We're moving into a new house, and my parents want me to design my bedroom from scratch. Are there any elements to consider from a non-toxic point of view? Bed sheets? Floor type? Lighting? I'd be happy to show you pics of the room if that helps.
Worth the buy or not?
Liz.kreutz@nbcuni.com
Instagram: lizkreutznews
Nbcnewsmediarelations@nbcuni.com
There has been a recent uptick in main stream coverage of the dangers of fragrance in our environment. On the NBC Today show (Oct 9, 3d hour) they featured Scott Cole who is fighting the battle to eliminate fragrance from public spaces. The segment didn’t really convey the severity of the situation, it came across more as a preference for FF rather than an accessibility issue or ADA violation. The good news is that obviously there is room to educate. I think it would be extraordinarily helpful if everyone took a few minutes to message the journalist above who covered the story as well as the Today show. People who don’t know don’t understand even though they think they might. We need to share our stories in a compelling fashion to help them understand the impact and limitations you live with on a daily basis. Please take a few minutes of your time ASAP and share your suffering with them. Let’s ask them to do another story with more of a human interest take. The more voices they hear the more likely they will help.
Scented really is the new cigarette. Same chemicals, same harm. Same corporate defensiveness from giant companies profiting from their chemicals, at the cost of human health.
Secondhand scent is as toxic as secondhand smoke. As for me, I'm grateful to this firm for standing up for clean air rights.
Speaking as a person with disabilities, anyone (like the companies in the article) who says the ADA has been "weaponized" doesn't understand disability at all and has no empathy for the strength a person with disabilities needs just to get through the day. To me, saying the ADA is nothing more than a "weapon against companies" is extremely ableist.
Excerpts from the article:
The conflict highlights an emerging debate about synthetic scents: Many hotels use them, but some sensitive guests consider those aromas as welcome as secondhand smoke.
In general, the lawsuits allege that artificial fragrances used in many hotel public rooms violate the federal Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA) and California’s Unruh Civil Rights Act, because those fragrances make it dangerous or impossible for some people to share the space.
In court filings, Cole’s firm asserts that 26.8% of adults suffer from asthma or asthma-like conditions and 27.5% suffer from chemical sensitivity. He contends that when hotels circulate synthetic fragrances through scent dispersion machines, they may be spreading toxic chemicals, potentially causing respiratory problems, headaches, skin irritation and gastrointestinal, cardiovascular and cognitive problems among vulnerable guests.
Many of the companies that supply hotel fragrances belong to the Switzerland-based International Fragrance Assn. (IFRA), which sets voluntary guidelines for ingredients. But the U.S. government frequently doesn’t require disclosure of fragrance ingredients because blends are often trade secrets.
“It’s outside of the [Food and Drug Administration’s] domain and so the regulatory framework becomes much less stringent,” said Alexander M. Spokoyny, professor and chair of UCLA’s Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry.
Yet among skeptics, questions and doubts remain on the safety of chemical entities, fragrances included.
“Even if something might be natural, if you aerosolize it and spread it across buildings, it’s not necessarily great,” UCLA’s Spokoyny said. “I do think it requires more thorough public scrutiny. ... You just don’t know what you don’t know.”
And this nasty bit:
Representatives for Marriott, Hilton, Hyatt, Intercontinental Hotels Group and Loews hotel chains, all targeted in the first volley of lawsuits, did not respond to requests for comment. Nor did the American Hotel & Lodging Assn., the industry’s leading trade group.
But the association’s website asserts that the Americans With Disabilities Act “has been used as a weapon by scheming lawyers seeking to extort easy settlements ... after alleging ambiguous violations of the law.”