Hormone disruptors....air fresheners and fake fragrances

If you like the smell of vanilla wafting through your house...you might want to consider what that lovely fragrance is made of. 

Not to throw a wet towel on anyone's burning scents but you might want to think twice about what is in your favorite candle or air freshener since synthetic-fragrance ingredients,  researchers say, can interfere with reproductive hormones. And we all know that messing with your reproductive hormones is a BAD, BAD idea.


Hormone disruptors, otherwise known as endocrine disruptors, interfere with your hormone system and can cause a host of health issues from tumors to development disorders. And to be specific, the critical time between the transition from a fertilized egg into a fully formed infant, can also be adversely effected by these endocrine disruptors.


Here are some of the most well-known offenders:

Bisphenol A is commonly found in plastic bottles (including many baby bottles), plastic food containers, dental materials, and the linings of metal food and infant formula cans. Another exposure comes from receipt paper commonly used at grocery stores and restaurants, because today the paper is commonly coated with a BPA containing clay for printing purposes

Phthalates are found in some soft toys, flooring, medical equipment, cosmetics and air fresheners. They are of potential health concern because they are known to disrupt the endocrine system of animals, and some research has implicated them in the rise of birth defects of the male reproductive system.

If you are into making your own candles/scents..check out this article from Rodale on 4 all-natural air fresheners. Or try using soy-based or beeswax candles with natural fragrances...just remember to read the labels! If you cannot pronounce it, then move on!

BPA + Sperm = Bad Swimmers

I've talked about BPA previously on this blog and I just found another story to reiterate that it's not good and there are studies to prove it!

The most recent issue of the Journal of Fertility and Sterility, funded by the US National Institute of Occupational Safety, cited a study that showed that exposure to our good ol' friend, BPA (Bisphenol A), can reduce the quality of men's semen.

BPA can be found in food packaging (the primary source of human exposure) and other plastics. The study was done over a five-year period and is one of the few involving humans rather than animals.

Read the full story here

The study began with 514 workers recruited from epoxy resin factories in China in 2004. Only 218 of the participants ended up submitting both urine and semen specimens for the final assessment. Researchers measured semen quality by examining factors like concentration, vitality, motility (movement), total sperm count and morphology (size and shape).


Men exposed to BPA at work and who showed detectable urine BPA had more than three times the risk of lower sperm concentration and vitality than men with no detectable urine BPA. The former group also had more than four times the risk of lower sperm count and more than twice the risk of lower sperm motility.

Throw out those plastic bottles and get one of these. You will do wonders for those little swimmers and the earth at large!