Lecture
Fragrances – substances that give a cosmetic product a
pleasant smell. According to the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (USA), the perfumery and cosmetics industry uses about 3,000 volatile chemical components (fragrances).
Practically all of them are synthetic. About 900 of them can have a toxic effect on
the human body .
It is fragrances that most often cause allergic skin reactions
to cosmetic products. The strongest allergens are phenylenediamine, hydroxycitronellal, isoeugenol, etc. The most hazardous cosmetic products in this respect are mascara, eyeshadow, massage creams, sunscreen, lipstick
and so on. The perfume compositions of some companies contain about
600 components, mostly fragrances, most of which have never
been tested for toxicity at all. Under current legislation, in the vast majority of countries there are no restrictions on the amount or combination
of fragrances used in cosmetic products. The situation
is made worse by the fact that when fragrances are added to a product, the law
requires only the label: "contains parfum" for the European Union or
"contains fragrance" for the USA. There are no requirements for the names of individual fragrances to appear in the list of ingredients, which creates a risk of toxic harm to the body .
In 1999, the Scientific Committee on Cosmetic and Non-food
Products (SCCNFP) of the European Union recommended tightening control over the use
of certain compounds in cosmetic and perfumery products. Among them are 24
fragrances: citral, coumarin, linalool, etc. This list is constantly
being expanded and now includes about a hundred compounds. Of this list,
phthalates (compounds that accompany fragrances in cosmetic and perfumery products) and
synthetic musks (synthetic fragrances) have a particularly dangerous toxic effect.
A musky smell is present in almost all modern fragrances.
The musk note is an animalic, sweet, faintly ammoniacal smell.
Musk used to be obtained from the musk glands of male musk deer – a small deer living in the mountain forests of the Himalayas, Tibet, Eastern
Siberia, Korea and Sakhalin. The chemical composition of musk is fairly complex and
contains a large number of components: fatty acids, waxes, aromatic and
steroid compounds, cholesterol esters, and the actual aromatic compound – the macrocyclic ketone – muscone. Musk could only be obtained by killing
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the animal. To obtain one kilogram of musk, it was necessary to kill 30-50
deer. This method of obtaining musk was banned in 1979 .
The term "synthetic musks" refers to three large groups of substances: nitro musks (benzene derivatives containing one or several nitro groups), polycyclic musks, and macrocyclic musks.
The first synthetic musk was a nitro musk, obtained in
1888 by Albert Baur. It was named "Musk Baur" (5-tert-butyl-2,4,6-trinitrotoluene) (4.9). Other types of nitro musk were soon discovered: musk xylene (5-tert-butyl-2,4,6-trinitro-1,3-xylene) (4.10), musk ketone (4-tert-butyl-2,6-dimethyl-3,5-dinitroacetophenone), etc. Nevertheless
since 1981 the use of nitro musks has been steadily decreasing because of
their high toxicity.
In 1951, for use in perfumery there were proposed
polycyclic musks: galaxolide, tonalide, etc. For example, the musk galaxolide is found in many perfume compositions. It has a sweet, musky, floral-woody scent. Another type of musk is macrocyclic
musk. These occur both as synthetic and natural compounds (musk obtained
from deer – the so-called muscone – is also macrocyclic).
According to a study by the organization "Greenpeace" (Table 4.3) , the undisputed
leader in total content of this group of compounds is the perfume White Musk
(94,069 mg/kg, or 9.4 percent of the total mass of the composition). A high
level of synthetic nitro- and polycyclic musks was found
in "Le Male" by Jean Paul Gaultier – 64,428 mg/kg and in "Le Baiser Du Dragon"
by Cartier – 45,048 mg/kg. The lowest content was found in "Puma Jamaica
Man" by Puma – only 0.1 mg/kg.
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Table 4.3 – Content of synthetic musks in perfume products
The sum of nitro musks and polycyclic musks represents the total combined amount of 11 compounds in perfume products. MA – musk ambrette (4-tert-butyl-3-methoxy-2,6-dinitrotoluene); AHTN – tonalide, tetralide (7-acetyl-1,1,3,4,4,6-hexamethyl-1,2,3,4-tetrahydronaphthalene); DPMI – cashmeran (6,7-dihydro-1,1,2,3,3-pentamethyl-4(5H)-
indanone); HHCB – galaxolide, musk 50 (1,3,4,6,7,8-hexahydro-4,6,6,7,8,8-
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hexamethylcyclopenta-2-benzopyran).
Synthetic musks (polycyclic and nitro musks) degrade in the environment only to a limited extent. They are able to accumulate in
tissues of animals. Some of them have a negative effect on the hormonal balance
of fish, amphibians, and mammals (including humans), and also enhance the effect of other
hazardous chemical compounds in living organisms.
Diethyl phthalate (4.11) is used in cosmetic products as a
solvent and binding component of perfume products (SCCNFP
2003). Diethyl phthalate is believed to have low toxicity. Today, new data has been obtained indicating that its toxicity has been substantially underestimated.
Diethyl phthalate readily penetrates the skin and is metabolized in the body into a more toxic metabolite – monoethyl phthalate. The amount of monoethyl phthalate in the human body is 30 times higher than that of other phthalates.
There is evidence that diethyl phthalate has mutagenic properties, impairs the respiratory function of the lungs, and also causes changes in the central and peripheral
nervous system. Other phthalates identified in perfume products also have a toxic effect on the human body.
The international environmental organization "Greenpeace" carried out a study
into the presence of phthalates in perfume products. 36 of the most popular perfume brands were analyzed in detail (Table 4.4) . The study
was conducted by the TNO Environment and Geosciences laboratory during 2003 and
2004 in the Netherlands. The results of the study were published in the report "Eau
de toxines – Toxic Water".
Practically all perfume products worldwide contain phthalates. Diethyl phthalate was found in 34 of the 36 perfume samples tested. In
the women's eau de toilette Calvin Klein "Eternity" the phthalate content was 22,439 mg/kg (in the men's version of this perfume, phthalates were found in almost three times
lower amounts – 8,237 mg/kg). The top three in DEP content also included "Iris
Blue" by Melvita – 11,189 mg/kg and "Le Mâle" by Jean-Paul Gaultier – 9,884 mg/kg.
Current legislation still does not fully regulate the use of phthalates, synthetic musks, and other "questionable" compounds in
perfume and cosmetic products.
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Table 4.4 – Phthalate content in perfume products
Notes: The sum of phthalates includes nine phthalates
(DMP+DEP+DIBP+DBP+DCHP+DEHP+DOP+DINP+DIDP). DMP – dimethyl phthalate; DEP – diethyl phthalate; DIBP – diisobutyl phthalate; DBP – dibutyl phthalate; DCHP – dicyclohexyl phthalate; DEHP – di-(2-
ethylhexyl) phthalate; DOP – dioctyl phthalate; DINP – diisononyl phthalate; DIDP
– diisodecyl phthalate.
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