In response to concerns about the health problems caused by fragrances, the city council of Ottawa is considering a ban on the use of perfume and other scented products in city-owned facilities:
Under the proposal made by a citizens’ committee on the environment, a public education program aimed at getting people to voluntarily stop using the scents would be followed by a mandatory ban in all city buildings, on transit, and at sports and community centres.
The third, and most controversial, phase would be a citywide bylaw banning scents in all public places. This would include bars, restaurants, malls, and all work places.
Read more at canada.com and ottawasun (link no longer working, sorry).
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Ack!!
This is terrible.
I wish the perfume wearers of the world would be considerate so we didn't get into this situation.
I apologise for my fellow Canadians. I promise we aren't all this nutty…. It's terrible when you consider nobody ever seems to do anything about noise pollution.
It is true, L. I do have sympathy for people who have to deal with other's massive overuse.
But don't you think the ban will fail to pass? Imagine the fun they would have trying to enforce this on buses, for instance…
I had heard about this and I think, overall, it is an insane proposition. I have a Canadian friend in Toronto that has pretty severe reactions to fragrance, and those around her need to be sensitive to that. It really is all about having common “sense.” By the way, when I was in Paris, I could swear that Chanel No. 5 was wafting up out of the sewers. Call me crazy…
Only once I was pregnant did I get a full appreciation of how sensitive some people can be to perfumes, because my own made me sick. Now I probably apply half of what I used to. Still, this proposition is laughable. I bet a thorough invesigation by the Canadian version of OSHA would turn up much more hazardous environmental pollutants in office buildings than perfume. Besides, whom do they think they're kidding with a “ban on scent?” Perfumes only cover up other, more odious, odors. There can be no such thing as a scent-free building. And as long as standard body care products (e.g., shampoo, deodorant) are scented, people will be scented. What's next, mandatory use of fragrance-free products? Sheesh.
Unfortunately I think it will pass – Halifax's did, I think. The problem is, of course, as you mention, enforcement. I certainly have not heard how it worked out in Halifax, which I guess means they never really did anything – and good thing too. It makes sense in hospitals and such environments, but are you going to be ticketing grandmas on the street (or bus – too true) for Youth Dew? It's just silly. Was it here that the article about banning people from public buildings for body odour was posted? People were concerned that such policies were targeted at homeless people…
I thought Halifax had a ban too, but one of the articles said it would be a first for Canada so I am confused.
Wafting out of the sewers, LOL! Some days I feel the same about Angel here in the US, to be sure.
I very clearly remember being completely ill over a cherry lolipop that my husband was eating two rooms away…pregnancy is hard on the sense of smell, and I would have wholeheartedly supported the ban at that time
Gah! What a disaster that would be!
The problem is not too much perfume – it's the wrong kind! People need to stop wearing cheap nasty stuff by the bucket and get some high-quality fragrance. I bet most people will stop complaining.
That said, there are a lot worse smells on public transit than perfume! I would rather get a little too much fragrance than take a ride on the B.O. Express, which unfortunately I must do almost every day!
Completely agree that there are worse smells…but I do think some people, especially those who wear the same fragrance every day, are no longer able to tell how much they are wearing, whether cheap nasty stuff or something nicer. Angel is my own pet peeve — it seems like some people bathe in it