Fragrance contact allergens in 5,588 cosmetic products identified through a novel smartphone application

Summary

Background

More than 25% of the adult European population suffers from contact allergy, with fragrance substances recognized as one of the main causes. Since 2005, 26 fragrance contact allergens have been mandatory to label in cosmetic products within the EU if present at 10 ppm or above in leave-on and 100 ppm or above in wash-off cosmetics.

Objective

To examine exposure, based on ingredient labelling, to the 26 fragrances in a sample of 5,588 fragranced cosmetic products.

Methods

The investigated products were identified through a novel, non-profit smartphone application (app), designed to provide information to consumers about chemical substances in cosmetic products. Products registered through the app between December 2015 and October 2016 were label checked according to International Nomenclature of Cosmetic Ingredients (INCI) for the presence of the 26 fragrance substances or the wording "fragrance/parfum/aroma".

Results

The largest product categories investigated were "cream, lotion and oil" (n=1192), "shampoo and conditioner" (n=968) and "deodorants" (n=632). Among cosmetic products labelled to contain at least one of the 26 fragrances, 85.5% and 73.9% contained at least two and at least three of the 26 fragrances, respectively. Linalool (49.5%) and limonene (48.5%) were labelled most often among all investigated products. Hydroxyisohexyl 3-cyclohexene carboxaldehyde (HICC/Lyral^®) was found in 13.5% of deodorants. Six of the 26 fragrance substances were labelled on less than one percent of all products, including the natural extracts Evernia furfuracea (tree moss) and Evernia prunastri (oak moss). 329 (5.9%) products had one or more of the 26 fragrance substances labelled, but did not have "parfum/fragrance/aroma" listed on the label.

Conclusions

Consumers are widely exposed to, often multiple, well-established fragrance contact allergens through various cosmetic products intended for daily use. Several fragrance substances that are common causes of contact allergy were rarely labelled in this large sample of cosmetic products.

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