Apparently, most commercial dryer sheets are high in various toxic compounds such as Benzyl Alcohol, Benzyl Acetate, Linalool, and Chloroform.

All of these ingredients are highly toxic and lead to various skin issues, but at the same time, their fumes are toxic and harmful as well. These toxins go directly to the most sensitive neurological centers of the brain and cause destruction.

Namely, the use of dryer sheets coats the clothes with artificial chemical fragrances, which are extremely toxic, as they are known carcinogens which lead to cancer and liver damage in mammals.

UW professor Dr. Anne Steinemann has conducted a study in order to examine the effect of these perfumes found in laundry products (both detergent and dryer sheets) and found that dryer vents emitted over 25 VOCs, with highest concentrations of acetone, ethanol, and acetaldehyde, (two of these are carcinogenic).

Moreover, one of these carcinogenic VOC’s, acetaldehyde, had emissions that made up 3% of total acetaldehyde emissions from automobiles in the study area, which is an extremely high emission of these harmful toxins.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and industry-generated Material Safety Data Sheets (MSDS) from the 1990s, the list below provides the chemicals which are found in the fabric softeners, most in untested combinations.

--  Benzyl acetate–This chemical has been related to pancreatic cancer

--  Pentane–This chemical leads to fatigue, depression, headaches, drowsiness, nausea, and dizziness

--  Benzyl alcohol–It is an irritant of the upper respiratory tract and leads to disorders of the central nervous system (CNS), vomiting, nausea, dramatic drops in blood pressure, dizziness, and headache.

--  Ethanol– This chemical is related to CNS disorders and is included in the EPA’s Hazardous Waste list.

--  Linalool– According to studies, Linalool leads to depression, brain disorders, disorders of the nervous system, and loss of muscle coordination

--  Chloroform–This is an anesthetic, neurotoxic, and carcinogenic chemical, extremely toxic to the brain. Inhaling its vapors may result in headaches, drowsiness, vomiting, loss of consciousness, nausea, dizziness.

--  Ethyl Acetate–It leads to headaches and is also listed on the EPA Hazardous Waste list

--  Alpha-Terpineol–It causes depression, headaches, loss of muscle control, disorders of the brain and nervous system

Undoubtedly, this information on toxic dryer sheets is shocking. Therefore, it is wise to use other alternatives, like wool balls, which are completely natural, lead to soft clothes and eliminate wrinkles and static cling.

Source: livingtraditionally.com
Other included references linked in Living Traditionally’s article:
www.ewg.org
healthwyze.org