Jennifer Moore begins her daily routine before class with scented shampoo and conditioner. Her beauty products are all scented. Her perfume is something she wears every day.

But a potential ‘fragrance ban’ at Framingham State University in Massachusetts would require the senior fashion merchandising major to stop using all of her scented products. When Moore first heard of the potential ban through Facebook statuses posted by her friends, she thought it was strange, she said.

‘I thought it wasn’t very fair because you can’t really ban fragrance,’ she said. ‘It’s in everything.’

Students and staff at the school debated last Wednesday on the merits of the ban, which would include smoking, cleaning chemicals, perfumes and colognes, according to an article published in The Gatepost, FSU’s student newspaper, on April 7.

The meeting was held after certain chemicals bothered several people on campus, said Rita Colucci, director of human resources and affirmative action at FSU, in the article.

FSU officials declined to comment for this article.

An email written by Colucci informed FSU students of the April 7 meeting.

‘As we all know, exposure to second-hand smoke presents health risks; likewise, the health of individuals with sensitivities to chemicals in fragrances, cleaners and disinfectants can also be adversely affected,’ the email stated. The email also asked students if the ban would be practical.

Lois Oak, a university employee, said she now has to work from home because she became violently ill from asthma in November after Lysol was repeatedly sprayed in the hallway where she worked, according to The Gatepost article.

Oak asked students at the April 7 meeting to be more considerate of those, like her, who struggle with chemicals, according to the article. Oak could not be reached for comment for this article.

Moore, the senior fashion merchandising major, said students should be respectful of the professor’s condition and should refrain from wearing scents in her office or classroom. But she does not think the ban should expand to the entire campus, she said.

Tyrone Forster, a sophomore geology major at FSU, said he understood where the administration was coming from with the idea of the ban, but said he did not think it would be very practical to implement it.

He said he didn’t think the ban would alleviate the problem the school is trying to fix because the school is located near a very busy highway, where there will still be air pollution.

Foster did not attend last Wednesday’s meeting, but said he knew students who did attend and were not in support of the ban.

‘People were up in arms and focusing on the fragrance ban more than the smoking ban because I think the fragrance ban affects more students,’ he said.

Foster said he has not heard anything about the ban since the meeting.

School officials stressed that no decision had been made yet at the meeting and said after it that they were not sure what the next step for the school would be, according to The Gatepost article. Brad Medeiros, FSU campus police chief, said at the meeting that enforcing any potential ban would be difficult for campus police.

Until anything official happens with the ban, Moore, the senior fashion merchandising major, said she plans to continue her daily scented routine. If the ban goes into place, Moore said she would be upset because it would be expensive for students.

‘I’d pretty much have to rebuy everything I use,’ she said. ‘Everyone would.’

medelane@syr.edu

Published on April 12, 2011 at 12:00 pm

Contact Meghin: medelane@syr.edu | @meghinwithani