178 Autism and Exposure to Environmental Chemicals
tiny capillaries. These chemicals may not have any obvious adverse effects on
an adult brain that is fully developed, but may have major detrimental effects
on the fetal brain that is rapidly differentiating.Contribution of Fragrances to ASD
Many modern companies do not disclose the industrial secrets in many of their
fragrances that are, in reality, a complex concoction of synthetic chemicals and
natural essences, which often have been found to be petrochemicals. As men
tioned previously, according to the laboratory testing that was conducted
under the direction of the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics and was analyzed later
by the Environmental Working Group, 38 hidden chemicals were uncovered in
17 name‐brand fragrance products [41]. Topping the list was American Eagle’s
Seventy Seven, which contained 24 undisclosed chemicals, followed by
Chanel’s Coco with 18, and Britney Spears’ Curious and Giorgio Armani’s
Acqua Di Gio with 17 secret chemicals each (as shown in Chapter 1). Among
those are chemicals, such as musk ketone and diethyl phthalate (DEP), that are
responsible for allergic reactions and hormone disruption [7,40]. Although
these chemicals have been found to accumulate in human tissues, they have
not yet been adequately analyzed for safety in products. As a result of an
exemption for cosmetics and fragrances in the Federal Fair Packaging and
Labeling Act of 1973 [42], the producers of cosmetics and fragrances are not
required to disclose the chemical nature of their products, nor do they have to
test the safety of flavors present in innumerable chemicals that may cause
health problems [41,42]. It is a common practice for businesses to list some
chemicals simply as “fragrance,” which may mean that many ingredients are
never revealed to buyers. Even worse, people who use cologne, fragrances,
body spray, and other scented cosmetics may unknowingly expose themselves
to dangerous chemicals since the Food and Drug Administration lacks author
ity to mandate testing of all fragrances for safety before being released to the
public. The worst of all, there are now companies that synthetize chemicals
that test, smell, and feel like the “real” thing. One of these companies was fea
tured in a CBS program entitled “Tweaking tastes and creating cravings” [43].
These chemicals are designed to enter the human body and if an unsuspecting
fertile woman is pregnant, these chemicals can get into the brain of the fetus,
and we do not know what might then happen.
Fragrances are everywhere, and when applied on the skin or sprayed, many
chemicals from these fragrances are absorbed or inhaled, and some of these
chemicals damage the body from before birth to until the end of life. Research
by the Environmental Working Group (EWG) found tonalide and galaxolide,
two manmade musks, in the cord blood of newborns [41]. Although toxic to
the endocrine system, musks were discovered in most of the 17 fragrances