There Might Be a Scary Downside to Fabric Softener Sheets

[marions ghost]

51. Thanks for the tip

but Odoban is still injecting chemicals into your environment even if it does work (and therefore may have industrial, hospital, kennels, and large-scale cleaning usages). But it may not be better for you or pets, or the home environment than Febreeze or potpourri chemicals, especially if sprayed rather than used as a liquid cleaner. Just sayin.

This is the main ingredient in Odoban: dimethylbenzylammonium chloride

Here's the basics about it:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benzalkonium_chloride

-------excerpt:

As with antibiotics, the use of biocides at sub-inhibitory concentrations can potentially result in resistant organisms, and should be used at recommended dilutions and extended contact time to ensure effective disinfection. While resistance is rarely linked to disinfectant usage at low concentrations, a 2009 study suggested that when used in less than lethal concentrations, benzalkonium chloride solutions could result in increased resistance Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and an increase in resistance of the bacteria to the ciprofloxacin antibiotic, even though the bacterial colonies had not been previously exposed to the antibiotic.[19]

Several human case studies have identified allergic and irritant reactions to benzalkonium chloride, including asthma,[20] contact dermatitis[21][22][23][24][25] and ocular hypersensitivity.[26] Animal studies support the toxicity of benzalkonium chloride on the lung,[27][28][29] including the induction of bronchoconstriction.[30]

Several larger studies, including epidemiological studies, have identified a strong link between the occupational use of quaternary ammonium compounds, specifically benzalkonium chloride, with an increased incidence of asthma[31][32][33][34][35][36][37][38] and rhinitis,[39] especially amongst nurses, cleaners and farmers. Whether these are irritant or immune-mediated responses is not clear, though the hypothesis that bronchial hyperresponsiveness is secondary to epithelial cell damage is supported by the literature.[40] More recently, biopsy results on mucosal epithelium suggest that neurogenic inflammation as a result of epithelial injury may be responsible for irritant-induced asthma and rhinitis.[41][42] Studies on exposure of atopic subjects to ozone[43] and to diesel exhaust particles (DEPs)[44] have identified that co-exposure to irritants and allergens leads to allergic sensitization.

A 2012 study reported that simultaneous ocular exposure to an inert antigen and benzalkonium chloride leads to a significant change in the systemic immune response to the administered antigen in mice, thus suggesting that the preservative's effects could be more profound than the local disruption of the epithelial barrier integrity and raising the question of whether benzalkonium chloride has a role in the induction of allergy.[45]