by Paola Fanutti

Created on: August 08, 2008   Last Updated: August 22, 2008

The inviting and tranquil effect of interior smells in the home long been touted. Indoor home aromas can freshen inside air and mask cooking, cigarette and stale odors, while creating a calm, stress-free and beckoning atmosphere. Many home scented products are available to perfume homes, from simple air fresheners, to scented candles, to potpourri sachets, to incense, to pillow and linen fragrances and aromatic oil lamps.

As pleasant and peaceful as the odors emitted in home fragrances might be, repeated inhalation of certain types of scented home products may produce respiratory illnesses, even cancers and tumors. They can deteriorate air quality and emit toxins into the air, causing indoor air pollution. Some synthetic scented air products have even been linked to conditions like diarrhea, depression, earaches and headaches in children and babies.

A study from the University of Michigan found that inhaling scented candles for two hours can threaten human health, provoke respiratory difficulties. Inhaling scented candles is also particularly dangerous for asthmatic sufferers. Candle emissions can diffuse alarming amounts of lead into the air, as well as other volatile organic compounds and toxins. Lead residue in seemingly harmless scented candles can settle on existing walls, furniture and upholstery, and easily make their way into children's mouths when they touch them.

In other studies, some artifical air fresheners were also found to contain chemicals that contain a harmful chemical called phthalate. Phthalates are used to prolong fragrance and diffuse scents into the air. Phthalates can cause endocrine, reproductive, and developmental problems, and even disrupt testosterone functions in men.

Burning fragrant incense is another toxic offender and is nearly as bad as inhaling second-hand, tobacco smoke. Burning incense can emit carbon monoxide, nitrogen dioxide, and VOCs, volatile organic compounds into the air.

Black soot deposition, caused by burning combustible materials like potpourri, oil, incense and scented sachets, can produce microscopic soot particles that settle and build up into the interior of the home. Black soot is associated with serious health conditions, deteriorates air quality, and damages the home's interior, and can be difficult and costly to clean and remove off walls and furniture.

Another environmental hazard associated with using home scented products is that they mask the smell of mold and mildew, potentially not cluing you into

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