Wednesday, February 21, 2018

Time for Deodorant Chemicals to Pass Inspection


To the Editor:

Re “Want Cleaner Air? Try Using Less Deodorant” (news article Feb. 19), I found it incredible that perfumes and lotions have the potential to cause more harm to our air than cars, according to a report in the journal Science. As the technology to do such studies becomes more advanced, fossil fuel burning cars are no longer the defining factor when it comes to climate change. Tests for pollutants in other products must become more widespread as cars are clearly not the only contributors. 

Wanting cleaner air must now take into account so many products that are purchased with little to no regulation. Over the years, as it became clear how detrimental the burning of fossil fuels could be to the ozone, regulations were put into place in order to filter the pollutants that were emitted through the cars’ exhaust.

A few months ago, I encountered this problem. I drive a 2001 Nissan Pathfinder that has terrible gas mileage and did not pass inspection due to the car’s muffler not being up to pollution standards. As a college student who commutes, I rely on my car to get me to school. I don’t have the funds to buy a new car. Because my muffler was not up to standards, I had no choice but to get it replaced. State regulations such as the one that prevented my car from passing inspection are what enables change to be possible. Now that cars have become more efficient, the same must be said for household products and hygienic products. While they have become a part of our daily routines, their chemicals are detrimental to the air we breathe and we aren’t even aware of it.

Kristie Murru
The writer is a student at Ramapo College of New Jersey.



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