The Safety and Toxicology of Fragrances

It was realised by the fragrance industry some 40 years ago that this absence of regulations concerning the ingredients that could be used in fragrances, or on the safety of fragrances in consumer products, could expose the consumer to unacceptable risks which would lead to 

IFRA was established in 1973 by a number of fragrance trade associations and represents over 100 fragrance manufacturers in 15 countries. With its headquarters in Geneva, IFRA represents the scientific and technical expertise of the industry and is responsible for issuing and up-dating the Code of Practice (IFRA, 1973) upon which the whole self-regulation policy is based. IFRA is funded by these fragrance 

IFRA and RIFM work closely together and it is only after considerable discussion between RIFM (REXPAN) and the IFRA Scientific Committee that restrictions or prohibitions are imposed. It is REXPAN who makes the final decision on the wording and content of the Standard and then it is the responsibility of the IFRA secretariat to communicate and implement this by way of the Code of Practice and the IFRA website. The flow chart given below shows how this process is undertaken. 

IFRA MEMBER ASSOCIATIONS CLIENT INDUSTRY IFRA SC 

The strict code of practice applied by IFRA not only protects the consumer but also protects the health and wellbeing of those employed within the industry. This is highlighted by a study carried out in 1985 in which it was found there was no increase in mortality from any type of cancer in a group of workers employed in the flavour and fragrance industry, where exposure to a wide range of aroma chemicals is far higher than the consumer would ever encounter (Guberan and Raymond, 1985). 

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S. Meakins, The Safety and Toxicology of Fragrances. In The Chemistry of Fragrances From Perfumer to Consumer, 2nd ed. ... 

Bickers DR, Calow E, Greim HA, et al. (2003) The safety assessment of fragrance materials. Regulatory Toxicology and Pharmacology 37 218-273. 

The Research Institute for Fragrance Materials (RIFM), created in 1966, is an independent entity which evaluates and distributes scientific data on the safety assessment of fragrance substances found in cosmetics and other products. RIFM maintains the largest database on toxicology data for flavour and fragrance materials available worldwide, classifying more than 4500 materials. The database can be accessed online (see RIFM s website http //www.rifm.org). 

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