Fragrances: New labelling regulations in sight for allergenic fragrances in perfumes and cosmetics

For several years now, Denmark has been pressing for the incorporation of new regulations on allergenic fragrances in the Cosmetics Directive. At present all ingredients have to be declared except fragrances, which only have to be given using the French word “Parfum”.

At the beginning of 1998, Denmark made an official request to the EU Commission in which we argued that fragrance allergy is a serious problem and that it is important that allergy sufferers (who know to which substances they are allergic) are informed about which allergenic fragrances a product contains.

The Commission has drawn up a proposal for a directive on the labelling of cosmetic products containing one or more of 24 specified allergenic fragrances. The labelling requirement should only apply if the concentration of the substances exceeds a specific limit of 10 ppm for products that remain on the skin and 1,000 ppm for products that are washed off.

The directive proposal was discussed for the first time at a working group meeting in the EU Commission on 5 October 2000. Prior to the meeting the industry had proposed that the concentration limit should be raised even further. It transpired, though, that there was overwhelming support for the labelling of allergenic fragrances, with a majority even being in favour of completely omitting any concentration limits. The Member States are expected to vote on the proposal at a meeting immediately before or after the turn of the year, whereafter the EU Commission can finally adopt it.

Further information: Lisbeth Ølgaard, Danish EPA. Phone: +45 3266 0282. E-mail: loe@mst.dk

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