HOW TO REDUCE SCENTS IN YOUR ENVIRONMENT

These steps help folks with MCS as well as allergies and other ills.

• Reduce air fresheners in your home, car, and office. Even items with pretty fruits or flowers on their labels get their scents from chemicals. Essential oil diffusers bother many people too.

• Choose the right filter. Carbon- and zeolite-based filters quell odors and chemical irritants, Dr. Bernstein says. Opening windows if outdoor conditions are favorable may also help.

• Keep laundry fragrance-free. Because they leave your home through dryer vents, chemicals in laundry products become “secondhand scent” to others.

• Limit perfume use. So many are sensitive that the American Lung Association officially recommends that everyone shun perfume, cologne, aftershave, and scented lotions and hairsprays at the office.