How Lotions and Perfumes Could Be Subtly Assisting You in Breathing Cleaner Air
The common practice of applying lotion or spritzing perfume could serve purposes beyond merely hydrating your skin and providing a nice aroma. According to innovative research recently released in Science Advances, these daily personal care items can markedly diminish harmful chemical activity in the air that surrounds you.
Researchers from the University of California, Irvine, the Max Planck Institute for Chemistry, and Pennsylvania State University discovered that lotions, perfumes, and even essential oils can alleviate a previously unrecognized phenomenon known as the “human oxidation field”—a formation of highly reactive chemicals that develops around our bodies indoors.
This unexpected finding is changing our comprehension of indoor air chemistry and how the seemingly trivial choices we make in our grooming habits can impact our well-being.
What Is the “Human Oxidation Field”?
Every human body emits natural oils that respond to environmental factors. One such factor is ozone, a prevalent indoor contaminant that exists in concentrations around 40 parts per billion, even in well-ventilated spaces. When ozone interacts with squalene, a significant lipid found on our skin, it generates hydroxyl radicals (OH) — minute, highly reactive molecules often linked to outdoor air pollution.
These hydroxyl radicals can interact with a multitude of organic compounds in the air, converting them into new chemicals — some of which may pose risks when inhaled. In fact, the levels of hydroxyl radicals produced by the average human oxidation field are comparable to those found in heavily polluted outdoor areas.
In essence, simply by breathing, moving, and remaining in a room, our bodies engage in an unseen interplay of chemical reactions, which may modify the quality of the air we—and others—breathe.
Creating a Protective Barrier: The Role of Lotions and Perfumes
To investigate how personal care products engage with the human oxidation field, researchers carried out experiments in controlled environments with human participants. The team studied how various products—ranging from alcohol-based fragrances to moisturizing lotions and essential oils—affected the generation of hydroxyl radicals.
The findings were striking:
– Body lotions physically obstruct ozone from reaching skin lipids by diluting squalene levels on the skin, reducing hydroxyl radical production by up to 140%.
– Alcohol-based perfumes function as effective chemical scavengers. Their high ethanol content can “capture” hydroxyl radicals, diminishing their levels by up to 86%.
– Preservatives such as phenoxyethanol in lotions help to limit radical production as well.
– Even naturally sourced essential oils demonstrated moderate effectiveness, though not as significantly as synthetic or alcohol-based options.
In addition to their physical experiments, the scientists created computer models that simulated human chemical emissions and ozone interactions. These models provided insights into how applied products interrupt or slow down chemical reactions in the immediate area around a person’s body.
Health Implications: Purifying the Air Around Us
At first glance, decreasing hydroxyl radical concentrations around the body appears to be a clear advantage for health. Hydroxyl radicals are known for their aggressive nature; they can alter substances in unpredictable manners, potentially creating secondary pollutants that are harmful when inhaled.
Jonathan Williams from the Max Planck Institute observes, “When we sit on a sofa, our oxidation field can change the chemicals emanating from it—creating new compounds we never intended to be exposed to.”
In this light, skincare products act as an unforeseen barrier, rendering the air in our breathing zone less reactive and chemically unstable.
Complicated Trade-Offs: The Dual Effect of Personal Care Products
However, the narrative is not entirely straightforward or positive. While lotions and perfumes may diminish harmful reactions between skin oils and ozone, they also emit their own array of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) into the air. These substances—ranging from fragrances to preservatives—can also add to indoor air pollutants independently.
With the global personal care products market estimated to be worth $646.2 billion in 2024, widespread usage means that billions of individuals are releasing these synthetic compounds into shared indoor spaces on a daily basis. This raises further concerns regarding long-term effects, sustainability, and cumulative exposure risks.
In certain instances, these VOCs may serve as substrates for chemical conversions, triggering new reaction pathways with ozone or other pollutants. The researchers suggest that some transformed products could, in fact, be less harmful than their original forms, but comprehensive data on these results is still scarce.
Indoor Air Chemistry: A New Frontier for Public Health
This research constitutes an essential component of the Indoor Chemical Human Emissions and Reactivity (ICHEAR) project and the larger Modelling Consortium for Chemistry of Indoor Environments at UC Irvine. Both projects aim to improve scientific comprehension of the hidden dynamics of indoor air—environments where people spend up to 90% of their time.
The findings indicate that conventional indoor air quality assessments, which often prioritize emissions from furniture, paint, and cleaning products, may need to also consider human biology and personal habits.