work place perfumes

Hi Kathy, and welcome! I see you are a new member here, having joined earlier today in the late morning. We are glad to see you already engaging in the community through this, your first post.
We appreciate you sharing this with the community - you are definitely not alone in this regard! Other community members have expressed similar sentiments when it comes to their place of business, scents & aromas, and asthma.
What do you plan to do next? Have you any thoughts as to how to proceed?
Leon (site moderator asthma.net)

Kathy, do you have a human resources department at your job or someone else you can turn to for help? What was the interaction like with your manager? I wonder if it would be useful to talk to coworkers who you feel comfortable with. Maybe you can convince them to stop spraying in the office. I hope so. We understand! -Melissa, asthma.net team

Hi Kathy
I also have difficulty breathing around strong smells of any kind. The area I work in is very confined so I can’t even politely move away from the odor. When I politely mentioned to my colleagues that I have trouble breathing around strong smells, I was pleasantly surprised by their reaction. They were very understanding and don’t wear very strong perfumes. There are times when a part of the room needs to be cleaned with bleach, if I am working they will send me out of the room til the smell has diminished. Instead of just talking with your boss, Have you tried mentioning to your coworkers that wear strong perfumes that while the scent may be nice it irritates your asthma making it hard to breath? I mean, if a coworker politely mentioned that they were having trouble breathing when your perfume is strong, would you continue to wear it? I hope your coworkers are more understanding than you boss

Kathy, I can understand completely what you are saying. I taught in a middle/high school where students are just learning the joy of fragrance. I was very honest with my students and they were very caring and would look out for me. Unfortunately a new student thought it would be fun to see me have attacks. He would walk by and drip from his cologne bottle in my doorway. One event was so strong I ended up in the ER, needing strong meds, and was taken out of work for a couple weeks adn then the journey through tests, new doctors, new treatments. Because of that 2 week OOW I had to go through Worker's Compensation. The result of that was my sick days back and a requirement that the school accommodate my asthma because I am an American with a Disability. The school worked with me until my retirement. Of course, now my former colleagues says it "smells" again.