Should you use an air freshener for odor removal?

An air freshener is typically sold as a quick fix solution for odor removal. But be careful. There is hardly anything healthy about them.

Many air fresheners can be toxic, cancerogenic, or with totally unclear long term health effects.

Besides, a typical freshener works by masking the odor and paralyzing your nose sensitivity, rather than by removing the odor. The actual odor problem stays. And even if your nose does not sense it, it is still what you are breathing. The bad odor still gets into your blood and poison you.

The best, though not alway the easiest, way of indoor odor removal is to fight the problem closer to its source, rather than to mask the symptoms. Odor in the house, like pain in the body, is a signal that something needs attention. You are always in a better position if you investigate and understand better where the particular odor comes from.

The first choice is to neutralize the odor at its source. There are more simple and natural alternatives to a mass market air freshener to do that. Odors, such as urine, pet, sweat, wine, and so on, can typically be separated into two groups: acid odors and alkaline odors. Acid odors can be neutralized by baking soda, while the alkaline odors are neutralized by vinegar or lemon juice. Baking soda or vinegar are key ingredients of many healthy air fresheners. You can buy such completely natural air fresheners at health food stores.

If you cannot remove the odor at its source, you can still try to improve ventilation and/or use an activated carbon air filter, which can absorb the odorous gases.

Finally, one more good option to try is zeolite crystals. The zeolite crystals are pieces of minerals that are proven to absorb many toxic gases, such as formaldehyde, hydrogen sulfide, ammonia, as well as many strong and bad odors. Zeolite is also quite easy to maintain: you can put it out to sun to let it release the captured air pollutants.

More on air freshener chemicals health effects
Read air freshener label carefully. Some common types of air freshener chemicals and their health effects.