The Problem with Fragrance + Perfume
It’s in everything.
Turn over any beauty product in your bathroom and look for the word “fragrance” or “perfume”. We guarantee you will find it on every single ingredient list of every single product you use: From hand soap to shampoo to body moisturizer to deodorant to foundation, fragrance is ubiquitous in personal care products. Why? Because consumers want their products to smell nice. The problem? Companies have no legal obligation to disclose what their fragrance is made from, because it is considered proprietary.
Of the possible 2,947 ingredients listed by the International Fragrance Association (IFRA), fragrance mixtures typically contain several hundred chemicals, most of them synthetic, which, according to a 2018 study, emit the same amount of chemical vapors as petroleum emissions from cars. These vapors—also known as volatile organic compounds (VOCs)—react with proteins in our body that can result in immune responses (including breathing problems, migraine headaches, skin irritation, and asthma attacks). Over time, this can lead to compounding long-term health effects.
A 2015 study that tested 37 fragranced consumer products found that 42 of the VOCs they emitted were classified as toxic or hazardous under U.S. federal laws. Some of the most concerning ingredients found under the “fragrance” label (or a related term such as “perfume”), include phthalates (hormone disruptors linked to reproductive birth defects in baby boys), and octoxynols and nonoxynols (also persistent hormone disruptors).
Does Clean Fragrance Exist?
Here’s where it gets complicated. While quality, plant-based essential oils used as fragrance can be extremely beneficial for your skin, they can also be irritants—and therefore considered toxic—at certain levels. How the essential oil is processed also matters.
Retailers like Follain and Credo monitor the levels and quality of essential oils in the beauty products they stock to ensure safety, but it is important for consumers to know the risks when buying direct from independent or conventional brands. For instance, a 2018 study found potentially hazardous chemicals in 24 commercial essential oils tested. Even though the essential oils were labeled “natural,” “organic,” or “pure,” they were extracted, diluted, or synthesized with petrochemicals which can either be absorbed into your skin, or inhaled.
John Warner, Ph.D, president of Warner Babcock Institute for Green Chemistry, concedes that if a fragrance is from a natural origin, “there's a very good chance that it’s better for you than not—but there's no guarantee one way or the other.” At the same time, he adds that in certain instances, it is possible for purified synthetic compounds to actually be safer than a natural scent, “there's just no golden rule.” He adds: “The thing with fragrances is that the sensation of smell is a physiological response. A molecule is binding to a receptor in your body, and there are some people in the human species far more susceptible [to the effect of VOCs] than others. We're all different.”
But all is not lost. In the synthetic fragrance space, Michelle Pfeiffer is paving the way for non-toxic scents vetted by the Environmental Working Group and the Cradle to Cradle Products Innovation Institute. Her brand, Henry Rose, uses both synthetics and plant-based oils that are considered to be safe compounds for long term use—and for total transparency, each product lists out all ingredients used.
The Solution
In the absence of stricter labeling laws, it’s up to the consumer to hold companies accountable by demanding transparency. If a company is not willing to disclose what compounds are used in its fragrance, or how their essential oils are sourced and processed, “then that's when I'm the most skeptical,” admits Dr. Sarah Ballantyne, Ph.D. “Demanding transparency is not just a good idea for the consumer, but it's how we communicate as a group to companies that we care about ingredients, and that we care about transparency in labeling.”
Our advice: Contact your favorite beauty brands and ask to see a list of ingredients used in their fragrance. Cross reference each ingredient with a third party like the Environmental Working Group. Or go even further and ask your favorite brands to change their labeling so that they include all of their fragrance ingredients on their packaging going forward. (Herbal Essences’ new Bio:Renew line, which is EWG-verified, has done just this, listing out all ingredients used in its fragrance on the back of the bottle.)
However, Warner, the green chemist, would like to take this one step further. Rather than focus on ingredients to ban and ingredients to avoid in a fragrance, he believes the entire perfume, as a finished product, should be tested for safety. “Two ingredients that may be safe could combine to have some [negative] synergistic effect. Sometimes ingredients disappear during manufacturing process. But more importantly, sometimes new things appear that aren't on the ingredient list—not through some nefarious thing, it's what chemistry does. It's the whole product we should be looking at, not the individual ingredients.”
A Note About Candles
Sixteen years ago, most conventional candle wicks were made from lead cores to ensure the wicks would stand up straight. “You'd light it, and then you'd immediately be breathing in lead emissions, which would cause elevated levels of lead in the bloodstream,” explains Tara Foley, founder of Follain.
The Consumer Product Safety Commission banned the use of lead in candle wicks in 2003, but poor air quality from candles remains an issue. Most candle brands today use paraffin, a petroleum-based wax which releases carcinogenic soot when burned. Add to that the synthetic fragrances used in candles, which, just like in beauty products, release potentially dangerous VOCs. “You're breathing that all in, and again, you don't know what's in it,” says Foley.
Do Clean Candles Exist?
The good news is, yes. Foley recommends looking for candles made from vegetable wax (like soy, beeswax, or non-GMO corn). “If it doesn't list a plant or vegetable wax, you should assume that it's a paraffin wax,” she explains. And the wick should always be cotton, preferably organic. “If you see a wick that's coated in a heavy coating, inquire as to what the coating is,” says Foley, noting that the coating is likely paraffin. “As a customer, you have a right to ask questions. You just need to know what questions to ask.”
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