So is second-hand perfume exposure really neurotoxic?

Question

A lot of sources claim perfumes to be potent neurotoxins, that needn't even be inhaled to do damage - they must merely contact the olfactory pathways, at which point they go straight up to the brain and begin causing harm.

Is this just a bunch of extremist scaremongering, or is all this actually true? They make it sound as though whenever you're stuck in close proximity of someone wearing perfume, that you're receiving subtle brain damage. For how long would exposure really have to occur for any type of neurological damage to take effect, if perfume actually is harmful? Are the neurotoxins cumulative - do they get in your brain and stay there forever - or is damage acute with no further consequences after an exposure?

In a study involving rats that were exposed to perfume for an hour (five different perfumes were used, each in seperate tests), the rats exhibited acute breathing difficulties and neurological damage after the exposure.

How does transient exposure effect humans?

Answer 1

I know of no study which formally states any human neuro-toxicity resulting from secondary exposure to perfume.  Rats may have had a reaction, but the dosage may have been way beyond the everyday exposure level expected for humans.

Of course, there are documented allergic reactions.