Fragranced consumer products: effects on autistic adults in the United States, Australia, and United Kingdom
Steinemann, Anne (2018) Fragranced consumer products: effects on autistic adults in the United States, Australia, and United Kingdom. Air Quality Atmosphere and Health, 11 (10). pp. 1137-1142.
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Abstract
Fragranced consumer products, such as cleaning supplies, air fresheners, and personal care products, can have adverse effects on both air quality and health. This study investigates the effects of fragranced products on autistic individuals ages 18-65 in the United States, Australia, and United Kingdom. Nationally representative population surveys (n = 1137 ; 1098; 1100) found that across the three countries, 4.3% of adults (n = 142) report medically diagnosed autism (2.3%), an autism spectrum disorder (2.4%), or both. Of these autistic adults, 83.7% report adverse health effects from fragranced products, including migraine headaches (42.9%), neurological problems (34.3%), respiratory problems (44.7%), and asthma attacks (35.9%). In particular, 62.9% of autistic adults report health problems from air fresheners or deodorizers, 57.5% from the scent of laundry products coming from a dryer vent, 65.9% from being in a room cleaned with scented products, and 60.5% from being near someone wearing a fragranced product. Health problems can be severe, with 74.1% of these effects considered potentially disabling under legislation in each country. Further, 59.4% of autistic adults have lost workdays or lost a job, in the past year, due to fragranced product exposure in the workplace. More than twice as many autistic as well as non-autistic individuals would prefer that workplaces, health care facilities, and health care professionals were fragrance-free rather than fragranced. Results show that vulnerable individuals, such as those with autism or autism spectrum disorders, can be profoundly, adversely, and disproportionately affected by exposure to fragranced consumer products.
| Item ID: | 56174 |
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| Item Type: | Article (Research - C1) |
| ISSN: | 1873-9326 |
| Keywords: | Autism, Autism spectrum disorder, ASD, Autistic, Fragranced consumer products, Indoor air quality, Fragrance, Health effects, Volatile organic compounds |
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| Copyright Information: | © The Author(s) 2018, corrected publication 2018. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits use, duplication, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license and indicate if changes were made. |
| Additional Information: | The original version of this article was revised due to a retrospective Open Access order. [See related URLs for more details] |
| Date Deposited: | 21 Nov 2018 09:25 |
| FoR Codes: | 32 BIOMEDICAL AND CLINICAL SCIENCES > 3209 Neurosciences > 320907 Sensory systems @ 50% 40 ENGINEERING > 4011 Environmental engineering > 401199 Environmental engineering not elsewhere classified @ 50% |
| SEO Codes: | 92 HEALTH > 9204 Public Health (excl. Specific Population Health) > 920405 Environmental Health @ 100% |
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