural" or "essential oil" formulations are not exempt — they emit terpenes such as limonene and alpha-pinene which, in the presence of ozone (commonly found indoors), react to generate secondary pollutants including formaldehyde and ultrafine particles.

A few highlight (or lowlight) ingredients that are of higher concern:

Benzene derivatives: Benzene is classified as a Group 1 carcinogen by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), meaning the evidence for carcinogenicity in humans is sufficient. Long-term exposure is associated with blood disorders including leukaemia. Its carcinogenic mechanism involves DNA damage and oxidative stress leading to cellular mutation.

Terpene reaction products: Limonene and alpha-pinene are widely used in fragranced products for their citrus and pine scents. On their own they are relatively low-risk, but when they react with indoor ozone they generate secondary pollutants including formaldehyde — a Group 1 carcinogen (IARC) — and ultrafine particles capable of penetrating deep into lung tissue.

Phthalates: Used as fragrance fixatives and carrier chemicals in many air freshener formulations, phthalates are endocrine disruptors. Research published in Occupational and Environmental Medicine (Hauser & Calafat, 2005) linked phthalate exposure to reproductive and developmental effects.

Hazardous Air Pollutants (HAPs): Steinemann's analysis identified three HAPs — acetaldehyde, chloromethane, and 1,4-dioxane — in air freshener products. These compounds are subject to regulatory controls when emitted by industrial facilities. No equivalent regulation governs their presence in consumer products sold on supermarket shelves.

The University of Massachusetts Environmental Health and Safety department summarises the position clearly: studies comparing "green" air fresheners with conventional products have found that all air fresheners, regardless of natural or organic claims, emit potentially hazardous compounds, and that emissions from green formulations are not found to be significantly different from others.

What About a Business Case?

The Productivity Drain and Cognitive Function Effects of VOC’s?

What about business and how is it affecting your bottom line? I’m not talking about the cost of the can.

The implications of poor indoor air quality extend well beyond health compliance. The science linking VOC exposure to impaired cognitive function is now robust enough to carry business productivity consequences.

Two key studies simply tell the story:

A Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health study in 2015, published in the journal Environmental Health Perspectives (Allen et al.), assessed cognitive function scores in workers exposed to different indoor environmental quality (IEQ) conditions. The findings were striking: “On average, cognitive scores were 61% higher on the Green building day and 101% higher on the two Green+ building days than on the Conventional building day (p < 0.0001). VOCs and CO2 were independently associated with cognitive scores.”

A study analysing the use of household chemicals and their association with cognitive function of older Chinese adults (Y. Wang et al, 2024) reviewed a range of common chemicals on cognitive function.  Exposure to Air fresheners found the worst results over the chemicals tested with the sample group.  With an OR of 2.48 with frequent exposure; showing a 148% increase in frequency of decreased function. 

What does this mean in practice? Scented products including air fresheners are a primary source of VOC loading in commercial indoor environments.  Reduced cognitive performance manifests as slower decision-making, increased error rates, and difficulty with strategic thinking.    That’s a direct cost to your business and staff performance.    Especially after you pay the bill to put these VOC dispensers on the wall in your bathroom, kitchen or staff area.

So How Can We Throw Away Our Dependence on the Fragrance Masks?

The simple step one - We have to get to the source of the odour and eliminate it, remove it out of the system.  

This doesn’t require heavier chemistry and stronger solutions; it takes smarter chemistry.

These sources can be on the surface, in porous material (grout), down cracks in flooring or around toilets, joinery or down drains, toilets and urinals to name a few.

Biotechnology Chemistry like Probiotic Cleaning products harness nature to get to the source rather than harsh chemistry.  Hypagreen’s beneficial bacteria and our OdourIQ technology will work for you rather than against your team..

Air Ventilation is a great tool; whether it is opening a window or controlled ventilation and positive pressure, it all adds value; Terri-Ann Berry and the team at Environmental Innovation Centre have done great work in the value of ventilation, particularly with respect to Carbon Dioxide if you would like me to share some light reading.

Air Purification can be used if ventilation is not available due to the nature of the facility or room.

So what is the true cost of poor cleaning? What is the true cost of the fragrance dispenser on your wall? 

Where did you last see or smell a fragrance dispenser and what does it mean to your health, your families health, your brain and your lungs?

References

• Steinemann, A.C. (2009). Fragranced consumer products and undisclosed ingredients. Environmental Impact Assessment Review, 29(1), 32–38. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eiar.2008.05.002

• Steinemann, A.C., MacGregor, I.C., Gordon, S.M., Gallagher, L.G., Davis, A.L., Ribeiro, D.S., & Wallace, L.A. (2011). Fragranced consumer products: Chemicals emitted, ingredients unlisted. Environmental Impact Assessment Review, 31(3), 328–333.

• Steinemann, A. (2015). Fragranced consumer products: Exposures and effects from emissions. Air Quality, Atmosphere & Health, 9(8), 861–866.

• Steinemann, A. et al. (2020). The fragranced products phenomenon: air quality and health, science and policy. Air Quality, Atmosphere & Health. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11869-020-00928-1

• Kim, S., Hong, S.-H., Bong, C.-K., & Cho, M.-H. (2015). Characterization of air freshener emission: The potential health effects. The Journal of Toxicological Sciences, 40(5), 535–550. https://doi.org/10.2131/jts.40.535

• Allen, J.G. et al. (2016). Associations of Cognitive Function Scores with Carbon Dioxide, Ventilation, and Volatile Organic Compound Exposures in Office Workers. Environmental Health Perspectives, 124(6). https://doi.org/10.1289/ehp.1510037 (PMC4892924)

• Cedeño Laurent, J.G. et al. (2021). Associations between air quality and cognitive function in office workers. Environmental Research Letters.

• Deng, X. et al. (2024). Impact of Indoor Air Quality and Multi-domain Factors on Human Productivity and Physiological Responses. Indoor Air. https://doi.org/10.1155/2024/5584960

• Hauser, R., & Calafat, A.M. (2005). Phthalates and human health. Occupational and Environmental Medicine, 62(11), 806–818. https://doi.org/10.1136/oem.2004.017590

• International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC). Benzene — Group 1 Carcinogen Classification. https://monographs.iarc.who.int

• International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC). Formaldehyde — Group 1 Carcinogen Classification. https://monographs.iarc.who.int

• U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Hazardous Air Pollutants. https://www.epa.gov/haps

• Wang Y, Zhu Y, Wu Y, Shi L, Yang Y, Liu X, Li J. Association of household chemicals use with cognitive function among Chinese older adults. Heliyon. 2024 Sep