Fast unmasking hazards of safe perfumes

Abstract

Perfumes are chemical cocktails and their effects on humans are complex and diverse. Only selected ingredients are studied, and risk assessment of the perfume is only theoretically carried out at the desk. To close the current gap in the hazard-related analysis of entire perfumes, a sustainable non-target chemical safety screening was developed. The 42 perfumes collected randomly were screened without any sample preparation for ten different adverse effects, i.e., genotoxicity, cytotoxicity, antibacterial activity against Gram-negative and Gram-positive bacteria, neurotoxicity/-modulation, and endocrine-disrupting (aromatase-inhibiting, anti-/estrogenic, and anti-/androgenic) activities. Many hazardous compounds were detected in perfumes, regardless of price or gender-specific use. For example, the half-maximal effective dose (EC₅₀) of genotoxicity was 1.3 µL perfume and the half-maximal aromatase inhibitory dose (IC₅₀) was 11 nL perfume. One 100-µL spray shot of perfume on the skin exceeded the EC₅₀ by 77-fold and the IC₅₀ by 9,090-fold. The new hazard-related profiling of the entire perfumes has provided for the first time in-depth information and significant advances in the understanding of lifestyle products as entry paths for hazardous compounds to the human body. It empowers stakeholders to produce hazard-free perfumes according to ethical statements for the sake of consumer health, authorities to change to a proactive safety screening and address the current underregulation, and scientists to contribute to the global transition towards more sustainable analytical methods and products on the global market.