ARE THE FRANGRANCE SENSITIVE BEING TOO SCENTS-ITIVE?

It was bound to happen.  No sooner did some folks get a whiff of the new smoke-free environments and they’re ready to make some of them fragrance-free now, too. 

Fragrance-free?  Isn’t that going a little too far?

Not according to Rev. Dae Jung from his Presbyterian Church in Palisades.  He was receiving so many complaints from his congregation about the illnesses some of them were suffering, because of the chemicals in the fragrances some churchgoers were wearing; he has made his 9:00 Sunday service “fragrance- free.”  He’s asked his flock to refrain from using all perfume and cologne.

He’s not alone.  Curves gym in Cherry Hill, NJ, has also asked that its customers be considerate to those who are fragrance sensitive and refrain from wearing anything that has a scent.  There’s no actual rule stated, however, which means that no one will be asked to leave the gym if they’re sporting a scent.  The gym has simply made a request of their customers to be sensitive to those who are fragrance sensitive.

The Harlem Independent Living Center has also gone “fragrance-free.”  In fact many workplaces, schools and other organizations across the United States are pushing for fragrance-free zones, too, citing that certain allergic people experience “unpleasant physical effects” from scented products.   

What kind of effects?  Headaches, for one thing.  Some of them can be migraine headaches.  Sneezing, coughing and nausea can also be experienced by these fragrance sensitive folks.

We’re not talking serious health complications here.  Unlike second-hand smoke, you’re not putting other lives in danger by splashing a little cologne behind your ears.  We’re talking about a temporary inconvenience. 

So, where do we draw the line between second-hand smoke and Calvin Klein?  Are we going to ask a person with body odor to leave the room, because he’s making us nauseated?  How about someone with bad breath?  Scented soap can also cause a reaction in some people.  Are we going to evict a person from a school board meeting, because she smells too clean?

The next thing you know, we’ll be turning in our neighbors, because the garlic from their tomato sauce is wafting over to our property and giving us a headache.  We’ll be reporting someone to Human Resources because her hair spray is giving us a sore throat.  We’ll be calling the Environmental Agency because someone’s white shirt was washed with a little too much bleach.

I’d be the last person to wear perfume, if I was consciously aware that my coworker was allergic to it.  I’d be happy to make that sacrifice out of consideration, out of the goodness of my heart.  But, I don’t know if I’d like to work for a company who is going to regulate my personal hygiene to the extent that I wouldn’t be allowed to wear scented deodorant, scented body powder, scented make-up, scented body lotion, scented soap, or scented hairspray.  I wouldn’t let my brother into the bathroom with me, never mind Big Brother.

It’s true that people with multiple chemical sensitivities (MCS) can have debilitating physical reactions to certain chemicals.  Some of them may even be life-threatening.  But, there are persons out there that are so allergic to peanuts that they can die if they’re exposed to them.  That’s why many schools and even airlines are considering peanut-free zones.  But people who have severe allergic reactions are in the minority.  We wouldn’t consider living in a peanut-free world, would we? 

I think that wearing or not wearing fragrances shouldn’t be a law.  I guess I’m just “scent-imental” about freedom of choice.