Posted by Dr. Ali ABY Muhammed | Posted in The Health Risks of Secret Chemicals in Fragrance | Posted on 24-07-2010
Tags: Fragrance, Health Risks, Secret Chemicals
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A rose may be a rose. But that rose-like fragrance in your perfume may be something else entirely, concocted from any number of the fragrance industry’s 3,100 stock chemical ingredients, the blend of which is almost always kept hidden from the consumer.
What We Found
The Campaign for Safe Cosmetics commissioned an independent lab to test 17 fragrance products. Campaign partner Environmental Working Group assessed data from the tests and the product labels. The analysis reveals that the 17 products contained, on average:
- Fourteen secret chemicals not listed on labels due to a loophole in federal law that allows companies to claim fragrances as trade secrets.
- Ten sensitizing chemicals associated with allergic reactions such as asthma, wheezing, headaches and contact dermatitis.
- Four hormone-disrupting chemicals linked to a range of health effects including sperm damage, thyroid disruption and cancer.
The majority of chemicals found in this report have never been assessed for safety by any publicly accountable agency, or by the cosmetics industry’s self-policing review panels.
