On Tuesday, January 16, 2018, the KGNU Science Show released a new segment hosted by Shelley Schlender in which EVEN ProfessorÌýShelly Miller discussed how common consumer products often contain hazardous chemical ingredients that get released into surrounding areas.
Shelly Miller teaches and conducts research regarding urban air quality and pollution here at CU Boulder; specifically, Shelly Miller likes to focus on indoor environments. According to Shelly Miller, the average person is very unaware of how toxic and polluted indoor environments are. These toxins often come from various fragranced products like laundry detergent, deodorant, beauty products, cleaning products, etc. and contain one or more of the six classes of harmful chemicals. The class of harmful chemicals that Shelly Miller is most concerned about are the phthalates which often are used to encapsulate smells allowing the scents to last longer. Shelly’s cause for concern comes from the negative effects to the endocrine system, which controls hormone levels, increased cases of asthma and eczema in children, and possible carcinogenic effects. However, buying unscented products is not a solution to mitigating exposure to these toxic chemicals. Shelly Miller explains that unscented products contain more fragrances to mask the overall smell, but all of the same toxins are there; one must buy fragrance-free products to eliminate these toxins. Additionally, Shelly Miller commends CU’s fragrance-free initiative, attempting to make fragrance free locations within our campus.