--- topic: "Fragrance and Perfume" title: "Fragrance and Perfume: What's in the Bottle" order: 1 description: "What \"fragrance\" on a label can hide, how common fragrance allergy is, what we know about hormone and lung effects, and how to shop smarter." question: "Is fragrance in personal care products harmful?" answer: "Fragrance likely causes skin allergy in a small minority of users; evidence for hormone or lung harm at normal use is thin." actions: - "Choose \"fragrance-free\" over \"unscented\" for products that stay on your skin (lotion, deodorant, face cream); unscented products can still contain fragrance ingredients [1]." - "Swap leave-on products first: three days of products labelled free of phthalates, parabens, triclosan and benzophenone-3 cut a fragrance-related phthalate marker (MEP) in teenage girls' urine by about 27% [2]." - "If a product gives you a rash, stop using it and ask about patch testing; new EU products must name over 80 fragrance allergens, making triggers easier to avoid [3]." cautions: - "People with asthma or sensitive skin report more trouble with fragranced products. In one US survey, 64% of adults with asthma reported adverse effects [4]." - "A rash that keeps returning on the face, neck or hands can be fragrance allergy. See a doctor or dermatologist rather than guessing [5]." - "If pregnant or planning to be: perfume use goes with higher urinary levels of a phthalate marker; no study shows harm from ordinary use; ask your clinician if unsure [6]." confidence: 3 confidenceNote: "Allergy is well documented in large patch-test studies; the evidence for hormone and breathing effects at normal use rests on biomarkers, lab work and self-reported surveys." evidenceSummary: rctCount: 0 observationalCount: 4 metaAnalysisCount: 1 totalParticipants: "35,000+" replicated: true newestStudyYear: 2023 references: - id: "1" url: "https://www.fda.gov/cosmetics/cosmetic-ingredients/fragrances-cosmetics" title: "Fragrances in Cosmetics" authors: "U.S. Food and Drug Administration" year: 2022 journal: "FDA" - id: "2" pmid: "26947464" title: "Reducing Phthalate, Paraben, and Phenol Exposure from Personal Care Products in Adolescent Girls: Findings from the HERMOSA Intervention Study" authors: "Harley KG, Kogut K, Madrigal DS, et al." year: 2016 journal: "Environ Health Perspect" - id: "3" url: "https://www.hpra.ie/regulation/cosmetics/labelling-and-claims/cosmetic-products-labelling/labelling-of-cosmetic-fragrance-allergens" title: "Labelling of cosmetic fragrance allergens" authors: "Health Products Regulatory Authority (Ireland)" year: 2023 journal: "HPRA" - id: "4" pmid: "29391919" title: "Fragranced consumer products: effects on asthmatics" authors: "Steinemann A" year: 2018 journal: "Air Qual Atmos Health" - id: "5" pmid: "34561893" title: "Contact allergy to oxidized linalool and oxidized limonene: Patch testing in consecutive patients with dermatitis" authors: "Sukakul T, Bruze M, Mowitz M, et al." year: 2022 journal: "Contact Dermatitis" - id: "6" pmid: "23168567" title: "Women's exposure to phthalates in relation to use of personal care products" authors: "Parlett LE, Calafat AM, Swan SH" year: 2013 journal: "J Expo Sci Environ Epidemiol" - id: "7" pmid: "26332456" title: "Prevalence of fragrance contact allergy in the general population of five European countries: a cross-sectional study" authors: "Diepgen TL, Ofenloch R, Bruze M, et al." year: 2015 journal: "Br J Dermatol" - id: "8" pmid: "17971161" title: "Endocrine effects of polycyclic musks: do we smell a rat?" authors: "van der Burg B, Schreurs R, van der Linden S, et al." year: 2008 journal: "Int J Androl" - id: "9" pmid: "22398195" title: "Endocrine disruptors and asthma-associated chemicals in consumer products" authors: "Dodson RE, Nishioka M, Standley LJ, et al." year: 2012 journal: "Environ Health Perspect" - id: "10" pmid: "18194284" title: "Urinary excretion of phthalates and paraben after repeated whole-body topical application in humans" authors: "Janjua NR, Frederiksen H, Skakkebaek NE, et al." year: 2008 journal: "Int J Androl" - id: "11" pmid: "17822133" title: "Systemic uptake of diethyl phthalate, dibutyl phthalate, and butyl paraben following whole-body topical application and reproductive and thyroid hormone levels in humans" authors: "Janjua NR, Mortensen GK, Andersson AM, et al." year: 2007 journal: "Environ Sci Technol" - id: "12" pmid: "30370565" title: "Prevalence of contact allergy in the general population: A systematic review and meta-analysis" authors: "Alinaghi F, Bennike NH, Egeberg A, et al." year: 2019 journal: "Contact Dermatitis" --- "Fragrance" on a label is a catch-all that can stand for many undisclosed ingredients. The best-proven harm is allergy: about 2 in 100 adults across five European countries had a clinically relevant fragrance contact allergy [7]. Evidence that everyday use disrupts hormones or lungs is thinner, mostly lab work and self-reported surveys [8][4]. "Fragrance-free" is a better label to look for than "unscented" [1]. ## How it works ### What "fragrance" can hide In the US, a company may list a scent blend as just "fragrance" because the formula counts as a trade secret, so the label cannot tell you which chemicals are inside. FDA also notes that some products labelled "unscented" contain fragrance ingredients [1]. The EU requires named fragrance allergens on labels and has expanded that list to more than 80. The new list applies to newly marketed products from 31 July 2026 and to everything on shelves by 31 July 2028 [3]. Testing shows why disclosure matters. In an analysis of 213 products, the highest concentrations and most detected chemicals were in fragranced items (perfume, air fresheners, dryer sheets) and in sunscreens, and many of the chemicals were not on the label [9]. ### Hazard versus exposure - **Allergens.** Limonene and linalool are common "natural" fragrance ingredients that become more allergenic as they oxidize in air. Among 5,773 dermatitis patients in Sweden, 7.0% reacted to oxidized linalool and 5.1% to oxidized limonene [5]. These were clinic patients, so the figures overstate what the average person faces. - **Phthalates.** Diethyl phthalate (DEP) is used in some fragrances. Women who used perfume had about three times the urinary level of its breakdown product, MEP, of women who did not [6]. Skin absorption is real: about 6% of DEP applied to the whole body in a cream appeared in urine as MEP [10]. But that test used a 2% cream over the entire body every day, far more than a spritz of perfume, and it found no short-term effect on reproductive or thyroid hormones [11]. FDA says it knows of no human health risk from DEP as currently used [1]. - **Synthetic musks.** In cell studies, polycyclic musks were weakly estrogen-like and blocked androgen and progesterone signals, yet showed no obvious estrogen effect in young rats or zebrafish [8]. ### What to do Start with products that stay on your skin, since they are in contact longest. Pick "fragrance-free", then read the ingredient list for "fragrance" or "parfum". Rinse-off products spend less time on skin, so swap them last. For the broader picture of personal care chemicals, see [Hidden Chemicals in Your Daily Routine](/personal-care-products/hidden-chemicals) and [Phthalates](/phthalates/hormone-disruption-and-health). ## The evidence in detail ### Allergy: the best-documented harm The cleanest numbers come from a cross-sectional study in Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Portugal and Sweden. Researchers interviewed 12,377 adults aged 18 to 74 and patch tested a random 3,119. Fragrance mix I was positive in 2.6% (95% CI 2.1 to 3.2) and fragrance mix II in 1.9%. A positive patch test shows sensitization, not necessarily disease, so the authors also gave a conservative figure that required a clinically relevant history: 1.9% (1.5 to 2.5), with about twice as many women affected as men [7]. A meta-analysis of 28 general-population studies (20,107 people) put fragrance mix I at 3.5% (2.1 to 5.4), second only to nickel at 11.4% [12]. Oxidized terpenes are a newer concern. A retrospective Swedish series tested 5,773 patients with dermatitis from 2013 to 2020. Allergy to oxidized linalool (7.0%) and oxidized limonene (5.1%) rose over time, and more than 95% of positives appeared by day 3 or 4. Patients with these allergies were younger than those allergic to other fragrances, and mostly female. The authors said clinical relevance must be clarified before routine screening is recommended [5]. Because these are referral-clinic patients, the rates are not population rates. ### Breathing and headaches: surveys, not trials An online survey of 1,137 US adults found that 26.8% reported a diagnosis of asthma or an asthma-like condition. Of those, 64.3% reported adverse effects from fragranced products, including respiratory problems (43.3%), migraine (28.2%) and asthma attacks (27.9%). Asthmatics were far likelier than others to report effects (prevalence odds ratio 5.76; 95% CI 4.34 to 7.64) [4]. The data are self-reported, unblinded and cannot separate fragrance from cleaning products, smoke or other triggers. ### Hormones: exposure is clear, harm is not In a two-week, single-blind study, 26 men applied a plain cream to the whole body daily. In week two the cream contained 2% each of DEP, DBP and butyl paraben. Serum MEP peaked a few hours later at a mean of 1,001 micrograms per litre. Reproductive and thyroid hormones showed only minor differences that did not track exposure [11]. Urine collected from the same men showed that 5.79% of the applied DEP came out as MEP [10]. Everyday use involves much smaller amounts. In 337 women who had recently been pregnant, perfume users had MEP 2.92 times higher (95% CI 2.20 to 3.89) [6]. In the HERMOSA study, 100 girls switched to products labelled free of target chemicals for three days. MEP fell 27.4% (95% CI 13.2 to 39.3), methyl and propyl paraben fell about 44% and 45%, and triclosan and benzophenone-3 fell about a third [2]. Ethyl and butyl parabens rose unexpectedly. The design was before-and-after rather than controlled, and no health outcome was measured. Product testing found 55 compounds across 213 products, and some products free of well-known phthalates contained less-studied ones, suggesting substitution [9]. Laboratory work shows polycyclic musks have very weak estrogenic activity that depends on cell and receptor type, plus anti-estrogenic, anti-androgenic and anti-progestagenic activity [8]. ### Where the evidence is thin or conflicting No study we found links ordinary fragrance use to a hormone-related disease. Urinary markers show exposure, not damage. The musk data come from cells and rodents. FDA's position is that DEP in fragrance has no known human risk as currently used [1]. Patch-test studies can overcount relevance, and survey studies can mix up fragrance with other triggers. ### Bottom line Confidence 3 of 5. Fragrance allergy is real, common enough to matter, and well measured. The case that normal fragrance use harms hormones or lungs is unproven. Choosing fragrance-free leave-on products is a low-cost precaution, not a necessity for most people. For scented air products, see [candles and air fresheners](/household-chemicals/candles-and-air-fresheners).