Which Is Worse; Smokers or Perfume-Wearers?

Smelling perfume or cologne has a 75% chance of giving me an instant headache that can last for hours. It can be just walking by someone who has a lot on them, walking through the perfume section of a mall or sometimes just opening a magazine with the free samples in it which themselves aren't even opened. I get a headache immediately. It's virtually guaranteed if I come in contact with an idiot who has bathed in the stuff; and if I had to be around them for any amount of time my headache would develop into a migraine.

On the other hand smelling a cigarette probably has a 25% chance or less of doing this -- and I generally have to be around it longer and perhaps even in an enclosed space with it. One whiff isn't enough, and I know because I go to bars and rarely get a headache there. I think it’s because almost all of the chemicals in perfume are synthetic toxins. The National Academy of Sciences reports that 95% of the chemicals used in fragrances today are synthetic compounds derived from petroleum, including known toxins capable of causing cancer, birth defects, central nervous system disorders and allergic reactions.[1] Cigarettes may have some synthetic materials in them and are unhealthy, but in terms of chemicals it's not even close.

I'd like to know why we are so quick to ban smoking from public places and there's nothing said at all about people wearing perfume, especially excessive amounts of it. What I and other people experience is an allergic reaction that instantaneously causes us a health problem ranging from a headache to nausea in some people. Given the choice I’d rather smell a cigarette.


FOOTNOTES
1. http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/9682.php