Increase in artificial scents sensitivity - anyone else?

[belize44]

Ever since COVID struck, I have noticed that people have drastically increased their use of hand sanitizers. Understandable, of course, but my issue is scented hand sanitizers and laundry products. Now it is getting increasingly difficult to avoid being exposed to these artificial and possibly carcinogenic smells whenever I leave the house.

Even when opening my front door to pick up my mail, I am hit with a wall of scent, because the postal worker or delivery person has used scented products and marked my area as effectively as an animal marking territory. I know, I know, they think they are protecting themselves from germs, but it literally makes me feel ill.

Since most of us are sensitive to this stuff, I am sure that you can relate to the resulting gag reflex and/or shortness of breath that results. I was walking from the car to the corner and was waiting to cross the street. There were a few people waiting too, and I was grateful to be wearing a mask because of the strong pocket of scent emanating from them.

Is it just me, or are laundry products and other personal hygiene things more strongly scented than, say, twenty years ago?

 

[hapl808]

Yep, every Instacart order is doused with some kind of sanitizer that never dissipates. Not everyone does it, though, and the difference between orders that are doused or not is ridiculous. Sometimes I wear a mask to put my order away just from the smell.

 

[Rufous McKinney]

Is it just me, or are laundry products and other personal hygiene things more strongly scented than, say, twenty years ago?

Its REALLY HARD to function in this world of smells and chemicals.

The delivery people seem to be drenched in cologne (worse than perfume)

I do this "contactless order" and the delivery guy hands me his contaminated cell phone to sign for some BEER

(I refuse to now order my husband any BEER)

I blew a load of wash, with a different new laundry detergent. I wanted to see some actual bubbles, but that was alot to ask. I used too much detergent and its excessively Perfumed (with essential oils) my main clothes and I cannot put them on.

I have to wash them all over again somehow to get rid of the too much stink.

And doing wash seems to be close to Mission Impossible.

 

[Rufous McKinney]

Yep, every Instacart order is doused

My last delivery did not stink so something worked there.

I previously had a sign on my door indicating a ZERO COVID area.

I'd add more lists of requests to the sign if I could-

CHEMICAL SENSITIVY
PERFUME AND COLOGNE INTOLERANT
I WILL NOT TOUCH YOUR CELL PHONE

(my husband removed the note) (He thought it was rude, when it only mentioned COVID)

 

[Nord Wolf]

Is it just me, or are laundry products and other personal hygiene things more strongly scented than, say, twenty years ago?

Oh it isn't just you. As you, Hap and Rufous mentioned, artificial scent is everywhere you find people, or peoples material stuff. It has also drastically increased over the years. After all, "There are 250 pounds of of chemicals, either manufactured or imported into America every single day of the year, for every single person (infant to adult) in the USA. This number is expected to double by 2024."
Some years back I began noticing a strong aversion to and physical symptoms from artificial scents. As the ME/CFS got more severe, those aversions and physical symptoms only increased.
And of course air pollution:
https://www.who.int/news/item/04-04-2022-billions-of-people-still-breathe-unhealthy-air-new-who-data

 

[belize44]

It seems that people don't feel comfortable with a world that smells natural. I especially love the way clothes that have hung outdoors smell when I bring them in. But even that is risky since my neighbors fill the air with scented laundry product smells. I have to be careful when opening a window because it comes right in. I have to avoid getting in the elevator with people who reek of this stuff. Whatever happened to just soap and water?

 

[Judee]

Yikes. Yes!! It was bad enough with laundry detergents and dryer sheets but now they've added scent booster beads to the mix. The scents didn't need boosting!!!!!

The problem is that all these many scents desensitize the users olfactory nerves and they have to use more and more to even be able to smell the products which of course makes more money for the companies marketing them and more misery for us "canaries in the coalmine" people.

My neighbor on the southside adds those beads to their laundry now. I'm pretty sure.

Funny how we MCS people can even detect certain brands of product. Like I can always tell when someone is using BedBath&Beyond hand lotion, or Tide Laundry detergent or those awful plug-ins with the waxy, clinging smell.

When I get an eBay order, I can always tell the people who have those. It's like, c'mon...they're made by a floor wax company...people are basically breathing in fragranced floor wax. What is that doing to their lungs??? And it won't wash off or out of things so how is the body ever able to eliminate it? Not good.

The odd thing is that when my neighbor's dryer is running I can still smell body odor mixed in with the heavy perfumes so all that icky fragrance isn't really neutralizing the original offending odors. All that fragrance chemical takes up room in the bottle lessening the actual cleaning power of the product.

Plus, did you ever mentally add up how many layers of fragranced products many non-MCS people are likely to use in a day? I lose count.

 

[belize44]

Plus, did you ever mentally add up how many layers of fragranced products many non-MCS people are likely to use in a day? I lose count.

I know! Hair gel, body wash, lotions, deodorants, add to that, laundry products and booster, plug ins, car deodorizers, stuff to make the toilet water turn blue, even scented trash bags.

 

[Wayne]

I do this "contactless order" and the delivery guy hands me his contaminated cell phone to sign for some BEER .. (I refuse to now order my husband any BEER)

I used to do some delivery work (including delivering beer on occasion). I thought it was ridiculous that customers were required to sign for it, and so did many of the customers. Then one day a customer refused, and told me just to sign (initial) for them. So I did. No problem. You may want to give it a try. The delivery person will most likely be happy to oblige. (Can't have Mr. McKinney going without his beer!)

 

[Nord Wolf]

Luckily living on a dead end dirt road up in remote mountains, we don't have much in the way of artificial scents to deal with, unless going to town. Even so, we have this great air purifier that is by far the best I've ever used! We run it 24/7 in the house and have for the last three years. Makes a huge difference!
Air Doctor
We have the 3000 model.

 

[belize44]

Luckily living on a dead end dirt road up in remote mountains, we don't have much in the way of artificial scents to deal with, unless going to town. Even so, we have this great air purifier that is by far the best I've ever used! We run it 24/7 in the house and have for the last three years. Makes a huge difference!
Air Doctor
We have the 3000 model.

I am going to look into this! Thanks!

 

[Rufous McKinney]

I'm so much more smell sensitive when in PEM....it's much more intense

 

[hapl808]

I'm so much more smell sensitive when in PEM....it's much more intense

Exactly the same. Another thing that seems so improbable, took me years to realize how much worse my sensitivities got depending on PEM episode or overall level. What I can tolerate when I'm mild is drastically different than when severe.

 

[Jadzhia]

I notice I've become far more smell sensitive over the past couple of years. To the point of not being able to use my normal washing liquid, it suddenly smells overwhelmingly sickly! Plus delivery guys doused in cologne. And if there's any mould in the house I pick it up right away. I'm not sure whether it's a smell distortion or even a phantom smell I get at times.

 

[Seadragon]

I can relate to everything you all have said.

I use fragrance free laundry liquid called Surcare - in the UK though so not sure there is an equivalent in the USA...

I was wondering apart from ME and Covid and those with allergies and MCS on their own, are there any other illnesses where people develop MCS/sensitivity to odours as part of their illness or illness progression...does anyone here know?

 

[Jadzhia]

I can relate to everything you all have said.

I use fragrance free laundry liquid called Surcare - in the UK though so not sure there is an equivalent in the USA...

I was wondering apart from ME and Covid and those with allergies and MCS on their own, are there any other illnesses where people develop MCS/sensitivity to odours as part of their illness or illness progression...does anyone here know?

Well, Dr Google tells me having migraines, being pregnant, having Lyme disease or some autoimmune diseases, or Parkinson's can result in becoming super sensitive to smells - hyperosmia. I expect that list isn't exhaustive.

 

[belize44]

I have always had a keen sense of smell, but since a severe upper respiratory infection in around 2014, It has diminished. Even so, this tells me that things are stronger scented, because as someone here pointed out, people are using more as they become acclimated to it, or they are using boosters.

 

[lenora]

Scents are a problem for many of us....and it continues to worsen constantly.

Fortunately, people who know me are sensitive to this situation and I don't have to deal with. A year long bout of shingles (which left me bedridden) had me washing myself and my hair with Ivory Soap...it was the only thing I didn't have a reaction to.

Wool dryer balls are unscented and are great for static problems....I use them constantly. The laundry detergent I use is scent free and is plant based. The name is ECOS and it comes without the usual parabens, etc. It will not give bubbles in the same way. I rinse everything twice and there is no odor from either the detergent or the lambs wool balls. Perhaps this will help some of you. Yours, Lenora

 

[Wishful]

I've been thinking about it, and I can't recall encountering any strong scents in the past few years. My sense of smell seems normal, but when I visit town, I don't notice any perfume or cologne or laundry scents. I do recall a woman wearing strong perfume, but that was one incident many years ago. Maybe people in small towns use less scents, and are more accepting of normal body odours? If someone isn't expecting to encounter people during the day, why bother with perfume, makeup, etc?

 

[belize44]

I remember going to spend a week with in-laws, and had to bring my own pillow sheets and blankets because they drenched everything with strongly scented stuff. The last time we had visited, I only brought my own pillow along and woke with congestion from inhaling those infernal fumes all night.

When we bought our house, it took nearly six months for the dishwasher to stop smelling like scented dishwasher soap. Why on earth would you want to perfume your dishes?