Fragrance Amendments - International Fragrance Association

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ChrissyB

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NEW FRAGRANCE REGULATIONS
The IFRA (International Fragrance Association) make annual assessments of fragrance
regulations and if necessary, make annual amendments to the maximum allowed usage
levels of certain ingredients. The last amendment (44th) made by the IFRA contained
some very significant changes. Fragrance manufacturers are given two years to comply
with any changes on existing fragrances and any newly formulated fragrances need to
comply immediately. Some fragrances will no longer be considered safe to use in soap
and bath & body products, or the maximum usage rate will be so low that it will not be
worth putting them in soap. Those fragrances effected by the new changes will either be
discontinued, or will need to be reformulated to be in compliance with the new maximum
safe levels so it is possible you will notice changes in performance, strength or
general fragrance notes with some fragrances.

The 43rd amendment from 2008 included some restrictions on the following fragrance
materials: Cinnamon, Clove, Coumarin, Jasmine, Melissa, Musk, Oakmoss, Spearmint, Ylang
Ylang

For anyone wanting to research into this matter a little further for themselves the
link to the IFRA website is http://ifraorg.org/
Information on the 43rd amendment can be downloaded from there, but the 44th amendment
is at present only available to IFRA members and will not be published until 2010.

The 44th amendment categorizes each fragrance into 11 categories. These categories are
based on the type of usage and each category will have it's own maximum usage rate.
Below I have listed the 11 categories for you.

Category 1: Ingredients must be GRAS. Products in this category include: Lip products &
Toys.

Category 2: Deodorant & Antiperspirant products.

Category 3: Eye products, men's facial creams, baby creams, baby lotions, baby oils,
products applied to recently shaved skin.

Category 4: Products applied to unshaved skin (perfumes), hair styling products, hair
sprays, body creams, body oils, lotions (except for baby products), hair deodorant,
foot care products.

Category 5: Women's facial creams, facial make-up, hand cream, facial masks, baby
powder/talc, wipes or refreshing tissues for face, neck, hands, body.

Category 6: Ingredients must be GRAS. Products include: mouthwash, toothpaste.

Category 7: Intimate feminine wipes, toilet wipes, baby wipes, insect repellent.

Category 8: Make-up removers, nail care, hair dyes.

Category 9: Bar soap, bath gels, foams, mousses, salts, oils & other products added to
bathwater, body washes, conditioner (rinse off), face cleansers, liquid soap, shampoo
of all types, shaving creams of all types, aerosol air freshener sprays.

Category 10: Laundry detergents of all types, fabric softeners of all types, household
cleaning products, dishwashing detergent, shampoos for pets.

Category 11: All non-skin contact, air fresheners, plug-ins, solid substrate, membrane
delivery, electrical, potpourri, powders, sachets, incense, lamp rings, reed diffusers,
joss & incense sticks, animal sprays & cat litter, candles, deodorizers, maskers,
insecticides, scratch and sniff.


Suppliers have until 2011 to make fragrances compliant with the latest amendment and
only a couple of companies have had their fragrance oils assessed so far. It may
therefore take some time for the information to become available, but I will be
updating the website with any information that is available as soon as I can. This is
going to be a big job so I won't be starting until after Christmas, and it will more
than likely be an ongoing process over the next two years. With the information I have
found to date the changes seem to mainly effect "spicy" fragrances containing cinnamon
and clove, which are known to be sensitizers and irritants. However, until the 44th
amendment is published in 2010 it is impossible to know exactly what ingredients will
be effected.
 
Yea - it's wreaking havoc on my company, but at least we have 2 years (or had, the clock is ticking).

Big problem since many of the more substantive and rich ingredients are forbidden - like oakmoss. But some are just restricted as to the levels.

One of my favorite FOs (Adirondack) has to be reformulated.

Oh, and this brings up that it's important from now on to ask a supplier if an FO you are ordering has been reformulated since your last purchase.
 
Carebear, yes that's one of my concerns.
People either "hoarding" old FO's, or suppliers hoarding them and selling them on after the fact.
Interesting reading and I think anybody using FO's would be doing themselves a favour to read up on it all.
 
I read that in bigtrees newsletter this morning.Yanno up till now whenever I've seen anything about this I've had a quick read but for some reason thought it was something to do with the United States.(Probably 44th ammendment-thinking it was relating to american constitution.Silly,but hey)
So it's a big all in together PITA then huh? Great.
Does anyone here belong to ifra?Or know exactly what the new regs will be? I know that some things will be completely disallowed,others restricted,& we will have to list percentages of fragrance components on labels?But are the requirements something that will be regulated by individual governments or what? Its really confusing.
 
Lisa, it is really confusing.
Perhaps Carebear can shed some light on the ramifications it may have on us as soapmakers/B&B as she works for a fragrance manufacturer.
According to that information, the 44th amendment will not even be released yet (sometime in 2010)and then it will be effective in 2011, but they are informing that there will be new regulations regarding fragrances made with certain ingredients. I noticed that cinnamon, and clove were on that list, which are known sensitizers for a lot of people anyway, and are certainly ones that soapmakers are aware of. Carebear also named oakmoss as another that they are watching.
I am not a member of IFRA, I had not even heard of them until I read this information. It certainly is interesting though.

Carebear, maybe you can answer this for us, Can they regulate "the use" of EO's the same way that they are trying to implement this regulation on FO's?
I would imagine that a cinammon EO would be more sensitising than Cinammon FO.
And as a side note, I did not know this but apparently Lime EO can cause photosensitivity (sensitivity to the sun), but not if it's cold pressed. I'll try to find the info.

OH and Lisa did you check out all the "Clearance Fragrances" on big tree's website? There are heaps, run over there and grab some bargains!!
I promised myself I wasn't going to buy any more FO's till I use up all that I've got, but I just couldn't resist those prices!!
 
IFRA and RIFM regulations are not actually law, at least not in the US. But no manufacturer is going to go against them. So while YOU don't have to comply, you won't find mfgs making fragrances that don't - so you can use individual EOs or fragrance chemicals but won't be able to buy FOs that don't comply.
 
Chrissy I think all citrus eo's are photo sensitising,(the only one I've seen that's not is the bergeptene-free bergamot.)It's probably more of an issue in leave on products than soap tho.
Most citrus EO's are cold pressed,from rind.Just checked all mine,not one distilled.There is a distilled lime from escentials I'm itching to try as a comparison tho. Perhaps that's why citrus eo's are so cheap,being cold pressed not steam distilled.Sounds a simpler process. :?
 

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