Pumpkin spice candles and pine-scented air fresheners may evoke the holiday season for some. For others, those airborne fragrances trigger allergy symptoms -- from runny, itchy noses and sneezing to asthma attacks. Allergists say as the popularity of scented products has risen, so have complaints from their patients about reactions to them. “We’re seeing more patients with the problem,” said Dr. Stanley Fineman, president-elect of the American College of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology (ACAAI). “I’ve seen patients who say, ‘I go into somebody’s house who has one of these air fresheners and I just can’t stay there. I have increasing nasal symptoms, sneezing and coughing.’ There is no allergy skin test for air fresheners, but people can definitely have a physiologic response to it.”
