News + Events

The Research Institute for Fragrance Materials (RIFM) is making a strong impact at the 13th World Congress on Alternatives and Animal Use in the Life Sciences (WC13), showcasing its leadership in New Approach Methodologies (NAMs) and next-generation risk assessment (NGRA) for fragrance safety.

RIFM President Anne Marie Api, PhD, Fellow ATS, is chairing Session 119 – Next Generation Risk Assessment for Fragrance Materials, a lunch session focused on the institute’s innovative strategies for evaluating fragrance ingredients. RIFM Director of Scientific Operations Danielle Botelho, PhD, Principal Scientist Aurelia Lapczynski, and Senior Associate Scientist Isabella Schember, PhD, will present on topics ranging from exposure-based safety assessment and region-specific environmental frameworks to advanced quantitative risk methods.

“RIFM is committed to advancing science-based, non-animal methods that both ensure safety and foster innovation,” Dr. Api said. “Measured exposure data and robust models fully inform how we assess fragrance ingredients; we do not perform animal testing for any of our human health endpoints.”

At Session #40, “Environmental safety assessment of chemicals – Progress of different animal-free tools, similarities and differences with human safety assessments,” Lapczynski will present new research on refining ecological Thresholds of Toxicological Concern (ecoTTC) for fragrance materials.

Building on the well-established TTC concept used in human health safety, this work adapts and strengthens ecoTTC by leveraging RIFM’s extensive database of ecotoxicological studies along with additional resources, including the European Chemicals Agency registration database and the EnviroTox platform. By analyzing more than 1,000 ecotoxicity studies across 424 fragrance ingredients, the project explored chemical class groupings, modes of action, log K_OW bands, and regional assessment approaches to refine predictive values. The results represent an important step toward more robust, animal-free methods for environmental safety assessment of fragrance materials.

“By strengthening ecoTTC with fragrance-specific data, we’re improving our ability to screen ingredients for environmental safety in a science-based, efficient, and animal-free way,” Lapczynski explained. “This helps ensure that protecting ecosystems goes hand in hand with protecting human health.”

Dr. Schember is also featured in a high-profile plenary session titled Using New Approach Methods (NAMs) to derive points-of-departure (PoD) for Next Generation Risk Assessment (NGRA) of skin sensitizers, chaired by Andy Forreryd of SenzaGen AB. Her presentation draws on a blinded analysis of 100 fragrance ingredients using NAM-based models such as the GARDskin Dose-Response assay. “Our study shows how NAMs can provide a viable, non-animal pathway to accurately estimate safety thresholds,” said Dr. Schember. “This approach is grounded in regulatory science and ready for practical application.” The session includes additional contributions from Unilever, Inotiv, and SenzaGen.

Earlier in the Congress, Principal Scientist Nikaeta Sadekar, PhD, DABT, who leads RIFM’s Respiratory Toxicology Program, is co-chairing Session 77 – Development of Non-Animal Methods for the Identification of Respiratory Sensitizers with Kristie Sullivan of the Institute for In Vitro Sciences (IIVS). The session brings together top experts, including Alexandra Maertens (Johns Hopkins University) and Arno Gutleb (INVITROLIZE), to address the challenges of distinguishing respiratory sensitizers from irritants and reconciling clinical and regulatory perspectives. “By integrating in vitro and in silico tools, we can develop more predictive ethical safety assessments,” said Dr. Sadekar.

At the ICCS session “The Journey Towards Animal-Free Systemic Toxicity Assessment for Cosmetics” (Tuesday, Sept. 2, 11:30 AM–1:00 PM), Kaushal Joshi, PhD, DABT, will present his research on evaluating kinetics, metabolism, and toxicity in a single in vitro system. Dr. Joshi’s presentation is part of a session co-chaired by David Allen (ICCS) and Gladys Ouedraogo (L’Oréal), featuring case studies from leading experts at Beiersdorf, L’Oréal, and the U.S. EPA on the use of New Approach Methodologies (NAMs) and Next Generation Risk Assessment (NGRA) to advance systemic toxicity evaluation without animal testing.

Using cinnamaldehyde as a case study, Dr. Joshi and his team employed a human dynamic multiple organ platform that links intestine, liver, and kidney models through a simulated blood flow system. This approach allowed them to track absorption, distribution, metabolism, and excretion (ADME) processes while also assessing organ viability and toxicity. The study demonstrated that this integrated organ system produced results consistent with known cinnamaldehyde metabolism and toxicity, underscoring the potential of such platforms to replace traditional animal testing.

Reflecting on the work, Dr. Joshi noted, “By linking multiple organ systems in one dynamic in vitro model, we can capture a more realistic picture of how fragrance ingredients are absorbed, metabolized, and cleared in the human body. This helps us build stronger, human-relevant data for safety assessments while moving closer to an animal-free future.”

RIFM’s wide-ranging presence at WC13 underscores its role as a global leader in advancing scientifically rigorous, human-relevant, and animal-free approaches to fragrance safety assessment.