February 2003
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
In This Issue
-- MSNBC's Valentine Article on Fragrance
-- Fragrance Industry's Rebuttal to Concerns
-- Industry Answers Fall Short
-- Synthetic Musk Compounds Have Carcinogenic Activity
-- Rising Asthma rates in women, are cleaners to blame?
-- What you can do

Greetings!

We have made it through Christmas and Valentine's Day. The next big "fragrance giving" day is Mother's Day. Lets do all we can to educate others and let them know fragrance may not be the best gift choice.

There are important developments and already the year is off to an exciting start. MSNBC carried a Valentine article which asserts fragrance may not be the best gift for a loved one. There is mounting scientific data that supports concerns related to fragrance and the industry is up to its old tricks of ignoring the science that raises concerns. Welcome to FPIN News!

MSNBC's Valentine Article on Fragrance
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
What the nose knows Think twice before buying a loved one perfume, cologne By Francesca Lyman MSNBC CONTRIBUTOR

Feb. 12 - "The way to the heart is through the nose," asserts Haarmann & Reimer, a leading fragrance manufacturer. But lovers may want to think twice about giving a bottle of cologne or perfume for Valentines Day, say some health advocates. Certain fragrances and their chemical constituents might trigger an allergic - rather than aphrodisiac - response. And some perfumes contain hidden ingredients that may pose longer-term hazards."

Read on...

Fragrance Industry's Rebuttal to Concerns
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Peter A. Cadby *, William R. Troy, John D. Middleton, Matthias G. H. Vey, Fragrances: are they safe? Flavour and Fragrance Journal Volume 17, Issue 6, 2002. Pages: 472-477 International Fragrance Association, 49 Square Marie- Louise, B-1000 Brussels, Belgium This is the industry's response to concerns raised by the article Fragrance: emerging health and environmental concerns whichs was in the previous issue of Flavour and Fragrance Journal

The tone is obvious from the start. "In recent years it has become fasionable to criticize the use of fragrances in our society, suggesting that use is associated with a variety of negative effects." While the introduction vows to address concerns "using due scientific process" the article falls short.

Read the abstract

Industry Answers Fall Short
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The fragrance industry's response to concerns falls far short. And they are up to their old tricks of focusing on controversial issues to avoid hard questions they do not want to answer. The correct answer to the question, Fragrances, are they safe? is no.

Read a point by point discussion of the answers the industry provided in the article, Fragrances, are they safe published in the Nov/Dec issue of Flavour and Fragrance Journal.

Fragrances, they are not safe

Synthetic Musk Compounds Have Carcinogenic Activity
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Musk xylene, a synthetic musk compound common in a wide variety of products including laundry products, cleaners, and other fragrances was found to have carcinogenic activity. Musk tibetene, a lessor used musk compound had similar effects.

Chemicals that directly interact with DNA to cause cancer are genotoxic. A non-genotoxic mechanism seems to be involved in the carcinogenic activity of musk xylene and musk ketone.

Evaluation of carcinogenic potential of two nitro-musk derivatives, musk xylene and musk tibetene in a host-mediated in vivo/in vitro assay system.

Rising Asthma rates in women, are cleaners to blame?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Asthma rates in women continue to rise. Are cleaners and other such products women use responsible? Doctors recommend avoiding cleaners that contain bleach, ammonia, areosols, and fragrance.

Doctors Believe Household Cleaners Linked to Rise in Asthma

What you can do
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Support The Environmental Health Network's FDA Petition #99P-1340 which asks the FDA to enforce the law that requires that cosmetic products containing ingredients whose safety has not been established to carry a warning on the label. Send comments to Dockets Management Branch, Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Room 1061, 5630 Fishers Lane, Rockville, MD 20852. FAX: 301-827-6870 E-mail: fdadockets@oc.fda.gov More information at: http://www.ehnca.org/FDApetition/bkgrinfo.htm or from http://www.ehnca.org