A Deep Breath

Work by the Research Institute for Fragrance Materials (RIFM) in the past decade has been extraordinary. The main challenge with the sophisticated methods that RIFM now employs is that, as the science gets deeper and deeper, it is harder for mere mortals to keep pace. There are more than 2,000 chemicals used in fragrances, and as more safety data is required, there must be a guide to allow the testing of the most critical ones first. RIFM has identified a simple numerical system to combine volume of use, concentration level in product and structural alerts to prioritize materials. The most important feature of fragrance is smell, and it is there that a strange situation arises. At the beginning of RIFM's testing history, it was obvious that the most important route of exposure was through leave-on skin products -- and, of course eye contact, should it happen.