RIFM reaches major milestone: safety assessments covering over 2,000 fragrance ingredients published in the scientific literature
9.20.24
The approximately 3,000 fragrance-producing ingredients in current use have all been evaluated; those not yet published await peer-review
MAHWAH, N.J., Sep. 20, 2024. The Research Institute for Fragrance Materials (RIFM) Safety Assessment Program has published peer-reviewed safety assessments covering over 2,000 fragrance materials in the peer-reviewed literature.
RIFM President Anne Marie Api, Ph.D., Fellow ATS, highlighted the achievement at the Institute’s 58th Annual Meeting last week.
“RIFM has published thousands of peer-reviewed datasheets, group summaries, evaluations, and research papers addressing the safe use of scent-producing ingredients since the early 1970s,” Dr. Api explained. “In the 21st century, we pivoted to research and next-generation risk assessments (NGRAs) focused on animal-free science, strategically using new approach methodologies (NAMs) to save well over half a million animals.”
RIFM does no animal testing for any of its human health endpoints.
Danielle Botelho, Ph.D., Director of Scientific Operations at RIFM elaborated, “This milestone is significant, given that the complete palette of discrete fragrance ingredients is approximately 2,200 materials in any given year. In addition to the discrete materials, the fragrance-producing palette includes approximately 900 Natural Complex Substance (NCS) ingredients distilled from natural sources. RIFM anticipates completing safety assessments for the first round of NCS by 2028.”
About RIFM
The Research Institute for Fragrance Materials (RIFM) assesses the safety of fragrance ingredients by the most current, internationally accepted guidelines—and has done so since its founding in 1966. RIFM’s fragrance ingredient Safety Assessment program draws from its comprehensive database of over 80,000 references, which include approximately 200,000 human health and environmental endpoints and scientific literature. All RIFM’s findings are reviewed and approved by an independent panel of academic experts, The Expert Panel for Fragrance Safety (fragrancesafetypanel.org), with no ties to the fragrance industry, and submitted for peer-reviewed publication in the scientific literature. In addition, all of RIFM’s published Safety Assessments and Research are free to the public via FragranceMaterialSafetyResource.elsevier.com.