Put a Stop to Secret Scents

From lotion and shampoo to blush and even lipstick, fragrance seems to be everywhere in personal care products. A few years ago the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics released a report, Not So Sexy, that found harmful ingredients in fragrance that companies keep secret from the public. Now, a new report by our partners at Women’s Voices for the Earth, Secret Scents: How Hidden Fragrance Ingredients Harm Public Health , has found that tens of millions of people suffer from skin and respiratory allergies caused by chemicals in fragrance. Unfortunately, it’s nearly impossible for us to avoid specific fragrance allergens because companies keep fragrance ingredients a secret.

In the E.U. manufacturers of personal care products are required to disclose the presence of 26 common fragrance allergens. Many of these companies make the same products in the U.S., but most don’t disclose allergens because it’s not required by U.S. law. There is absolutely no reason why vital public health information should be kept a secret.

The solution is simple: Companies should disclose fragrance ingredients in products so that we have the choice to avoid certain ingredients like allergens. There is absolutely no reason why vital public health information should be kept a secret.

Please take a moment to tell the fragrance industry to stop keeping fragrance ingredients a secret!

Subject:

Your Letter:

I recently saw a report by Women’s Voices for the Earth called Secret Scents: How Hidden Fragrance Allergens Harm Public Health and I’m very concerned about the health impacts of undisclosed fragrance ingredients.

Research shows that women are disproportionately impacted by fragrance. Women become sensitized to fragrance at an earlier age and are two times more likely to have fragrance allergy than men. What’s more, children are increasingly impacted by fragrance allergy; 5% of children who see a dermatologist are already sensitized to fragrance. Increased use of fragrance in consumer products appears to be the cause of the increasing rates of fragrance sensitization.  Clearly, there is a need for more information on the use of fragrance ingredients in these products. Yet, the fragrance industry claims these ingredients must be kept secret.  As a consumer of fragranced products, I find this unacceptable.

As the primary representative body of the fragrance industry, the International Fragrance Association (IFRA) has a responsibility to address the widespread public health impact of allergies caused by fragrance.

IFRA should establish an industry wide policy that allows for and encourages fragrance producers to disclose fragrance ingredient information so that consumers like me can make informed choices to protect our health. Specifically, IFRA should amend its Code of Practice (Appendix 4,Section 3) to strongly encourage fragrance manufacturers to disclose fragrance ingredient information to their customers without requiring a confidentiality agreement. Right now, even if a cosmetic or cleaning product company wanted to disclose this information to their customers, the manufacturers who make the fragrance prohibit them from doing so because they claim the information needs to be kept secret from the public.

There is absolutely no reason why vital public health information should be claimed confidential business information by fragrance manufacturers. I have a right to know what’s in the fragranced products I’m using. I am hopeful that IFRA will take a leading role in ensuring the public has this information.

Sincerely,

Jennifer Abril

President, International Fragrance Association North America