Asian Journal of Research in Nephrology

Aim: The present study was designed to examine the effect of inhaling ‘sunlight’ air-freshener on renal and hepatic indices of Wistar rats.

Methodology: Thirty Wistar rats were divided into three groups of ten each and kept in different rooms. Rats in group 1 were not exposed to any substance; those in groups 2 and 3 were exposed to sunlight air freshener for 8 hours daily for 28 days by inhalation. After 28 days of exposure, animals in group 3 were allowed to recover for 14 days. Throughout the experiment, all animals were fed ad libitum with standard feed and drinking water. At the end of the experiment, rats                         were sacrificed after an overnight fast under diethyl ether as anesthesia. Blood samples were collected via cardiac puncture. Hepatic and renal indices were determined using standard                       methods.

Results: Air-freshener significantly (p<0.05) increased hepatic and renal indices investigated when compared to those in animals in the control group. The effect on hepatic indices was reversed when animals were allowed to recover for 7 days after 28 days exposure. However, the effect on renal indices was sustained after 7 days recovery period.

Conclusion: The results of this study suggest that frequent exposure to air-fresheners poses a dangerous risk to the health of the liver and kidney. This is due to the presence of toxic chemicals such as the volatile organic compounds, which are toxic even at very low concentration, thus proper awareness should be conducted to educate consumers on the risk associated with the frequent use of this product.