News + Events

Four scientists from the Research Institute for Fragrance Materials (RIFM) are bringing bold new research and innovative safety approaches to the 59th Congress of the European Societies of Toxicology (EUROTOX 2025), taking place September 14–17 in Athens, Greece. Their poster presentations shine a spotlight on how RIFM science is transforming fragrance safety while continuing to avoid outdated animal models, improve risk assessment tools, and clarify real-world exposure.

Arianna Bartlett, PhD, Senior Associate Scientist, Repeated Dose & Reproductive Toxicology
Poster: “Demonstrating the difference between hazard and risk: A comparison of real-life fragrance exposure and experimental animal studies”
Dr. Bartlett’s project brings safety science to life by comparing the high doses used in traditional animal studies with the much lower real-life exposures humans actually experience. Using benzaldehyde, which is found naturally in almonds and is used in consumer products, she illustrates how wide the safety margin truly is for fragrances.

“I am excited to share our project that reveals how safe fragrances are based on real-life low exposure compared to the extremely high doses tested in animal studies,” said Dr. Bartlett.

Chaitra Deodhar, PhD, Scientist, Dermatotoxicology
Poster: “Enhancing Photoallergy Risk Assessment of Fragrance Chemicals through Adopting the ROS Assay into a Tiered Testing Strategy”
Dr. Deodhar is introducing a breakthrough approach to photoallergy testing. By combining UV-vis spectroscopy with the Reactive Oxygen Species (ROS) assay, she and her colleagues have created a faster, more sustainable, and cost-effective strategy to identify low-risk materials—filling a critical gap in fragrance safety assessment.

“Applying the ROS assay to fragrance safety is a new step forward, and I’m thrilled to show how this approach can transform photoallergy testing,” said Dr. Deodhar.

Jake Muldoon, PhD, Senior Associate Scientist, Chemistry
Poster: “Advancing Chemical Grouping: Development and Application of Signature-based Structure-Activity Groups for Non-animal Safety Assessments”
Dr. Muldoon and colleagues’ work makes chemical safety evaluation more intuitive and collaborative. Their new standardized method clusters fragrance materials into structure-activity groups based on their chemical “signatures,” offering a reproducible and transparent way to fill data gaps and prioritize testing across more than 6,000 fragrance-related materials.

“Scientifically sound chemical grouping, presented in a way that’s easy to interpret, helps spark meaningful discussions among scientists with different levels of chemical expertise,” said Dr. Muldoon. “I’m excited to share what RIFM has developed and how it can support both chemists and toxicologists in advancing fragrance safety.”

Maura Lavelle, MS, Scientist, Dermatotoxicology
Poster: “Outside the validated range: Performing a Weight of Evidence (WoE) assessment of the skin sensitization potential for fragrance chemicals positive at high concentrations only in the Local Lymph Node Assay (LLNA)”
Lavelle’s poster challenges outdated assumptions about the LLNA test, which has long been the gold standard for skin sensitization. Her weight-of-evidence approach shows that chemicals testing positive only at very high, unvalidated concentrations may not pose a real sensitization risk, providing a clearer, more accurate path to fragrance safety assessment.

“Our analysis shows that relying on LLNA results alone, especially at unvalidated high concentrations, can misrepresent real-world sensitization potential,” said Lavelle. “A weight-of-evidence approach gives us a clearer, more nuanced picture for ensuring fragrance safety.”