We all want to smell good and we want our dogs to smell good too. But did you know most of the products you use to perfume yourself and the air around you are toxic? Not just for your dog, but for you too.
Unfortunately, artificial fragrances are a massive industry. And the manufacturers are way more interested in their profits than they are in yours or your pet's health!
Each fragrance can contain hundreds of chemicals that can be harmful for your dog and you. Many of the fragrance compounds have similar chemical structures to pesticides.
Legally, companies don't have to list all of the chemicals in fragrances (read original source). The word fragrance on a product label is a catch-all. And they don't have to tell you what's in there. In 2010, the consumer watchdog Environmental Working Group published an article stating that 3,613 ingredients hide behind the word fragrance (read original source).
EWG rates toxic chemicals according to risk; 1 in 20 of these chemicals had a "high hazard" score.
25 of them scored a 10, the highest score. This means anything you use in your home with artificial fragrances is probably unsafe. The substances in them are volatile, meaning they're quickly absorbed directly through the skin from the air. Many of them accumulate in the body over time.