Hazardous Chemicals Are Produced From Dryer Vents

by Carolyn Pierini, CLS (ASCP), CNC

Nowadays it’s obvious when neighbors are doing their wash by the strong scent of laundry products streaming from neighborhood dryer vents. But did you know that these scents may be hazardous to your health? In a recent new study, researchers have identified components of those scents that are classified as hazardous air pollutants and known or probable carcinogens.

Researchers analyzed volatile organic compounds (VOCs) both in the headspace of fragranced laundry products (in other words, when the products were put where they could be inhaled around the head) and in the air emitted from dryer vents during use of these products. The researchers sampled emissions from two residential dryer vents during the use of no products, fragranced detergent, and fragranced detergent plus fragranced dryer sheets.

Using a top-selling brand each of dryer sheet and laundry detergent, investigators identified a total of 29 volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in the dryer-vent emissions. Ten VOCs identified in the headspace analyses also appeared in the emissions when laundry products were used. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) classifies seven of the VOCs found in dryer-vent emissions—acetaldehyde, benzene, ethylbenzene, methanol, m/p-xylene, o-xylene and toluene—as hazardous air pollutants. The EPA considers acetaldehyde a probable human carcinogen and benzene (found in two dryer-vent emission samples) a known human carcinogen.

The VOCs present at the highest concentrations were acetaldehyde, acetone and ethanol. Although below acute exposure levels, these values exceeded average annual ambient concentrations by more than 10 times for acetone and more than 25 times for acetaldehyde. Exposure to fragrances has been documented to cause migraine and irritation to areas such as eyes, skin and lung airways especially in sensitive people. Presently, the Food and Drug Administration and the Consumer Product Safety Commission do not require that individual fragrance ingredients be listed on labels or Material Safety Data Sheets. Thankfully, fragrance-free and safer alternatives exist for laundry needs. Furthermore, consuming AL-CoFactors™ can provide nutritional support to aid the body in dealing with excess acetaldehyde exposure while Detox Complex can help support detoxification processes.