German E.coli outbreak death toll rises to 10

A virulent form of E.coli bacteria blamed on infected cucumbers from Spain has killed 10 people in Germany and sickened 300, health officials said on Sunday while warning people not to eat suspect vegetables.

European health experts on Saturday said the outbreak of hemolytic-uremic syndrome (HUS), which affects the blood, kidneys and, in severe cases, the nervous system, was the largest ever in Germany and the biggest of its kind worldwide.

An 86-year-old female patient died on Saturday, taking the toll of victims to 10, the University Hospital Luebeck said on Sunday.

The hospital in northern Germany said it was treating about 70 patients, including the dead woman's husband, for the infection and was expecting to receive 10 new cases a day.

Health officials have advised people in Germany to avoid eating cucumbers, tomatoes and lettuce and some of these products have been removed from shop shelves.

"As long as the experts in Germany and Spain have not been able to name the source of the agent without any doubt, the general warning for vegetables still holds," German Agriculture and Consumer Protection Minister Ilse Aigner said on Sunday in a report in the Bild am Sonntag newspaper.

Austria's food safety agency ordered a recall of organically grown cucumbers, tomatoes and aubergines supplied by a Spanish producer which is thought to be the source of the outbreak. It said 33 Austrian stores were affected.

"As it cannot be ruled out that products have already been sold to consumers, under the consumer protection law (we) must strongly urge consumers not to eat them under any circumstances and instead to dispose of them," the AGES agency said in a statement on its website.

The statement, posted late on Saturday after the European Union sounded the alarm bell, listed the Austrian stores affected by the recall. It included Vienna branches of Biomarkt, a popular organic supermarket chain.

German officials said on Thursday they suspected cucumbers imported from Spain were the possible source of the outbreak.

Smaller numbers of cases have been reported in Austria, Sweden, Denmark, the Netherlands and Britain, and all of the cases have been linked with travel to Germany.

Lockheed says thwarted "tenacious" cyber attack

Lockheed Martin Corp, the U.S. government's top information technology provider, said on Saturday that it detected and thwarted "a significant and tenacious attack" on its information systems network one week ago.

"As a result of the swift and deliberate actions taken to protect the network and increase IT security, our systems remain secure," Jennifer Whitlow, a Lockheed spokeswoman, said in an e-mailed statement. "No customer, program or employee personal data has been compromised."

Lockheed's information security personnel are working around the clock to restore employee access to the "information systems network" targeted in the May 21 attack, the statement said.

Bethesda, Maryland-based Lockheed, the Pentagon's No. 1 supplier by sales and the world's largest aerospace company, has kept the "appropriate U.S. government agencies" informed of its actions, it added.

Vettel wins crash-hit Monaco Grand Prix

Red Bull's Formula One world champion Sebastian Vettel won a crash-hit Monaco Grand Prix on Sunday for his fifth victory in six races this season.

Ferrari's Fernando Alonso was runner-up, the Spaniard crossing the line 1.1 seconds behind the German, with McLaren's Jenson Button third in a race halted for 21 minutes by a pile-up on the 71st of the 78 laps.

EXCLUSIVE - Hackers breached U.S. defense contractors

Unknown hackers have broken into the security networks of Lockheed Martin Corp and several other U.S. military contractors, a source with direct knowledge of the attacks told Reuters.

They breached security systems designed to keep out intruders by creating duplicates to "SecurID" electronic keys from EMC Corp's RSA security division, said the person who was not authorized to publicly discuss the matter.

It was not immediately clear what kind of data, if any, was stolen by the hackers. But Lockheed's and other military contractor networks house sensitive data on future weapons systems as well as military technology currently used in battles in Iraq and Afghanistan.

They are the latest companies to be breached through sophisticated attacks that have pierced the defenses of huge corporations including Sony, Google Inc and EMC Corp. Security experts say that it is virtually impossible for any company or government agency to build a security network that hackers will be unable to pierce.

The Pentagon, which has about 85,000 military personnel and civilians working on cybersecurity issues worldwide, said it also uses a limited number of the RSA security keys, but declined to say how many for security reasons.

The hackers learned how to copy those electronic keys with data stolen from RSA during a sophisticated attack that EMC disclosed in March, according to the source.

EMC declined to comment on the matter, as did executives at major defense contractors.

Lockheed, which employs 126,000 people worldwide and had $45.8 billion in revenue last year, said it does not discuss specific threats or responses as a matter of principle, but regularly took actions to counter threats and ensure security.

Many defense companies, including General Dynamics Corp, use the "SecurID" tokens.

Executives at General Dynamics, Boeing Co, Northrop Grumman Corp, Raytheon Co and other defense companies declined to comment on any security breaches.

"We do not comment on whether or not Northrop Grumman is or has been a target for cyber intrusions," said Northrop spokesman Randy Belote.

SECURIDS

Raytheon spokesman Jonathan Kasle said his company took immediate companywide actions in March when incident information was initially provided to RSA customers.

"As a result of these actions, we prevented a widespread disruption of our network," he said.

Boeing spokesman Todd Kelley said his company had a "wide range" of systems in place to detect and prevent intrusions of its networks. "We have a robust computing security team that constantly monitors our network," he said.

SecurIDs are widely used electronic keys to computer systems that work using a two-pronged approach to confirming the identity of the person trying to access a computer system. They are designed to thwart hackers who might use key-logging viruses to capture passwords by constantly generating new passwords to enter the system.

The SecurID generates new strings of digits on a minute-by-minute basis that the user must enter along with a secret PIN before they can access the network. If the user fails to enter the string before it expires, then access is denied.

EMC disclosed in March that hackers had broken into its network and stolen some information related to its SecurIDs. It said the information could potentially be used to reduce the effectiveness of those devices in securing customer networks.

EMC said it worked with the Department of Homeland Security to publish a note on the March attack and provided Web addresses to help companies identify where the attack might have come from.

It briefed individual customers on how to secure their systems. In a bid to ensure secrecy, the company required them to sign nondisclosure agreements promising not to discuss the advice that it provided in those sessions, according .

Google takes wraps off pay-by-phone system

Google Inc and four bank and telecommunications partners on Thursday unveiled "Google Wallet," taking U.S. shoppers a step closer to paying by waving their mobile phones at the checkout counter.

The Internet search company's system that lets people pay with phones instead of cards, hoping to win a race against major rivals including Visa, top U.S. banks and mobile phone companies.

Google, Mastercard, Citigroup, First Data and Sprint will make the service available this summer to people in New York and San Francisco, Google and its partners said on Thursday.

Designed to work as an app on Android phones, it hitches a ride on MasterCard's "PayPass" technology, which lets shoppers tap cards for payment. Google has signed up retailers including Macy's Inc, American Eagle Outfitters Inc and Subway to blend the service with loyalty programs and discount offers.

Shoppers abroad, especially in Asia, can pay for things by waving their phones at check-out. An estimated one-fifth of people in Japan are signed up for mobile payments. In the United States, mobile wallets still face hurdles, but since last year, some large companies have raced to make the technology a reality.

Citigroup Mastercard holders with PayPass-enabled cards will get first crack at Google's service. The Internet giant also plans to sell a virtual prepaid card.

Visa Inc has tested a pay-by-phone system with several large banks, including Bank of America Corp and Wells Fargo & Co. The world's largest credit and debit card processing network has said it plans to make its mobile payments system commercially available this year.

Zuckerberg says not opening Facebook to under-13s

Facebook is not working on opening up the world's biggest social network to children under the age of 13 in the short term, founder and Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg said on Wednesday, contradicting some media reports.

Facebook, which has more than half a billion active users, operates policies around the world not to register children under a certain age. The age varies by country but is typically around 13.

"We're not trying to work on the ability for people under the age of 13 to sign up," Zuckerberg said when asked about the issue at the e-G8 Internet forum in Paris on Wednesday.

Zuckerberg said comments he had made at a conference last week at an education conference, when he said regulations made it difficult for children to sign up for Facebook, had been taken out of context.

He said the complexity of protecting children online meant the question was not a priority for the company.

"That's just not top of the list of things for us to figure out right now," said Zuckerberg. "Some time in the future, I think it makes sense to explore that, but we're not working on it right now."

Zuckerberg began the on-stage interview by batting away a question about Facebook's plans to go public with the answer: "Not yet". The company is expected to offer its shares to the public next year.

Facebook is expected to generate roughly $4 billion in advertising revenue in 2011, up from $1.86 billion a year earlier, according to market research firm eMarketer.

Its value has been estimated at up to $90 billion, based on private transactions on the secondary market.

Zuckerberg also played down the role his social network had played in revolutions that have rocked countries from Tunisia to Egypt to Libya.

"It's not a Facebook thing, it's an Internet thing," he said when asked about Facebook's part in the so-called Arab Spring. "I think Facebook was neither necessary nor sufficient for any of those things to happen."

"If it weren't Facebook, it would be something else."

Millions of users in the Middle East have used Facebook and Twitter to organise protests in recent months.

Europe on alert for Icelandic volcano ash cloud

An eruption by Iceland's most active volcano put Europe on high alert on Monday as a billowing ash cloud drifted toward Scotland and threatened to shut down airports across the northern edge of the continent.

Northern Europe's fringe was affected first, though experts saw little chance of a repeat of last year's six-day travel chaos caused by the eruption of another Icelandic volcano.

People living next to the glacier where the Grimsvotn volcano burst into life on Saturday were most affected, with ash shutting out the daylight and smothering buildings and vehicles.

An Icelandic Met Official said ash from the volcano could touch northwest Scotland as early as Monday evening.

Europe's air traffic control organization has said that if volcanic emissions continued at the same rate then the cloud might reach west French airspace and north Spain on Thursday.

Authorities have backed more relaxed rules on flying through ash after being criticized for being too strict last time.

Then, closing European air space forced the cancellation of 100,000 flights, disrupted 10 million passengers and cost the industry an estimated $1.7 billion in lost revenues.

"I think the regulators are a bit more sensible than they were last year," Michael O'Leary, chief of budget airline Ryanair, told a conference call. "We would be cautiously optimistic that they won't balls it up again this year."

Nevertheless, airline shares fell between 3 to 5 percent.

German Transport Minister Peter Ramsauer said he did not expect the eruption to disrupt air traffic to the same degree as last year, adding however there would be a flight ban for jet planes should particles from the ash cloud reach a higher concentration than 2 milligrammes per cubic meter.

Speaking to Sky News, British Transport Secretary Philip Hammond said authorities could hopefully work with airlines to "enable them to fly around concentrations of ash rather than having to impose a blanket closure."

Grimsvotn erupted on Saturday, with dark plumes of smoke shooting as high as 20 km (12 miles) into the sky.

The outburst is the volcano's most powerful since 1873 and stronger than the volcano which caused trouble last year, but scientists say the type of ash being spat out is less easily dispersed and winds have so far been more favorable.

"The difference in impact on aviation comes down to three factors: the ash being produced by the eruption, the weather patterns blowing the ash around, and new rules about planes flying into ash," University of Edinburgh volcanologist John Stevenson wrote on his blog.

SMOTHERED IN ASH

But some were expecting problems. "It's too early to tell if Europe will be affected. What's certain is that when it is affected, there will be flight cancellations," French Transport Minister Thierry Marianai told Europe 1radio.

Europe's air traffic control organization, which set up a crisis unit after bad coordination was blamed for worsening last year's crisis, said no closures outside Iceland were expected on Monday or Tuesday.

Airlines as far away as Australia were monitoring the cloud. Norway's civil aviation body said the one or two flights a day to the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard would shut tonight. A small part of Greenland's eastern airspace was also closed.

Iceland's aviation authority said however it hoped it might be able to re-open the island's main airport by the evening as the tower of smoke above the volcano appeared to have fallen.

The Icelandic met office said the plume from Grimsvotn, which last exploded in 2004, had fallen to just below 10 km (6 miles), well below its maximum so far of 25 km.

The volcano lies under the Vatnajokull glacier in southeast Iceland, the largest glacier in Europe. People living in districts close by have been smothered in ash.

"Yesterday between 2 and 3 (pm in the afternoon) it brightened up a bit until 8 in the evening, then it became black again," said Sigurlaugur Gislasson, 23, whose family owns a hotel near the town of Kirkjubaejarklaustur.

"It is like being in a sandstorm," he said. All the tourists who were staying at the hotel have also gone, he added.

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Stop the Scanners: Google halts efforts to digitize old newspapers

Google’s has long touted a grand vision of organizing the world’s information. But on Friday, the world’s No.1 Internet search engine acknowledged that not all of that information will make the cut.

The company has put the brakes on a three-year-old project to scan and digitize newspaper archives dating back to the 18^th century.

Google said that websurfers can continue to access its existing free online archive of newspapers – the company has digitized more than 3.5 million issues of more than 2,000 newspaper titles worldwide – but the company will no longer add to the collection by scanning old newspapers.

“We don’t plan to introduce any further features or functionality to the Google News Archives, and we are no longer accepting new microfilm or digital files for processing,” Google said in an emailed statement.

The news comes as Google undergoes its biggest management shift in a decade, with co-founder Larry Page replacing Eric Schmidt as CEO in April.

Interestingly, Page is considered to be a big proponent of ambitious “moonshot” projects, such as Google’s similar effort to scan the world’s out-of-print library books (an effort which is currently facing some legal difficulties).

But Google insiders have also said they expect Page to prune the vast number of projects underway at the company, so that Google can focus on the ones with the most promise. And there is increasing pressure from investors over Google’s free-spending ways.

It’s also worth nothing that Google has recently launched several products to help publishers make money from their digital content, such as the One Pass service for selling subscriptions to online magazines and newspapers and the recently-launched electronic bookstore Google eBooks.

Perhaps spending time and money to build a free library of old newsprint doesn’t deliver enough of a return on investment for the new Google.

Hackers hit Sony sites raising more security issues

Sony Corp has been hacked again, exposing more security issues for the company less than a month after intruders stole personal information from more than 100 million online user accounts.

A hacked page on a Sony website in Thailand directed users to a fake site posing as an Italian credit card company. The site was designed to steal information from customers, Internet security firm F-Secure disclosed on Friday.

It is the latest in a series of security headaches for Sony, which discovered in April hackers had broken into its PlayStation Network and stole data from more than 77 million accounts. On May 2, Sony disclosed hackers had also stolen data from about 25 million user accounts of the Sony Online Entertainment website, a PC-based games service.

The PlayStation attack, considered the biggest in Internet history, prompted the Japanese electronics giant to shut down its PlayStation Network and other services for close to a month.

"It's a Sony security issue," said Jennifer Kutz, a representative for F-Secure, referring to the fraudulent website.

The latest hacking, which the security company said occurred separately from the April attack, was reported just hours after Sony told customers of another breach on one of its units.

So-Net, the Internet service provider unit of Sony, alerted customers on Thursday that an intruder had broken into its system and stolen virtual points worth $1,225 from account holders.

Critics have slammed the company for not protecting its networks securely and then waiting up to a week before telling its customers of the attack and the possible theft of credit card information, prompting lawmakers and state attorneys general to launch investigations.

Security experts said they were not surprised that the electronics company has not yet fixed weaknesses in its massive global network. Earlier this week, Sony shut down one of its websites set up to help millions of users change their passwords after finding a security flaw.

"Sony is going through a pretty rigorous process and finding the holes to fill," said Josh Shaul, chief technology officer for computer security firm Application Security Inc.

"The hackers are going through the same process and they're putting their fingers in the holes faster than Sony can fill them."

"What we've done is stopped the So-Net points exchanges and told customers to change their passwords," So-Net said in a statement in Japanese to consumers.

About 100,000 yen ($1,225) was stolen from accounts that were attacked. The company said there was no evidence other accounts in the online system had been compromised.

"At this point in our investigations, we have not confirmed any data leakage. We have not found any sign of a possibility that a third party has obtained members' names, address, birth dates and phone numbers."

Security experts have told Reuters Sony's networks around the world remain vulnerable to attack.

Sony's string of security problems could be attracting more hackers to attack its networks.

"I think it's now 'I'm a hacker and I'm bored, let's go after Sony,'" Shaul said.

A Sony representative in the United States could not immediately be reached for comment on Friday.

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Amazon says e-books now outselling paper books

Amazon.com Inc said on Thursday that it now sells more digital e-books than paper books and that its recently introduced lower-priced Kindle e-reader is outselling other versions of the device.

Amazon, which does not divulge exact sales figures for the Kindle or e-books, said that for every 100 print books it has sold since April 1, it has sold 105 e-books. That includes both paperback and hardcover books, but excludes free downloads.

Last month, Amazon introduced a Kindle for $114, or $25 less than its next most expensive version, featuring advertising.

The Kindle has been fighting with Barnes & Noble Inc's Nook and Apple Inc's iPad for e-book sales. The Kindle was launched in 2007 and is by far the best-selling device made specifically for reading digital books.

Barnes & Noble is holding a press event on Tuesday in New York to unveil a new e-reader. Last month, Barnes & Noble introduced improvements to its Nook Color.

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Angry Birds, the next Mickey Mouse?

Mikael Hed is unrepentant about the 200 million minutes per day that people around the world fritter away playing Angry Birds, the iPhone game created by the company he heads.

"It's great. Think of all the other stuff they could be doing that's so much more boring," said the chief executive of Rovio Mobile, a Finnish start-up almost unheard of before it unleashed the addictive game on an unsuspecting world in 2009.

Angry Birds, the most popular paid-for game in the Apple (AAPL.O) App Store's four-year history, has just passed 200 million downloads.

The deceptively simple puzzle game in which players use a slingshot to fire birds at green pigs hiding in buildings has hooked a whole new audience, many of whom were never interested in video games before.

"These new touchscreen portable devices have changed the way that people behave. Nowadays, people have to be entertained all the time, whenever you have just a few moments spare," Hed told the Reuters Global Technology Summit in Paris this week.

"Much of those 200 million minutes comes from this type of micro spare time, filling the little gaps."

Rovio plans to use its hold over of those millions of spare moments as a wedge to expand into Hollywood and possibly even Disney-style (DIS.N) theme parks.

"Believe it or not, we have had such suggestions, and I believe Angry Birds Land was actually the name they used."

"Whether there will be a theme park dedicated to Angry Birds or not, I don't know, but I would be surprised if within 10 years there wouldn't be at least a theme park with something related to Angry Birds in it," said Hed.

MICKEY MOUSE

For now, the next step is to build the birds' characters and flesh out the rather thin Angry Birds story, which is that the birds are attacking the pigs because the pigs stole their eggs.

Hed says there would be news in the next days relating to Rovio's media ambitions, but declined to elaborate.

Already, Rovio has teamed up with News Corp's (NWSA.O) 20th Century Fox to hitch a new game to the animated 3-D movie Rio, which has taken hundreds of millions of dollars at the box office around the world.

A clue to Angry Birds Rio even featured in 20th Century Fox's (NWSA.O) ad at this year's SuperBowl -- the year's highest-profile advertising spot in the United States.

Hed has held talks with Hollywood studios about an Angry Birds feature film but so far has not found the right partner or deal. He said he wants to proceed with caution to protect the brand, and sees Mickey Mouse as a brand to aspire to.

These may seem grand ambitions for a company with just one megahit to its name, and Rovio is under pressure to show it is not a one-hit wonder. Angry Birds was its 52nd game.

Rovio plans to cement the popularity of Angry Birds with a version for Facebook this summer -- which will add social aspects to the essentially solitary game by building in features for players to help one another.

Hed also says a new Angry Birds game and another, different type of game are in the works. But he seems relaxed about their likely success.

"At some point you get to a point where you no longer associate a brand with just one product," he says.

"While games will always be our strong area, I also believe that Angry Birds is already beyond that point. It has the critical mass where it doesn't really need the game in order to be very known."

Rovio has just raised $42 million in venture capital funding but is already thinking about going public in two to three years' time.

Hed says the company has had takeover approaches but has so far resisted. "We're having too much fun to be a part of something bigger. That said, people do crazy things when presented with obscene amounts of money."

Asked whether he has been offered such sums, he answers: "Well, we're still independent, so not obscene enough."

STUDY SAYS "PERFUMES ARE SWEET POISON "

You spray your favorite perfume as you get ready for the new day. You want to start off smelling great but you might not know that you could actually be harming yourself or others in your household with each spritz. Are you wondering how something that smells as wonderful as your perfume could be harmful? The answer to this question may be surprising.  Chemicals can cause several different types of health problems; most everyone knows this and we limit our exposure to chemicals as much as possible. What people don’t seem to realize is that each time you spray yourself with a squirt of perfume, you are spraying chemicals directly on your body and into the air around you. After all, it takes chemicals to make perfumes.
These compounds are called fragrance chemicals and they vaporize when sprayed into the air or on your skin. As you and others around you breathe in these scents you are being exposed to chemicals that may be harmful.  Anywhere that perfumes are used the quality of the air is affected. These fragrance chemicals are not only found in perfumes and colognes, but also in scented candles, incense sticks, vaporizers and fragrance oils. When you use these fragrances inside your home the indoor air quality is greatly reduced. Problems Caused by Perfumes  Do you have a lot of problems with allergies? Does your nose feel so stopped up all the time that taking sinus medication has became a regular routine? If your answer is yes, do you or someone in your home use perfume on a regular basis? If so, it is possible that this could be your main problem. An estimated 2% of the population in developed countries suffers with some form of fragrance allergy. Being exposed to fragrances can cause many problems, including but not limited to the ones listed below.
Sinusitis Headaches  Nose and throat irritation Eye irritation Loss of coordination Defects of the central nervous system Birth defects Forgetfulness Cancer Of course, not everyone has these problems when exposed to perfumes. Neither does one person have all of these symptoms listed above, but you could be suffering with some of these problems and not know that it is being caused from a fragrance. Just as some people experience an allergic reaction to some foods, others are allergic to fragrances. Some ingredients that are found in these alluring aromas can even cause someone with asthma to suffer from an increased amount of asthma attacks. If you find that you are suffering with a lot of sinus problems see how many different scents you are exposed to each day.  If you are like most people you probably never thought that something as simple as a bottle of perfume or scented candle could cause so many serious problems. Your first thought would most likely be how could something that smells so nice cause you to be forgetful or even cause cancer. Unfortunately, there is a danger and the more fragrant chemicals you are exposed to each day increase this danger. Just think about how many different perfumes the average person is exposed to on a daily basis. At work, restaurants, stores, school. Everywhere you go someone has on his or her favorite perfume and you are constantly breathing in all these different chemicals each day.
Information about Perfume Ingredients  All kinds of fragrances can be created with modern technology. If you can name it, you can smell it. Perfumed oils to extravagant designer perfumes are being developed on a regular basis.  Everything from cheap perfumes to expensive name brands can be purchased easily and most people never think twice about what they are made from.  Currently there are upwards of 800 different fragrance chemicals and oils used in perfumes and scented candles.  Unfortunately, manufacturers in many countries are not required to state exactly what ingredients make up a certain fragrance; they are considered a trade secret.  Added to this, over half of the ingredients used in perfumes have never been tested to see how toxic they are to humans. Therefore, few studies have been done to see how they affect the average person’s health, especially when exposed to the chemicals for a long period of time. However, when we consider how some scented candles contain carbon monoxide, acetone, lead or benzene it’s not difficult to imagine how mixing a bunch of different chemicals together could affect our health.  Perfumes can have as little as one ingredient to hundreds of fragrant ingredients in any one brand. However, out of the ingredients that have been tested at least a fourth of the fragrance chemicals have been found to contain toxic substances. It is not just man made fragrances that have adverse side effects on people but natural ingredients have also been found to be harmful. Below is a list of natural fragrances that research has proven to be harmful. Please be aware if these are in your perfume or cologne.
Orris root  Patchouli oil  Galbanum Civet Bergamot  Asafetida If you already have sensitive skin, asthma, or any other respiratory problem perfumes will affect you even more than the average healthy person. However, a healthy person can begin to experience hypersensitivity to perfumes over a period of time. One of the most obvious signs of having a reaction to a particular fragrance is developing a rash. If you do notice a rash after using a product discontinue immediately, no matter how slight it may be.  Sometimes a chemical used to create a specific scent may have a very unpleasant smell to it. In these cases another fragrance is normally used to cover that smell up, but covering the smell does not eliminate it. These odors can still be harmful to people who breathe them, even though you can not smell the harmful odor.
Chemicals enter your body through breathing or through your skin. Each time you breathe in the scent of perfume you run the risk of exposing yourself to harmful fragrances. Each time you apply perfume to your skin it penetrates the skin and soaks into the body’s tissues. Over time this can even begin to affect internal organs.  Women’s perfumes are not the only ones that contain harmful chemicals; men’s cologne also poses the same problem.   In the case of scented candles, fragrance oils and incense sticks, these pose a particular danger when lit. The perfume fragrance is then released by a chemical reaction with the burning wick to release these chemicals into the air, which we then take into our lungs.  This can produce headaches, sickness, cause breathing difficulties and irritate the ear, nose and throat.
Now, here is the good news. Ever since research began showing that fragrances can be harmful, changes have been made to make perfumes safer to use. In some countries manufacturers are obliged to detail the fragrance ingredients so the end user can make informed choices. You can still enjoy wearing your favorite perfume without worry; all you need to do is follow a few simple guidelines.  For instance, check the ingredients to make sure they do not contain any natural fragrances that are harmful such as the ones listed above.  If you develop a rash or notice that you only have sinus problems when you wear a particular fragrance try a different one, not all fragrances will affect you. Thanks to research and technology you can continue starting your day off with that dash of perfume you enjoy so much.

Feeling of elegance comes from perfumes. Perfumes and fragrances are used to scent wide variety of body and bath products such as cologne, deodorant, after shave lotions, hair care products etc. But do you know that these wonderful perfumes can be dangerous for you? Here are some side effects and problems caused due to perfumes.

• Skin problems are frequent due to side effects of perfume. It may cause allergies and rashes. In some cases de-pigmentation of skin can also be caused.
  
• Perfumes are also known to cause headache, dizziness, nausea, sneezing and mood swings.
• Sinus, watery eyes, sore throat, anxiety and inability to concentrate are few other side effects caused by perfumes.
• In some cases fragrance chemicals can cause lung disease. In asthmatics perfumes can trigger attacks.
• Perfumes are also known to affect the brain as there is close connection between memory and scent.
• Fragrance chemicals can be absorbed by the skin and can get introduced into the blood stream. Thus it can affect any part of the body that is sensitive to chemicals.
• Fragrance cause chemical change to occur in brain and this leads to depression in many cases.
• It also causes chest tightness, hyperactivity (in children), drowsiness and fatigue too.

Principal chemicals found in scented products are:

ACETONE

(in: cologne, dishwashing liquid and detergent, nail enamel remover) - On EPA, RCRA, CERCLA Hazardous Waste lists. "Inhalation can cause dryness of the mouth and throat; dizziness, nausea, incoordination, slurred speech, drowsiness, and, in severe exposures, coma." "Acts primarily as a central nervous system (CNS) depressant."

BENZALDEHYDE

(in: perfume, cologne, hairspray, laundry bleach, deodorants, detergent, vaseline lotion, shaving cream, shampoo, bar soap, dishwasher detergent) - Narcotic. Sensitizer. "Local anesthetic, CNS depressant"... "irritation to the mouth, throat, eyes, skin, lungs, and GI tract causing nausea and abdominal pain." "May cause kidney damage." "Do not use with contact lenses."

BENZYL ACETATE

(in: perfume, cologne, shampoo, fabric softener, stickup air freshener, dishwashing liquid and detergent, soap, hairspray, bleach, after shave, deodorants) - Carcinogenic (linked to pancreatic cancer); "From vapors: irritating to eyes and respiratory passages, exciting cough." "In mice: hyperaemia of the lungs." "Can be absorbed through the skin causing systemic effects." "Do not flush to sewer."

BENZYL ALCOHOL

(in: perfume, cologne, soap, shampoo, nail enamel remover, air freshener, laundry bleach and detergent, Vaseline lotion, deodorants, fabric softener) - "irritating to the upper respiratory tract" ... "headache, nausea, vomiting, dizziness, drop in blood pressure, CNS depression, and death in severe cases due to respiratory failure."

CAMPHOR

(in: perfume, shaving cream, nail enamel, fabric softener, dishwasher detergent, nail color, stickup air freshener) - "local irritant and CNS stimulant" ..."readily absorbed through body tissues" ..."irritation of eyes, nose and throat" ..."dizziness, confusion, nausea, twitching muscles and convulsions" "Avoid inhalation of vapors."

ETHANOL

(in: perfume, hairspray, shampoo, fabric softener, dishwashing liquid and detergent, laundry detergent, shaving cream, soap, Vaseline lotion, air fresheners, nail color and remover, paint and varnish remover) - On EPA Hazardous Waste list; symptoms: "...fatigue; irritating to eyes and upper respiratory tract even in low concentrations..." "Inhalation of ethanol vapors can have effects similar to those characteristic of ingestion. These include an initial stimulatory effect followed by drowsiness, impaired vision, ataxia, stupor..." Causes CNS disorder. [Note: this refers to denatured ethanol, which is commonly used in the cosmetic industry, not to drinking alcohol.]

ETHYL ACETATE

(in: after shave, cologne, perfume, shampoo, nail color, nail enamel remover, fabric softener, dishwashing liquid) - Narcotic. On EPA Hazardous Waste list; "...irritating to the eyes and respiratory tract" ..."may cause headache and narcosis (stupor)" ..."defatting effect on skin and may cause drying and cracking" ..."may cause anemia with leukocytosis and damage to liver and kidneys" "Wash thoroughly after handling."

LIMONENE

(in: perfume, cologne, disinfectant spray, bar soap, shaving cream, deodorants, nail color and remover, fabric softener, dishwashing liquid, air fresheners, after shave, bleach, paint and varnish remover) - Carcinogenic. "Prevent its contact with skin or eyes because it is an irritant and sensitizer." "Always wash thoroughly after using this material and before eating, drinking, ...applying cosmetics. Do not inhale limonene vapor."

LINALOOL

(in: perfume, cologne, bar soap, shampoo, hand lotion, nail enamel remover, hairspray, laundry detergent, dishwashing liquid, Vaseline lotion, air fresheners, bleach powder, fabric softener, shaving cream, after shave, solid deodorant) - Narcotic. ..."respiratory disturbances" ... "Attracts bees." "In animal tests: ataxic gait, reduced spontaneous motor activity and depression ... development of respiratory disturbances leading to death." ..."depressed frog-heart activity." Causes CNS disorder.

METHYLENE CHLORIDE

(in: shampoo, cologne, paint and varnish remover) - Banned by the FDA in 1988! No enforcement possible due to trade secret laws protecting chemical fragrance industry. On EPA, RCRA, CERCLA Hazardous Waste lists. "Carcinogenic" ..."Absorbed, stored in body fat, it metabolizes to carbon monoxide, reducing oxygen-carrying capacity of the blood." "Headache, giddiness, stupor, irritability, fatigue, tingling in the limbs." Causes CNS disorder.

a-PINENE

(in: bar and liquid soap, cologne, perfume, shaving cream, deodorants, dishwashing liquid, air freshener) - Sensitizer (damaging to the immune system).

g-TERPINENE

(in: cologne, perfume, soap, shaving cream, deodorant, air freshener) - "Causes asthma and CNS disorders."

a-TERPINEOL

(in: perfume, cologne, laundry detergent, bleach powder, laundry bleach, fabric softener, stickup air freshener, Vaseline lotion, cologne, soap, hairspray, after shave, roll-on deodorant) - ..."highly irritating to mucous membranes"... "Aspiration into the lungs can produce pneumonitis or even fatal edema." Can also cause "excitement, ataxia (loss of muscular coordination), hypothermia, CNS and respiratory depression, and headache." "Prevent repeated or prolonged skin contact."

Unable to secure MSDS for the following chemicals: 1,8-CINEOLE; b-CITRONELLOL; b-MYRCENE; NEROL; OCIMENE; b-PHENETHYL ALCOHOL; a-TERPINOLENE

Relevant Facts:

• 95% of chemicals used in fragrances are synthetic compounds derived from petroleum. They include benzene derivatives, aldehydes and many other known toxics and sensitizers - capable of causing cancer, birth defects, central nervous system disorders and allergic reactions. Neurotoxins: At Home and the Workplace, Report by the Committee on Science & Technology, U.S. House of Representatives, Sept. 16, 1986. (Report 99-827)
• Central Nervous System disorders (brain and spine) include Multiple Sclerosis, Parkinson's Disease, Alzheimer's Disease, Sudden Infant Death Syndrome.
• Chloroform was found in tests of fabric softeners: EPA's 1991 study.
• A room containing an air freshener had high levels of p-dichlorobenzene (a carcinogen) and ethanol: EPA's 1991 study.
• An FDA analysis (1968-1972) of 138 compounds used in cosmetics that most frequently involved adverse reactions, identified five chemicals (alpha-terpineol, benzyl acetate, benzyl alcohol, limonene and linalool) that are among the 20 most commonly used in the 31 fragrance products tested by the EPA in 1991!
• Thirty-three million Americans suffer from sinusitis (inflammation or infection of sinus passages).
• Ten million Americans have asthma. Asthma and asthma deaths have increased over 30% in the past 10 years.
• Headaches cost $50 billion in lost productivity and medical expenses and 157 million lost work days in 1991. "Focus on Fragrance and Health," by Louise Kosta, The Human Ecologist, Fall 1992.