Perfume and pregnancy: a danger for pregnant women?

What are the risks of endocrine disruptors for pregnant women, and where are they found?

The risks for everyone are now known: these disruptors have harmful effects on reproduction (even infertility), on the body's metabolism, but also on its growth. Numerous pathologies are linked to them: certain breast and thyroid cancers, endometriosis, early puberty, etc. The figures for infertility are constantly increasing: today, 1 in 4 couples consult a doctor for reasons of infertility, and half will need help to have a child.

In the particular case of pregnant women, the disruptors can cross the placental barrier and have significant impacts on the development of the child. Hence the concern of future mothers! These potential risks are not necessarily caused by the molecule itself, but rather because it acts on the expected functioning of hormones.

There are many routes of exposure to these disruptors for pregnant women:

• food :
  • because of pesticides, as seen in the West Indian banana scandal, where pesticides caused premature births and developmental delays in the growing areas;
  • due to certain cooking methods or certain types of packaging, particularly plastic;
  • and sometimes even naturally: foods such as soya or flax are known to be phytoestrogens*.
• inhalation: we spend 80% of our lives in enclosed spaces. We are exposed to substances from detergents and household products, pesticides used in gardening or in the neighbouring fields when we live in the countryside, certain room fragrances, paints or melamine-based furniture...
• Cosmetics: according to UFC Que Choisir, on average, women use 16 cosmetics per day. This is enormous! In these cosmetics, there are many examples of endocrine disruptors - this is the case of certain preservatives, for example. There are also cosmetics for infants, often intended for children with skin problems (eczema, diaper rash, etc.) which can also, in the case of fragile skin, very easily cross the skin barrier. And of course perfume, which we will talk about later. 

In short, between the desire to take care of one's child and the omnipresence of endocrine disruptors, the pregnant woman is faced with a delicate situation. My best advice for caring for your child safely: use water! There is no need to overuse soaps or other products full of harmful substances.

So endocrine disruptors are everywhere, but how can we be sure what effect they will have on us?

This is a rather complicated subject, because the hormonal system is specific to each individual. What we need to remember is that vulnerability is greatest at the time when the systems are destabilised: puberty, pregnancy of course, and the menopause.

There is also a problem of measuring effects over time, because there are transgenerational effects. For example, we saw with the Distilbene* scandal that an endocrine disruptor can continue to have consequences on the children and grandchildren of those exposed (this drug, banned in 1977, is still the cause of births of little girls without uteruses).

Finally, the so-called "cocktail effects" make it difficult to predict how these substances will interact with each other over time. In short, it is difficult to know with certainty which substance will cause which effect - and this is exactly why you need to be particularly vigilant when you are pregnant. 

What role does the sense of smell play when you are pregnant?

During pregnancy, one of the first changes a woman experiences is hyperosmia The exacerbation of the sense of smell.

This sense is an absolutely primitive tool for discriminating what is toxic or non-toxic. In fact, your first instinct when a plate has been in the fridge too long is to smell it...

Human genes are capable of discriminating between 5,000 and 10,000 olfactory components, of which there are about 400,000. During pregnancy, women are particularly skilled at discriminating certain odours: the role of the sense of smell is strengthened. In my opinion, this is a way for the mother-to-be to protect herself.

Moreover, the sense of smell is particularly important for our emotions... because unlike the other senses, the sense of smell is the only one that communicates directly with the limbic brain, the seat of our emotions, memory and affectivity. There is therefore no reprocessing, no rationalisation of information between the nose and the brain and this is why the smells we smell evoke memories or strong emotions.

Is it possible to use perfume during pregnancy?

It is perfectly possible to use perfume during pregnancy. However, as it is still quite difficult to know whether a perfume contains endocrine disruptors or not, one must be particularly careful about the ingredients of the fragrance one wishes to use. Synthetic ingredients such as certain additives, preservatives, solvents, stabilisers and even some essential oils used in perfumery are indeed endocrine disruptors.

How do I know if my perfume contains any of these harmful ingredients?

There are two steps to this:

1. Learn to decipher the labels on our cosmetics. For example, avoid phenoxyethanol at all costs, which is present in your face creams, sun creams, cosmetics and baby products (wipes, cleansing milk, etc.).

2. Choose more transparent alternatives. The problem is that most people don't know the composition of their perfume, because it's considered a trade secret. This is a specificity of perfume... even if some brands, such as Bastille , have now decided to be transparent and reveal their composition, and are committed to formulating only with clean synthetic molecules: without endocrine disruptors, phthalates or parabens .

Finally, you can get information through applications like Yuka. But again, for fragrances, these applications do not have access to the full list of ingredients, so their recommendations will be fragmented. It is better to choose products that give full access to their ingredient list.

To learn how to identify and remove endocrine disruptors from your daily life, read a full article here, from our interview with nutritherapist Marion Baudet.  

Are there any products that you specifically advise against for your patients in early pregnancy?

Yes, the anti-stretch mark products. These products are intended to penetrate the skin; they are applied to the stomach, thus with direct transmembrane exposure for the baby nearby. However, they are often filled with excipients that are nothing but endocrine disruptors. Instead, I advise my patients to use organic oil, with a simple composition and no excipients!

Should you use perfume on your skin or on your clothes when you are pregnant?

The answer will depend on the amount of perfume you use, and the condition of your skin before applying perfume. If your skin is intact and you use a reasonable amount of perfume, there is no problem. On the other hand, stretch marks, pimples, rashes or itching that appear during pregnancy are signs of weakened skin: in this case, forget about perfume and products with dubious compositions! Especially as the skin of pregnant women heals very badly. Find all our advice on how to (properly) perfume yourself in this article.

Why is the sense of smell so important for a baby from birth?

At birth, the baby has not yet developed all its senses. He sees almost nothing; he hears well, but identifies what he hears rather badly. It's the same with touch: the baby has spent 9 months in water, so at birth he is just discovering and taming this sense! As for taste, it's quite simple because our sense is basic: we perceive sweet, salty, acid, bitter and umami, and the baby can quickly distinguish between them.

However, for the sense of smell it is a bit different. Olfaction works from 5 months of pregnancy! At birth, the newborn baby recognises the smells it has smelt in the womb, and it is thanks to this development of the sense of smell that it can easily identify its mother and move towards her breast in particular.

Indeed, around the areola of the breast there are "Montgomeryl tubers", which emit pheromones. They sometimes appear very early but increase in number and size from the beginning of the first pregnancy. At delivery, these pheromones guide the baby to the breast, so it is important not to rinse or wipe them off before a feed. So a little advice to expectant and new mothers: don't wash your breast too much after giving birth, as this allows your baby to recognise you and to naturally move towards you for breastfeeding!

Is it dangerous for a baby to breathe in the perfume of its father or mother?

It can be if the composition of the perfume is not goodOr if the smell is too heady. After some research on this subject, I was not surprised to read that perfumes with rather heady notes were the least recommended. However, other perfumes with fresher compositions are not necessarily rated higher...

If you are not sure that your perfume is "clean", then I recommend avoiding repeated and early exposure. But this applies to other scented products, such as laundry detergent, whose scent clings to the fabric and lasts a very long time.

To avoid harmful fixatives, use Marseille soap flakes or try your hand at do-it-yourself washing! And as a general rule, use 3 times less detergent than the quantities indicated by the manufacturers, which is more than enough. 

After the birth, can changing perfume disturb our baby?

Babies (and even children as they grow up) generally don't like it when their parents change their perfume. Since their brains make an immediate connection between a scent and the person wearing it, it can upset them if they don't find their cues reassuring. It is therefore better to change perfume before pregnancy, rather than after.

Don't wait to switch to a more natural, transparent perfume that respects your skin and the planet. Discover our clean and safe fragrances for you and your child!

*Phytoestrogens are compounds whose structure and mode of action are close to those of the oestrogens that the body naturally produces. They can disrupt the proper functioning of the organs on which these hormones act (breasts, ovaries and testicles in particular).

**Distilbene is a synthetic estrogen that was prescribed to 200,000 pregnant women in France between 1948 and 1977 to prevent miscarriage. This molecule caused genital malformations, infertility problems, and cancers of the cervix, vagina and breast.

**** Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is caused by a hormonal imbalance of ovarian and/or central (brain) origin. It leads to an excessive production of androgens, in particular testosterone, which are usually produced in small quantities in the female body.