I sympathize with your situation completely. I don't live in an apartment or Condo, but in a rural/residential area, and right next door, less than 80 feet away is an older, divorced woman who chain smokes and uses excessive air fresheners inside her home. I know, because every summer, nearly every day, she throws open her garage door and windows wide and the south breeze carries this strong, hideously sweet, floral scent mixed with stale cigarette smoke into my backyard and into my open windows. I can't spend much time outside anymore because the smell of it literally chokes me - my throat closes, allergies ignite with sneezing, runny nose and I'm forced inside, closing all windows. I have resorted to buying dust masks to filter the stench if I do any gardening - which is beyond aggravating and counterproductive (I go outside to enjoy fresh air and end up having to filter it). As it is, I am very allergic to most commercial air fresheners, soaps, and fabric softeners, so I have to be very careful what I use in my own home. Which makes me wonder, if the smell coming from my neighbor's house is so strong how she can possibly stand it, unless her senses have become so desensitized by years of smoking and inhaling these floral chemicals that she can't smell anything anymore. I hate complaining, I really do, but it has come to the point when I would just like to enjoy the wooded sanctuary of nature that I have in my own back garden, and breathe in the fresh air - not someone else's chemically modified air pollution. I hate to say anything because I can imagine she will not see any problem as the smell doesn't bother her, after all, she has the advantage of actual fresh air coming into her windows. My problem then becomes a non-issue because to compromise might mean she'd have to change some of her actions, and that would be viewed as an infringement on her rights. It really feel sad, like there is no solution, other than for me to simply put up with it and stay indoors all summer.

One reason your neighbour can tolerate the strong fragrance is because air fresheners contain chemicals that deaden a person's sense of smell. I have read posts on other sites where people, like you, have a neighbour whose air freshener fragrance travels outdoors and ruins their enjoyment of their garden. The fragrance also comes into their home and, like you, they have to keep their windows shut tight. Unfortunately, I don't think a solution exists yet. The only hope is that people will become aware of the health risks and stop using these products. But that may have no effect on your neighbour who, as a smoker, has little regard for her health or who wants to quit, but can't. By the way, I spoke to my downstairs neighbour and made her aware of the health risks and the impact of her air freshener on me. She got rid of the air freshener and now we are good friends. :-)

Katnipeverdeen

It is possible that, like Belinda's neighbor, she may be unaware of the impact of her air freshener on you. Belinda had a discussion, and solved the problem and gained a new friend.

I have so far had no problems with my apartment neighbors above or side whatsoever, but if I did I would certainly try a friendly discussion.

Belinda Sutton & Lucille

My thanks for your responses, and I believe you're both right. We all become used to the scents in our homes, the good and the bad, and for someone who may smoke that can definitely change his/her sensitivity at an intense level. I'm very sure she's unaware her strong air freshener has any impact beyond her house. Even with a discussion I'm not optimistic anything will change, but I'm not going to give up entirely. At some point I may broach the subject to her, but will remember to keep expectations low, as the only real control anyone has is themselves and their own behavior. I do hope she'll be somewhat amenable to compromise, as she's spoken of having allergies to her own cats and seasonal pollen, which requires a doctor's script (and eye drops). In the meantime, I'll be sure to pick up a few more packages of painter's masks, just in case.

I live in a townhouse and a smoker moved in next door about a year ago. Because of this I have to plan all my outdoor activities when she is at work. I can't keep the windows open anymore, and she also leaves over-flowing ashtrays on her front porch, right next to mine, that get wet and stink. And add me to the people who can't tolerate the perfume, air fresheners or wood fires. My throat closes up and I get anxiety. People get offended if you say anything about their perfume, and it never helps. The lady I work with argued that it was a "special" recipe from Paris, and "everyone" loves it. Thankfully she is now gone!

Depending on where you reside, you may actually have legal recourse. Check with local governing body/representative's office to determine what the law is. Smells need not be smoke to qualify. Any odor may qualify. I once heard tell of an odorous Tree that received protection from a livid resident - but never an offending dryer sheet or laundromat. Offending odors may be more heavily regulated in densely populated areas.

Unfortunately the use of stinky air freshener products is about to proliferate here in Canada as the use of marijuana becomes legal on Oct. 7, 2018. People will use air fresheners to conceal the skunk urine smell of the marijuana in their homes. :-(

Oh this old thread - how funny! Actually not so funny, cos the stinky neighbors finally left - got kicked out or something. The landlord left all the doors/windows open for a week to air out - it smelled just awful. So life was nice for a while with new normal neighbors, but then recently they moved and we got a new set of neighbors. One of them who is friends with - guess who - the stinky airfreshener lady from 2015! So here we go again!!! Not QUITE as over the top, but bad enough.

Do these people know that their products really dont smell ANYTHING like Fresh Summer Rain or a Tropical Breeze? Just cos there a picture of a bouquet of flowers doesnt mean your air freshener smells like flowers!

A lot of that stuff reminds me more of a public toilet than anything pleasant! .

I have the same problem now with a new tenant who moved in right nextdoor to me. As I was researching what I could do about it, I came across these posts. Last night was the most horrid thing I have come across. They had some air freshener going and I couldn't get away from it. I had to sit out on the porch holding my head in my hands with the most awful headache one could imagine and was very close to getting sick right there out on the lawn. This new tenant also smokes cigarettes and weed (to each their own) and I was inside my place for a few hours working on a project and then all of a sudden realized my symptoms. That's when I immediately headed outside. I hate to ask someone not to do something in their own home, but when I saw the apt manager walking around the property, I quickly let him know the situation. I was in a bad spot feeling the way I was. There was absolutely no way I was going to be able to go back into my house with that going on. The manager knocked on his door and he seemed very compliant. I went back in, opened my windows to let it air out. When I finally went back in around 11pm, it was very clear and no traces of anything.

The next day... I'm smelling something in the bathroom that smells like a lemon freshener and I can't seem to figure out where it's seeping through at... Maybe the drywall around the pipes, or electrical outlet?? The problem is that this is where my AC is located and now I have lemon air freshener blowing into other parts of my place. My place is very small, so rearranging is challenging.

My point being is that people are creatures of habit. The tenant seemed so nice and said they'd stop only to not get into any trouble.

My experience is that people who use air freshener may stop for awhile, if requested, but often restart again. I feel air fresheners should be banned in buildings. They are extremely unhealthy and it's so unfair to people who are allergic or who just plain don't like them. People should have the right not to smell a neighbour's stinky air freshener in their own space. Yes, air freshener can come through a wall, possibly through an electrical outlet.

There are some great YouTube diy videos I have found that go over how and where those smells can come in from. When I first moved in here, I already had sealed some areas up, but one of the videos I watched mentioned the medicine cabinet as well, so there's my next project.

And yes! I definitely agree they should be banned 🚫. I have asthma, allergies and sensitivities to those fragrances.

I, too, have asthma, allergies and sensitivities to fragrance. I also don't like the smell of fragrance in a home. I like my place to smell "normal".

It’s better than the smell of stale smoke and 1000 year old refried fried food,

I beg to differ. I would take the smell of stale smoke and 100-year-old fried food over air freshener any day of the week. Air freshener makes my throat swell and gives me a headache. The other odours, how ever unpleasant, do not.

No I fully understand.. one of my friends is highly reactive to artificial scents etc... with similar symptoms to what you’ve described.

I’m bad with cigarette smoke and do empathize. Good luck though

Perfume can set off a migraine in the time it takes me to ride an elevator with the offending person. A friend of mine going through Chemo told me that cologne can make patients so sick that it is prohibited where she gets her treatments. I just don't understand why some people think they it's OK to force smells on everyone around them, just because they like it. I think scents are like the olfactory version of a boombox, except that instead of forcing everyone around you to listen to the music you like, you're forcing them to smell chemicals. And it doesn't matter -- the expensive stuff is just as nauseating. I think it should be illegal to wear perfume in public. In the meantime, I reserve the right to vomit on the smelly person who makes me sick.

I'm glad I found this forum. I HATE artificial smells. I had to start making my own candles (I use essential oils only) because I can't stand any candles anymore.

I bought an apartment in March and noticed cigarette smoke smell coming from my neighbor (I complained to the board and they said that they never officially banned smoking indoors so couldn't do anything). It mostly comes into my closet in the bedroom and hallway. But even worse than that, I started noticing fragrance smells. My bedroom constantly smelled like Febreze. The one place in the world where you should feel the most at-home, comfy, and intimate smelled like someone's Glade plug-in. I noticed the floors were broken, so paid $2,000 to have them repaired. I also plugged up every hole, nook, and cranny I could.

For a while, it started getting better. However, just a couple weeks ago I was sitting on my couch when suddenly I was engulfed with a smell that was like barbie perfume. I mean, completely engulfed. Every inch of my 700-square-foot apartment smelled like someone literally sprayed perfume straight in my face.

It has started happening frequently ever since. I then started noticing that a door would open in the hallway and I would hear a spray noise right before it started. My neighbor is WALKING INTO THE HALLWAY TO SPRAY this stuff. I have no idea why.

I can try to put insulation around my front door, but it's a door after all. I can't seal it up completely, and I doubt whatever I could do would go too far.

Now that I realize the full, military-grade strength of the crap they are using, there is no wonder why it is still stinking up my closet even though I've caulked every crack I could find.

This is so disgusting. I know there is discussion here on being "too sensitive" but let me tell you, I was a smoker for years and actually use e-cigarette now (vape). I have asthma, and I haven't needed an inhaler or any medications since I switched to vaping. I am a runner and very active, and have good lung capacity. This fragrance crap gives me asthma.

That's all to say that nobody here is exaggerating or overreacting. I am better off smoking than even getting some of this fragrance spray secondhand.

I might leave a note on their door, but they are grumpy old ladies who already seem to not like me.

Anyway, at least I'm not alone.

Everyone here is probably experiencing some form of what is known as MCS and should definitely look into that to help spread the awareness and concern of this growing health issue for many! We need to stand up for ourselves and start getting laws set in place to protect those sensitive as the numbers at this point of people whom are effected negatively are highly concerning! Its bad for our health and environment and we all share the air! Time to spread awareness time to do something about it! It's miserable living with neighbors who affect the whole neighborhood like this. There's issues with reduction in sperm count in males and increased risk for ovarian cancer in females as well as many other hormonal issues and neurological issues caused by these synthetic fragrances. Big companies like Tide and Gain pay big money to try to cover that up so we have to speak up so people understand the concern. Even then however many wont listen so we need to spread awareness enough to get some laws changed to make the bigger impact!

This thread again! Well after the neighbors who inspired my original post were kicked out, we had a few normal ( ie. not addicted to endocrine disrupter petrochemical fumes) neighbors and it was just great! Could have windows open, just forgot about the problem.. Then new neigbhors moved in - and right away within minutes the chemical stink started up again. Turns out the new people are friends of the old fiends that got kicked out! Why on earth would a landlord rent to friends of those people I have no idea (this is a huge demand area).

Theres one realllllyyyyy nasty one they do that I remember from the old people - has this sickingly sweet noxious cherry like odor that smells like what novocaine at the dentist tastes like.... if you know what I mean. It gives me an instant migraine

They also run their dryer (vent is 8 ft away from my house) constantly using super smelly dryer sheets, and I made the mistake once of asking if they could cut down on it, which made them amp it up even more so now it goes pretty much every waking minute they are home. You can smell their house about a half a block away. Of course THEY cant because the smell receptors in their nose have been totally coated by this oily film deposit. Thats what air fresheners do - they DONT "freshen" any air - come on, how gullible do you have to be?!

If it stops and I come outside to work on my garden, if they see me out there they immediately start up again. I HAVE NO IDEA why people want to wear clothes that others can smell 20 ft away (NOT EXAGGERATING) - its just totally bizarre.

From observation of these neighbors (and having a smoking tenant once of my own in the downstairs apartment) I think some of this behavior may have to do with trying to cover up smoking in a non-smoking apartment. There are actually "smoke buster" products marketed specifically for this purpose which are horrendous.

Therefore Ive changed my lease to read not only no smoking but also no excessive chemical fragrances - I define that as anything that you can document is bothering other people.

I would suggest to renters to ask potential landlords what their policy is on smoking AND chemical fragrance use. This product is where smoking used to be 20 y rs ago - once enough of us decide we don't want it in our environment, things will change.

Wow I could've wrote this whole thread myself along with all the comments but I still have more to add and I've only been dealing with this for 2 years. I've lived in my house for 40 years and my neighbor next to me sold her house 2 years ago to a couple that was suppose to be buying it for their elderly parents. It was a lie to win her over. These people bought it, gutted it and turned it into a community care facility. For the first year they were doing assisted suicides on a weekly basis. The smell of defecation and decomposing bodies blanketed our neighborhood. It was insane. I live in an extremely nice upscale neighborhood. Things like this are unheard of and are only seen on TV. The smell from this facility made my family so sick that half of my family had to move out. I stayed but became so ill from the smell that I could hardly get out of bed. I managed to set of many cameras and have many audio recordings on these people(just collecting evidence). So after a year they stopped the suicides and started cooking meth. Turned out that sweet chemical burning smell was a meth lab in my case. I had to do a lot of work to figure this out and a few illegal things just to be sure before I opened my mouth to my other neighbors because I knew that if I didn't have real proof that nobody would ever believe me. Like I said things like this don't happen where I live, not in my neighborhood anyway. But sadly because my evidence was obtained illegally I could not share it with anyone other than my close neighbors, so this facility/meth lab is still up and running next to my home. Ugh....

What!? How is this remotely legal. So are you saying they are using air fresheners to cover up the stench? It's not your job to collect evidence or build the case to take to court - I would just start with calling police non emergency no. and ask what to do or who to contact re noxious smells. Could be building inspection. Or get lawyer to look at your evidence and act on your behalf. Unlike air fresheners (topic of this thread) decomposing bodies and meth labs are very much NOT legal! I did find out recently, at least in our city, nuisance behavior of any kind is not legal and that does in fact include noxious odors - whether from legal or illegal causes.

Meth labs aren't just illegal and noxious, they can be explosive and dangerous. If the police are no longer responding to you, have a friend call to report it.

Also, where do you live that they have assisted suicide?

I did go to the police and told a couple people when it first started and they all thought I was nuts and on drugs so I took a drug test to prove that I wasn't crazy and called a few friends over on the nights of the suicides and a few more on the nights they were cooking meth and said suprise take a whiff and everyone about lost their minds. They all believed me now. I told them it's in their best interest to not tell anyone but they all went to their jobs the following day and told everyone. Half way through their shifts I got calls from some of them crying. The others cried when they got home. I asked them all what's wrong. Their answers were all the same, everyone thinks they are crazy! They might be having a breakdown. My response 🤣😆 I just laughed.! I said I told everyone not to tell anyone but they said I'm telling the truth and everyone should know. Ha ha ha yes this would be nice but if my own family and friends thought I was crazy, I knew the rest of the world would come down on them and me alot Harder so I knew I was going to need proof but even with proof people still don't believe unless they experience it first hand because this meth labs packaging is out of the ordinary, you would never know it by looking at it or even going in it. They have patients in this place, the lab is not sitting out for the world to see but how do they get away with it then. Well for one all of their patients are wheel chair bound and are mentally disabled and can't really speak or move much and during the times they were cooking alot they only had 1 or 2 patients there and usuallythe patients died or went to the hospital. I don't know if cooking had anything to do with the patients dying or going to the hospital as there are no records of any ambulances or deaths at this facility/home. Which my entire neighborhood doesn't understand because we all have photos and videos of over 50 60 bodies or patients being taken way by ambulances from that place.. Anyway This lab is so well thought out its unbelievable and ordinary cops don't know anything about a real meth lab. They still think meth labs need to be big and super smelly but they don't. I've now seen first hand what a small meth lab looks like and just how little you truly need to make meth and given that most of the things used to make meth are in this facility already or can be easily carried in and out with a duffle bag, your average cop or person doesn't even know this. It's 2 years later and I'm still trying to get someone of substance to actually help us. Ugh... who knew it would be so easy to run a meth lab in an upscale neighborhood. lol 😆 I guess they did!

Oh and I'm the guilty party that tried to use air freshener, yard deodorizer, candles to cover up their stench. None of it worked. It actually just made it worse for me and harder for the city to notice their stench. Ugh.. and I hate air fresheners with a passion but I was desperate to try anything.

Have you tried reporting to the DEA https://www.dea.gov/who-we-are/contact-us 

Yes and I never heard anything back from them. Its all really frustrating. I actually just submitted another tip to them right now as well so maybe they will contact me after this one.

Hi Debbie and the other people affected by the same problem, I have had a nightmare experience with excessive use of air fresheners

I was wondering if we have health issues with proven evidence of this and of the origin of these smells (the only neighbours who live below us and we are on the top floor). Is there a solicitor with a proven track record on building a case for taking the matter to the courts that anyone knows of?

In my situation, I couldn't complain to the neighbours directly because they had already been parking inconsiderably preventing us from using our recently built private car park space and they behaved aggressively/intimidating when they tried to talk about it with us. And I knew why the air fresheners were being used... I spoke to the landlord that I was having health issues and my then 4 year old was breathing these strong dense sweet synthetic smells instead of fresh air when I opened my windows.

The housing association / landlord suggested I use air purifiers in every window sill in my small flat...!!

If anyone has a useful comment, please help

We have tried to move and it has proved very difficult to find a new home quickly in my small town

And we are attempting to move again as I write

try using air purifiers

HU-951258129- is your Dr willing to verify your health issues and/or do you have any health issue that's on the ADA list that is aggravated by strong chemical odors? In leiu of that you might want to document every occurrence of strong odor + physical reaction - pounding headache, asthma attack, etc. A lot of people dont understand that is not only disliking the smell, its that there is a physical effect. They also may not understand that what you experience may be wholly different from what they experience, depending on where they are located in relation to the source of the stink.

Last summer for example, the neighbor across the 9 ft alley was running her dryer literally every waking moment from early a.m til past midnight, every day, using super strong dryer sheets. Now that stuff is NASTY. It seems to get trapped between our two buildings, and seems to accumulate when it goes on for so many hours , unless there's a really strong wind to blow it away. So, while other neighbors noticed it, they weren't bothered so much by it because of where they were located. They didnt understand that my experience was so much worse.

Hi Debbie, I'm so pleased that you seem to be best informed on this topic which for those affected can ruin their quality of life if they cannot easily move home.

I will read your comment in detail over the weekend. But someone else had the idea of air purifier... Well, in my case, they would be on every window sill and visitors would ask questions.... Also I prefer to have a bunch of flowers or photos or nothing.

But we have been through a nightmare. Will comment properly when I have more time.

To make this worse, I have hyperosmia... So strong smells affect me more. I even detected faint sulphuric smells on my street prior to a major gas leak detected by the authorities two weeks later.... That showed me that I have a strong sense of smell / good nose.

W

I'm in your situation, what can we do?

I have this problem living in an apartment. Strong fragrance scents coming in from others with doors and windows open (and up into my small apartment). Another is coming in through walls somehow. Landlady said it was my problem. Carpet cleaners using alot of Lysol in the hall, me inside and my tongue went numb, sinus swells, hard to breath. I put a blanket over my door but people are home during pandemic - I can't be home for that. So stressful since this started happenning, and am in a natural location I should be able to enjoy. Even laundry gets full of these heavy perfumes. Laws against smoking and noise but nothing to protect against scent and chemicals forced on others. More than just unpleasant, it's mentally and physically exhausting.

Breathing isn't optional!

Hi Anonymous contributor, I am very sorry to hear your problems outlined above and I truly empathise with you. I was in the same boat and wearing your shoes. I live in the UK and also in a green upmarket area of my country and your experience started happening to us. I was mentally exhausted and felt like a refugee, forced to leave my home for the benefit of my whole family! The prime minister and his aides are proposing giving such neighbours many chances (for those smelling that) more time exposed to contaminated air that slowly takes away the privilege to fresh air and our right to a healthy life. No local authority agency made a transparent effort to eradicate those noxious smells that were driving us mad, I did not notice a day without smelling that stuff. It was there 50% of the time and at our worse of times felt permanent. My other neighbours who don't do that stuff were ignoring my endless coughs and my comments that there was a smell that was disturbing our normally clean, fresh air. Unfortunately, they were processing their visa's to stay permanently in this country and did not want to interact with the authorities on this, maybe you stand a better chance with your "other neighbours"?

For the possible benefit of everyone concerned on this topic of unwanted air fresheners entering our otherwise cleaner living areas, with the help of the almighty, I managed to move home and my horrendous never ending coughs have gone away, I can now say a full sentence without having to cough in the middle of saying it. Before I moved I used to say to my colleagues when they enquired about my cough, that they ask me again after I move. They now believe my story 100% as I never faked my coughs which were living with me permanently due to the polluted air entering my living areas from the one only flat below us. I suggest that if we all live in the UK that we get together and let our voice be heard as one. I still can't believe that I managed to move...

The idea of the note that Claudia Thomson suggested I used too, but it only reduced it all to 50% and it did not stop my persistent coughs... and the air I was breathing smelt so bad... I am a fan of fresh air.

I am having the exact same issues. The neighbor that lives below me uses glade plug-ins and they mist three times every few hours. I have to wear an N-95 mask in my kitchen just to make coffee (I am a health care worker), I wake up with migraine headaches and my heart rate increases when I go into certain areas of my apartment where the smell is most saturated.

I contacted the neighbor in a text and she was vindictive and told me I was crazy. I have no recourse but to try to find another place to live. This predicament has also exacerbated a syndrome I have recently acquired called, "burning mouth syndrome" of which there is little understanding. I truly believe it is from the horrible chemicals that I come into contact on a minute-by-minute basis. I am depressed, tired, agitated and sick.

People can be cruel I can't imagine how their newborn baby is coping. My boiling stuff must tick them off cause they turn up the fragrance then. But it's the only thing that helps me to breathe. I have lung nodules and pulm embolism

I need to explain I live in mobile home potheads next door run dryer with perfume s all day. I don't know if it's to hurt me I told them it makes me ill they spy on me and watch me cough and vomit in yard. I built a barricade trying to block odors. They never come out side on this side. I told them huge pile of lint by dryer he's like whatever. I cut up some of onions and put them on the porch it really helps but they don't like it I'm sure. The air purifier s filter s get tainted immediately cause too strong I have eight . Only thing that helps me is to boil vinegar water or lemons oranges or coffee for a while to change the penetrating perfume s. But this makes me old man angry also he doesn't have lung issues.

I only have problems with laundry soapsand dryer sheets since I got a pulmonary embolism in my lung they can't do surgery and lower lobes can't filter out the perfume s my airway Dr told me to avoid these things so I understand where your coming from you probably have a lung tumor or something get a CT and see if it's operable. Before that I was fine with perfumes for 63 years. Why are some young people lacking sympathy these Days

Maybe I'm being punished with these lung tumors ..the hospital I worked at for 28 years established a fragrance free policy a long time ago cause the ICU CCU er Surg pts and even in er were having trouble breathing with scents and I used to call a coworker crazy cause she hated our perfumes I used to wear I feel bad now cause I didn't understand I wore perfume.

We bought a condo last year only to be inundated with cannabis,

tobacco smoke and SCENTED THC VAPING. If you google DIY vape scents you will come across “old lady perfume smell” which is the WORST vape scent ever next to

STRAWBERRY vape cartridges which completely permeated our entire HVAC system from the owners below AND two floors down. We called the Health Department who contacted our condo management and insisted they post no smoke/vape

signs throughout the

building. We written the condo Board demanding they seal our

HVAC and stop these residents from doing drugs and exhausting them into their range hoods amd through their windows where it gets blown into our

ventilation system. It is a near impossible situation. Perhaps there is a way to generate and blow an obnoxious odour or

vapour into their units? Sulphur?

Maybe buy them a wax warmer. I have COPD so chemicals are not allowed around me. I also had the same issue in my apartment, I got her a wax warmer and she loves it. Hope you get it

I don't agree with that solution because it doesn't resolve the problem. Only a drugs detector will help, and one that measures the concentration. Then with the evidence an expert witness can validate the results which if harmful, can assist with legal injuction to prevent drugs/harmful tobacco smell from reaching an otherwise healthy living household