26% more likely...

This is an interesting story, about how aerosols and air fresheners can cause illness. The Brunel study was of mothers and babies, but they had a GP on 5 Live this morning who said he'd suspected a connection for many years - after several patients reported that anxiety/depression symptoms lifted after they got rid of bathroom air fresheners.

Ever since then, he's been telling patients to check their perfume load. As he pointed out, the sense of smell famously connects directly to the memory and emotional centres of our brains. It makes a kind of sense (the kind where I don't require any further scientific proof) that if you fill your home and life with scented fresheners, sticks and sprays, that a kind of sensory overload can cause problems.

As the GP pointed out, it took 22 years and several thousand scientific studies to "prove" that smoking causes cancer. That's the level of proof required by major corporations when they talk about "causality." So they can fuck off now: no more room sprays and air fresheners for me. Thanks. Cheers. Ta.