Are we There Yet?

Received word that the EPA management now has the Environmental and Human Health Fragrance /ETF criteria to review. While this is pending, every effort should be made to decide WHO will build the data base, and when will the information be distributed, updated and open source to all fragrance creators, product formulators, NGO's, state EPA's, and retail chains that make green declarations.

WHO will actually make the effort to first meet, share goals, and publish data? It's been suggested by the Fragrance Technical Committee that RIFM (Research Institute for Fragrance Materials) and CleanGredients have an initial discussion. Both organizations have a charter to be useful and informative to their members. And can the FMA (Fragrance Material Association) contribute, whose members is the supply chain? These folk understand the impact. Why can't they publish a list?

Look, we know the fragrance consultants and third party reviewers are not going to give up information that generate fees. And we know the fragrance in-house regulators can only construct turducken system checks because they do not formulate.

In the meanwhile, fragrance houses will be using their GC to copy known DfE formulas that come from extractions or shopped compounds for improvement, Perfumers and some regulators will be privately circulating DfE approved material lists, PR statements will be released, IFRA will have published material lists as they pertain to EU REACH, sadly existing Institutional and Consumer products will continue to make sustainable, natural (or Organic), safe claims for Essential Oil blends that are environmental hazards all while the EPA is taking action steps regarding clean water and our deplorable water treatment capabilities.

Are we there yet? Are all the myths and past practices deconstructed enough to make sense for an industry that now, today, has merged data and criteria on human health and environmental concerns. It's not yesterdays news, it's tomorrows action that matters.

Happy New Year 2010.

Orcas

This Fall I attended a series of lectures by Brent Nixon. Perhaps the most compelling talk was on Orcas. This particular species is studied extensively from population statistics to pod structure and behaviors. Amazingly, nearly every Orca is observed whether it is transient or thrives in a resident pod. And every resident pod is matriarchal and ruled by the grandmother who survive up to ninty years.

What stuck me most is due to the effects of bioaccumulation, as they feed at the top of the food chain, adult females transfer up to 90 percent of environmental contaminants to their first born calf. According to Mr. Nixon, the result is 100 percent death rate. The following calves do fine and their mortality rate is more happenstance.

I looked for collaboration to the first born mortality statement. I also found scientist have been confounded for decades by the disappearance of calves and deducted to only count them in their population records after the calves were two years old.

How does one make sense of this? Do we resign our responsibility to let Orcas remain amusements for Sea World or "killer whale sightseeing rides?" Can we not see the sense that fragrance materials that are known hormone disruptor's or aquatic toxins might contribute to the Orca situation? Do we continue to negate these emerging chemical measurements when the solution is to simply revise our formulas now for fragranced products that are rinsed down the drain?

Mothers, would we be a trifle overwrought if our first grandchild does not survive their first year?

Banned IF Born Before 1970

Yesterday the long expected announcement on Green Indexing came out from Wal-Mart. This announcement by Matt Kistler, W-M Senior VP of Sustainability, will be mistakenly considered initially a change of direction. But the intent has always been to find a responsible way to effect development of green sustainable products. The Green Nose has stated that the ability to establish an index with known criteria is possible with fragrance chemicals, an important ingredient additive in nearly every leading consumer and institutional cleaners.

What is the impact when Wal-Mart announces an indexing programs to the manufacturing companies and the chemical supply chain? One, despite protests, real costs for specialized components will go down slightly. Initially, learning new analytical methods,  plus regulatory reporting will have a resource impact but reduced inventory of acceptable formula materials and resultant market forces will succumb to fair pricing. Wal-Mart is negating any manufacturer's threatened price increase argument by saying they will pass on the cost if necessary.

Two: product index labeling will result in chemical transparency and consumers will have another level of choice and personal benefit. Will transparency ruin confidentiality? No, because product intellectual protections (IP) are already in place and enforceable if a company is harmed. IP were necessary because competitive products are easily analyzed and reversed engineered in any modernly equipped lab. Leading formulators have recently set up ingredient disclosure summaries on their websites.

Three: toxicologist, environmentalist, and marketers do agree that prevention is the only acceptable environmental creed to follow. Buzz phrases like eco-babble are only stall tactics while industry self-regulators cry for standards and definitions.  

Not surprising, almost all of the preeminent industry regulators who participated in the dialogue were never educated in environmental sciences. That is why Non Government Organizations as well the EPA play a vital role in the process.

Wal-Mart in their releases has assessed that their program may take years to fully implement. Current programs in Europe are still gestating and differ with political boundaries. But the Wal-Mart goal is very noble and meant to effectively serve their target consumer and a global economy in the next decade. This is an opportunity to eliminate two key concerns found in certain fragrance materials. That is endocrine disruptor's and aquatic toxins that enter our waterways from cleaners that are rinsed down the drain. 

If you were born before 1970, you fumbled your chance for real leadership, stewardship and responsibility for clean waterways for your children. Your wisdom and experiences will now become a reflection on possibilities. High praise to Wal-Mart to support green sustainable chemistry for the market place. 

 

Signal From The Nose

CleanGredients, a long standing sponsor and supporter of green chemistry, announced on July 1 that the EPA's DfE Screen for Fragrances Human Health Criteria is launched. This beneficial program will guide fragrance creators into safe standards. The criteria for Environmental Fate & Toxicity will be included as soon as the final wording is parsed by the fragrance TAC's (technical action committee) participants. [The Green Nose is a TAC member since October 2007] What does this all mean? The adoption of DfE standards will mean that manufacturer's and their suppliers will have access to specific guidelines from the government and sponsoring suppliers in developing new products that reduce their impact on the environment and human sensitization.

I now find myself reflecting on the TAC's commendable efforts to bring the fragrance screen to a purposeful reality.  It poses questions of self assessment and value to the committee purpose such as, "What product experience did you bring?  Was your "voice",  industry perspective, bias, talent or lack of it, an influence?  What now has been gained, how do we move forward and guide others.

When I was at the recent conference on Sustainable Fragrances for Cleaners, I heard many self-conscious remarks from highly regarded scientists as they dealt with their own interests, purpose or "reflexive modernization." I also heard several snarky remarks on the authenticity of modeling chemical fate, even though one presentation on modeling tripled the endpoint validations that currently exist in the industry data.

As a blogger, I am not influenced by editorial practices like a reporter. The meaning of this blog is not only what it says,  but also the way the blogger says it. Therefore, dear Fragrance industry executives, my signal from the noise, is stop justifying past positions and worrying about anti-fragrance messages. Prepare for client formulators who do need to revise most of their product offerings and increase their market share.

Start your work now before someone launches a product called "I Can't Believe This Is a Cleaner Without a Fragrance."

Session3: Exploring the Collaborative Development Between the Fragrance Formulator and the Cleaning Product Manufacturer Not Only Sustainable But Safe

The third session of the Sustainable Fragrance 2009 for Cleaners conference was not the typical wrap up session maybe intended. It actually opened the need for more resolution. The tone was of course as polite and open as the prior sessions. Since there were frequent references from the speakers on prior talks, I will insert a few Green Nose opinions for balance as several were not in attendance. 

WHAT IS A SUSTAINABLE, GREEN AND/OR A NATURAL FRAGRANCE?, Reed Doyle, Director of Strategic Sourcing, Seventh Generation

Like the opening speaker, Reed quickly demonstrated original, thought provoking, compelling statements while he shared his journey and how it married well when seeking improvement with Seventh Generation. Establishing standards such as "do less bad", seek to ask the right questions, don't bargain with yourself, and it's about health and wellness (stupid) guides them.

Mr. Doyle helped to explain how/ why they are leaders in their categories by understanding public perception drives shelf movement, therefor they developed custom "natural" formulas. They look for point of sale differences; not try to act like competition; and use green standards as guidelines to often exceed. 

Exceeding guidelines can develop a lack of trust with self regulated agencies as represented by the conference's co-chairs as Seventh Generation wants full disclosure and questions vendors about numerous data gaps. Reed did say that eventually all vendors do disclose in particular as his company create their own benchmarks for continuous improvement like eliminating impurities.

Do download this speech when available.

THINGS WE NEED TO REMEMBER ABOUT THE BASIC SCIENCE OF POISONS, Ladd Smith, President, RIFM, US

Ladd gave an extremely well versed presentation. He spoke how everything is a potential poison, on RIFM's risk assessment standards, and testing is based on human biology.

A large question posed was are we tolerant of naturally occurring hazards? This eventually lead to the new perspective of holistic ecology. [reminder to download this speech]

As this was the second mention of holistic ecology, The Green Nose surmised how this idology shift does not change RIFM's previous positions and humbly keeps them relevant. So many outcomes when embracing diversity even scientific diversity!

DESIGNING SUSTAINABLE FRAGRANCES, co-presenters Michelle Harper, Director of Fragrance Evaluation, Cynthia Reichard, ExecVP Client Services, Arylessence Inc

Outstanding presentation on evaluating your sustainable message, melding it to current trends and justifications for defending the use of fragrances. As this was marketing specific, I suggest this be downloaded or visit their website. 

Both speakers sent positive sustainability messages and are seeking well intended outcomes. 

AN IN VITRO SCREENING SYSTEM THAT IDENTIFIES SKIN SENSITIZATION, Jim McKim, Chief Science Officer, Ceetox

I found the talk amazing and an demonstration how advanced skin testing has recently become in order to eliminate animal testing. Jim highlighted numerous benefits to their techniques which includes, time, cost, animal saver; fills REACH data gaps quicker; meets EU requirements; an ethical approach; satisfies consumer pressure; helps provide a marketing message and avoids uncertainty factors.

This testing method is more predictive for early events and other outcomes like airways. The system is consistent with previous benchmarks. It also provides a tiered assay approach, and can screen a larger number. Again please download and support this type of testing.

THE DERMAL SENSITIZATION QUANTITATIVE RISK ASSESSMENT (QRA) FOR FRAGRANCE INGREDIENTS, Anne Marie Api, VP HUMAN Health Sciences Program, RIFM

Dr. Api opened by discussing the EU banned allergen materials. These items will not harm the environment and the original researchers have announced their intent was only to identify items that should appear on labels, not to suggest a ban.

Anne Marie described the QRA approach which is available on the RIFM site and when the conference publishes the presentations. A change was noted that exposure will be evaluated by dose metric as dose per metric area.

There will also be some teeth in RIFM standards compliance with hard surface cleaners. Market samples will be evaluated and any non-compliant fragrance company will be posted on their website. 

THE CONSUMER PRODUCT INGREDIENT COMMUNICATION INITIATIVE, Michelle Radecki, General Counsel, The Soap and Detergent Association

Ms. Radecki opened her presentation on the issue/ trend of fragrance transparency to counterpoint Mr Burr's justification. She offered that a skillful GC/MS does not completely reveal all the ingredients thus the formula should still be protected.  [actually it reveals all of the molecules within a vapor range to +/- 95% identification] The current labeling law was enacted in 1974 and fragrances were granted an exception. The recent proposal by CA legislation SB509, proposed no exception for fragrances nor dyes. RIFM lobbied for an exception/ different agreement on behalf of it's membership.   

Currently SDA is developing a model for responding to NGO's like Women's Voices for the Earth and Earth Justice.  SDA can only encourage members to support the process.

Michelle's complete presentation will be available shortly.

COLLABORATION FOR SUSTAINABILITY, Suzanne McCormick, Director of Fragrance Development, Method, US and Colin McIntosh, Director Regulatory Affairs, Firmenich

Method developed a fragrance pilot collaboration in order to further it's corporate directive for a cradle to cradle process. The collaboration included a formula review process respecting the intellectual property protection for their vendors. Firmenich was the first house to participate which eventually included all of their fragrance suppliers. Suzanne felt the protocol went well enough to enact a fragrance switch.

Suzanne was asked if Method would release the protocol and she promised to ask management.

The program included reviews for toxicity, endocrine disruption, contact sensitization, CMR effects, bioaccumulation, and biodegradation. 

With Firmenich, Method developed the criteria for biodegradation and bioaccumulation with acknowledgement of data gaps. Primary discussions included how the material dissipates and reviewing its multi-dimensional characteristics. Naturals were ok but the item would be eliminated if it didn't have a good profile. They stated the program took time to enact.

On questioning they stated they started with the original odor profile/ compound and revised accordingly. 

It should be noted that Dr. William Troy, VP and General Manager of Product Safety & Regulatory at Firmenich could not co present due to a schedule conflict. Dr. Troy is also the president of FMA and serves on the RIFM board. The protocol seems consistent with the environmental positions championed by association spokespersons/ members on the Fragrance TAC. I hope it meets or exceeds the soon to be released DfE module.

  

  

 

Session2 report: Building a Framwork for Environmentally Preferable Product Recognition

Based on the tone from earlier technical session, I expected some moments of nerd rage during the second session of the Sustainable Fragrance 2009 for Cleaners. It was very civil although I started to detect "cradle washing" when guidelines/ standards for biodegradation were self declared.

 

CREATING SUSTAINABLE FRAGRANCES: A PERFUMER'S VIEW, Steve Schuh, Director Fragrance R&D, Bell Flavors & Fragrances

Perfumers are the most expert members of a Fragrance firm. Except for a few unique individuals, they need to be surrounded by other organizational disiplines to help shape policy, procedures and guidance. Mr. Schuh seemed to grasp the latter issues and did not focus solely on needs. 

He described the project assessment stages to identify key customers, the potential for a sustainable technical response and what needs to be done for current projects and forward thinking needs. Specifically an internal company culture must be developed.

Steve did mention an analysis of their client mix and only 0.5% of Bell's projects during 2008 requested an "eco" guided technical request. That small amount did reflect an increase of 5% over 2007. Natural blend submissions were 12.5% of all technical service requests.

Mr. Schuh also brought with him a set of demonstration perfume oil samples that reflected the odor change if an existing formula needed modification from eco-like material restrictions. Although the end-use was not specifically mentioned, a revision for an I&I kitchen cleaner that had incidental direct food contact would eliminate about 50% of raw materials if the starting formula was a cucumber and green tea type compound. 

Steve highlighted that there are no guidelines known to him for Biodegradable standards. He then proposed a wish list as follows:

*continued efforts to develop replacements

*increase research for new materials using eco quality guidelines

*more unified guidelines of what is acceptable/ isn't

*increased industry involvement from SDA, IFRA and more published data 

To the Green Nose, Steve made a very fair assessment of what knowledge and tools a middle size supplier needs to service the needs of many and be expert in guiding clients to an environmentally preferable product.

EPA DESIGN FOR THE ENVIRONMENT (DfE) SCREEN FOR SAFER SUBSTITUTES IN FRAGRANCES, Libby Sommer, Environmental Scientist, EPA Design for the Environment

Libby walked through some of the boiler plate definitions of the DfE program and principles that guide them. One, identify; two, use transparent criteria; and three, provide a rapid response. Her message is on the EPA.org website and also on the conference link in a few weeks.

More importantly, the environmental fate section is not yet completed thus effecting a very critical process stage, the Fragrance Module. It might be finished by the end of July subject to review. It was hoped when the convention program was developed to have been presented today by Libby.  It will be the corner stone for the DfE program. 

THE CLEANGREDIENTS(r) FRAGRANCE'S MODULE: DEVELOPMENT AND APPROACH, Topher Buck, Senior Project Manager, CleanGredients

CleanGredients is typical of NGO's. They have support finical support from a foundation and sponsor/ subscribing companies. They have just passed 400 members who perform material searches of their listing. Their objective is to create enough material data for green chemistry users without compromising confidential intellectual property.

Once the module work is completed, CleanGredients will list all of the fragrance companies that have the capabilities to produce DfE fragrances. Topher is open to suggestions on how this would be the most meaningful to the formulators and Fragrance houses.

DELIVERING SUSTAINABLE FRAGRANCES FOR CLEANING PRODUCTS: A HOLISTIC & INTEGRATED APPROACH, Greg Adamson, Global VP Regulatory Affairs, Givaudan

Dr. Adamson presented a very thorough paper with a complete grasp of the subject matter along with suggestions. This presentation represents a compassionate and corporate viewpoint.

Greg started by affirming his personal and considered opinion that fragrance materials are very safe and not just for water but air and soil.

He does feel that better communication might solve the misunderstandings over sustainability because it is always evolving and could mean about anything. But he stated it is not about marketing but solid scientific positioning that includes balance; lifestyle thinking; chemistry; and managing perception. 

Greg also stated their is enough data for QSAR modeling, just build the models early in the process. He would like to see from Givaudan and other suppliers more efficient process chemistry; high impact odor molecules; environmental testing on biodegradability; reduction or reclaimed solvents; renewable feed stocks and waste reduction; upfront regulatory and toxicology. These are his safest options.

But he offered that safety in use has defined standards and sustainability and biodegradability is not yet defined. And the USA consumer is not yet convinced on any definition which includes synthetics vs naturals. Greg did vouch on naturals safety record if used in the right way. 

Greg's basic appeal was to embrace holistic science as the new paradigm. Holistic science is based on the phenomenon of inter-connectiveness at all levels. 

When I summarize, this is one of the presentations worthy of comment.

EVALUATING FRAGRANCES IN CERTIFICATION, Mark T. Petruzzi, VP of Certification & Strategic Relations, Green Seal

Green Seal is focused on products used in public spaces. These areas have to employ standards to protect the vulnerable. To do so Green Seal wants more disclosure for their product labeling. Mostly they go above and beyond and fragrance free is always the fall back. There is a difference between retail products of which 99% has fragrance. Whereas I&I cleaners, Green Seal's focus, more then 50% of certified products have a fragrance free variant.

Whether a product is rinsed off or leave on Green Seal is concerned about chronic inhlation  and sewage treatment standards. Naturals are of concern as 90% of the standards are ingredient based.

EPA's SUSTAINABLE FUTURES PROGRAM, Bill Waugh, Toxicologist, US EPA

Bill gave a very spirited presentation that should also be downloaded when available. He drew initially the example that most folk are exposed to the EPA through the pesticide registration program. Pesticides like drugs are designed to kill therefore safety is important. In the programs like DfE the reviews are based on risk assessment. In his 30 plus years most chemicals, 40,000 tested to date, have no data. And the EPA has only 90 days to predict important properties based on chemical structure. 

Mr. Waugh talked to the future and said a program has already been road tested (beta) with select chemical companies. A demonstration is forthcoming at Givaudan's Hanover facility in the next couple of months. It is based off a PBT profiler.

The profiler has been peer reviewed and cost $100 mm in resources. It also identifies chemicals of concern. Essentially for new/ all chemicals the program finds a chemical that is close and has data on human health which starts the analysis. It is EPA's job to drive risk reduction. This is referred to as Pollution Prevention (P2). 

   

Sustainable Fragrances for Cleaners Conference

Before I review the presentations, please let me state that they were all very well done, thoughtful and contextual to the topic. I intend to review each speech but due to a personal scheduling conflict I will need to report the topics first before summerizing. The IntertechPira folks will be posting the full program in a few weeks. This post covers the session devoted to the quest for sustainablity drivers and innovation. The next post will cover sessions two and three.

 

MAKING SUSTAINABILITY BEAUTIFUL, Chandler Burr, Perfume Critic, NYTimes

Probably the best opening presentation to a technical seminar I attended. Mr. Burr managed to touch on each known attribute reflecting a serious study. He was effective enough that nearly all of the remaining presenters made a reference to him in support or disagreement on various issues. His personal flair or stylistic emotions for the industry did not falsely color his salient arguments. Was he technically light in places? Of course but he mentioned how he sourced the info. Mr. Burr offered: one, not supporting ingredient transparency is moronic. Two, prevention is best served by reducing dosage. Three, there are very good examples of corporate stewardship to communicate. Four, methods exist for testing biodegradation.

Mr. Burr did start out by questioning the audience on specific raw materials and introduced various cultural, economic, energy consumption and agricultural realities that effect sustainability definitions and parameters. For such a knowledgeable audience, there were quizzical glances on the material facts. He also cited the efforts of www.goodguides.com to rate products by scent and in an eco fashion. 

Mr. Burr seemed to  speak from the heart and set a humanist bar. More info on Mr. Burr and his publications are on his website.

SUSTAINABILITY AS A DRIVER FOR INNOVATION, Lauren Heine, Senior Science Advisor, Clean Production Action 

Dr. Heine's presentation is a must read when published. I am certain portions are already on Clean Production's website.  Lauren uses many graphics uncomplicating the benefits and role of Green Chemistry while combining sound science with chemical policy.  She highlighted the elements of Trust, what chemicals need examination; Emerging Science like endocrine disruption; Limitation of Data and market Response from NGO's or product benefit organizations like GoodGuide.

Her presentation described the wants of NGO's as innovation drivers using the basic tenants of green chemistry, reduce risk by reducing hazards. [risk=hazard x exposure] Future alternations should be guided by "cradle to cradle" attributes and seeing fragrance ingredients used in products that are rinsed down the drain as biological nutrients. 

Her solutions beside setting informed policy is practice informed substitution while aiming for the top. 

DEFINING "NATURAL" FOR THE PERSONAL CARE/ HOUSEHOLD PRODUCT INDUSTRIES, Jack Corley, Executive VP, Trilogy Fragrances, Inc.

This presentation is a must read when posted primarily due to the extensive product data.  Jack opened by discussing the potential for hazards with naturals and how organized are the market reactions. The "essential oil" suppliers came to understand  how overstating product perception as "safer" could be claimed as green washing (The Seven Sins) and that potential effect on the remarkable growth for casted by Mintel in personal care products. (600 m /2013) 

Mr. Corley has been intimately involved in setting Natural Products Association Standards expected to be released later this year. To appreciate and understand evidence based information on essential oils, Mr. Corley referenced Sloan Kettering's website.

It will be interesting to the Green Nose how DfE's data matches the Natural Products data since both are yet to be released.

MARKETING AND BRANDING WITH FRAGRANCE, Harold Vogt, Founder & Chief Marketer, Scent Marketing Institute

I found this presentation on large space airfreshening for work and residential places interesting because Harold was very straightforward about the importance of delivering a cleaned environment with scent. And his future challenge to provide customer protection in a growing product segment that needs to be sensitive to multi-sensitive people.

The Green Nose found Mr. Vogt very current in his scent knowledge, formulation requirements, quality and customer satisfaction processes, and need to actually create a "no scent" effect with fragrance. Mr. Vogt demonstrated his personal responsibility to stay involved in this technical forum. 

CARBON FOOTPRINTING A GRREN CLEANING PRODUCT: A STEP TOWARDS SUSTAINABILITY, Margret Whittaker, Managing Director and Chief Toxicologist, TOXSERVICES LLC

Dr. Whittaker's in depth presentation and the importance of understanding carbon footprinting deserves a strong read when the presentation is posted. Her firm is now one of the third party reviewers for DfE and will be working with small and large DfE sponsors. Their studies are extensive and take 200 - 500 hours. 

The definition of carbon footprinting is measuring greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions caused by a particular activity or entity. (note: Dr. Whittaker is not a fan of offsets) They look at the company level and the product level. In her opinion, better or worse, consumers want a "low carbon economy." Standards for product analysis is available on the web under PAS 2050. This is the start of the process map. In the end the results must be validated by independent certification. 

Margaret suggests to start with your facility first. There are two other less reliable methods, one to complete a "life cycle assessment" and the other is an online carbon footprint calculator. 

For the formulator, a packaging study is the easiest way to reduce your footprint. Fragrances are a boundary item, therefore most of her presentation is for the formulator.

ALTERNATIVES TO ANIMAL IN TOXICITY TESTING, Paul Locke, Associate Professor, John Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and Center for Alternatives to Animal Testing

Again another involved presentation that warrants a complete read. Mr. Locke is an attorney (recovering, his line) who spoke toward the implications of reduced/ no animal testing for public health protection.  He addressed emerging trends such as the public call for transparency, the many data gaps, and four stages of evidence based toxicity.  In the next five years he stated dose response/ extrapolation modeling/ high throughput of molecular mechanism; along with regulatory context shift in focus from special outcomes to perturbation (change in physical outcomes) will be the norm.

The other driver will be REACH, whose implication will be actually understanding and integrating new data.

The alternative, in his opinion, will be to litigate as an attempt to delay.

   

 

Sustainable Fragrances for Cleaners Conference

Just returned late last night from the conference. I'll start reporting on the presentations tomorrow. The program was insightful and an excellent forum for the speakers and attendees to civilly exchange their views, vision, and capabilities. The attendance was impressive and representative of the skill sets needed to execute and communicate a better future. I observed that the presenters and delegates were attentive, serious and respectful to each other. There was nary a jaded glance. 

The program organizers, IntertechPira, and the Senior Conference Producer, Jessica Johnson deserve praise for providing a professional setting and program. 

 

June/ American Rivers Month

Please give pause to what we can do right now to ensure clean river ways. One simple suggestion is to take immediate measures to eliminate the use of emerging chemicals of concern often described as personal care chemicals. Most of these identified chemicals, in particular fragrance materials do not have suitable replacements. But there does exist enough safe aquatic non-toxic aromatics to produce attractive compounds. 

Lets develop marketing platforms to shift consumer and professional cleaning product users away from trickle down odor trends to sensible environmentally safe fragrances and essential oils..... embrace, empower and transform. 

Beached Whales Should Die

It maybe startling to accept but those beached whales are so stressed and dehydrated their chances for survival are almost nil. The same can be said about old premises and practices. They wash up on a beach for a reason.

 

The worldwide president of Givaudan, Michael Carlos recently said in a keynote speech to the Fragrance Material Association, "the desire to know more increases exponentially." He urged industry cooperation and sound science in the service of intellectual property protection and consumer and NGO education. The FMA has been very active in defending the industry's record of long term safe use of fragrance materials for human toxicity currently under regulatory scrutiny. Meanwhile they have characterized as either unfounded, non-scientific and emotional, the various positions of the NGO's. And the FMA wants the same human testing institutions that are supported by member dues to provide and coordinate much of the required environmental test data under their definitions of risk, allowable usage levels, historical consumption, necessary supply chain research cost support and, the most remarkable attribute, it's value for creativity. Think how unresponsive and defensive those criteria are as more fish roll in with the tide. And who is responsible for the cost?

Mr. Carlos did float a value statistic that Fragrances account for 6% or less of a given consumer products cost, while it actually drives 50% of the value in consumer eyes. Very very true for purchase interest but another Givaudan president drove the exact same point to the Green Nose 30 years ago. Then the purpose was to get price increases. 

The sound science that the EPA's DfE will be presenting is to keep our waterways safe for consumption. We know that water treatment is not able to eliminate persistent classes of aromatic or natural chemicals. Prevention is the solution not risk vs uncertainty and temporary measures. 

We also know there is something to do. The work is what matters. Starting with incorporating safe fragrances that are used in cleaning products that are rinsed down the drain will make an immediate difference. It is a small change for a much larger cause. The companies that start now will capture the full opportunity and not be the next carcass on a beach.  

When you're Green, your growing.

Ray Kroc, founder of McDonald's, encouraged his employees to strive for product improvements and understanding their customer. To keep an inspiring edge to his message, Mr. Kroc's complete quote is, "When you're Green, your growing. When you're ripe, you rot."

I hope this quote stirs up the few who are holding on to conventional practices when it comes to formulating environmentally sound cleaning products and promoting Fragrance materials not made to the upcoming EPA DfE standards.

Happy Earth Day.

Green Circumlocution

Several major consumer Household product cleaning manufacturers announced that they will disclose their product's ingredients. This announcement has been greeted positively by the environmental press but The Green Nose is totally convinced they have not gone far enough. One product component, fragrances, will remain a disclosure exception in order to maintain trade secret limited access requirements and vendor confidentiality agreements aka proprietary interests. Fragrance components will be available to review by a composite breakout of all the fragrance ingredients used in the respective companies cleaner lines.  

The Green Nose feels the indirectness of a composite fragrance(s) ingredient disclosure will contribute to the transparency concept but this seemingly pragmatic approach will make it altogether different from the directly expressed concept. 

For example, a fire warden has unfettered access to a similar composite listing from MSDS' for safety purposes. But if there is an event like a fire, how will the fire warden know which  fragrance drum might launch itself if in direct contact with flame, or create a hazard?

At the upcoming convention, Sustainable Fragrances 2009, the fragrance industry will view a demonstration by CleanGredients on the DfE module. This algorithm  will be the most comprehensive fragrance safety ingredient rating standard that will include the wisdom of RIFM data and EPA's environmental resources. Therefore, an ingredient disclosure in any format, should indicate if the material meets the new DfE standard.

    

Ethical Case Studies

Case number 1:

About five years ago, an air freshener was successfully commercialized in the US with a "grapefruit" compound containing Geranyl Nitrile. This material was under study due to test data of concern when the fragrance was submitted to the manufacturer. By the end of 2006, with additional data, further testing was no longer being funded. IFRA announced to its membership it would no longer support its use. 

The toxicological endpoint of greatest concern was genotoxicity, Geranyl Nitrile produced chromosomal aberrations. Annual worldwide usage during this study period was just over 100 metric tons.

Meanwhile substitute "grapefruit" compounds were submitted but not considered acceptable by the manufacturer. Some fragrance competitors, perhaps just one (whom the Green Nose was employed) were given the opportunity to duplicate. Eventually, the original compound supplier omitted Geranyl Nitrile and the manufacturer added the ingredient themselves. Were these motives justified or did they just lose their ethics? How would you act?

Case number 2:

Currently the EPA's DfE program gives provisional approval for fragrances that need revision if deemed justifiable. This period for improvement is three years and the manufacturer can show the DfE logo without an asterisk. Now consider that the new DfE module which will be formally introduced this June, will only "pass" compound ingredients that fall within acceptable standards for both human and environmental toxicity. Should a clear deadline be determined for all outstanding provisional fragrances with allowance for stability testing? Is December 31, 2009 fair?

The meeting this June, Sustainable Fragrances 2009, has tremendous potential to adjourn with agreements to make things better, set deadlines where needed and attendees have mutual and moral respect for certain sciences, for ourselves and others. 

  

Sustainable Fragrances for Cleaners

The Green Nose (TGN) is very proud to announce his attendance at the Sustainable Fragrances 2009 meeting to be held June 3 - 5 at the Marriott Washington, DC. TGN will be focusing his efforts to sniff out for you, in this blog, every significant development and valuable nuance. This is the first meeting where Fragrance industry experts and regulatory members of the trade associations, EPA's DfE and NGO's are conferring in a formal setting to propose green and sustainable industry definitions, raw material ingredient standards for both safe human and environmental toxicity and a module to preview fragrance formulas for DfE criteria. The sheer complexity of assessing hundreds of chemical classes and working toward viable agreement is laudable to the presenters and attendees, regardless of the understanding of the issues and likely consequences. The program is very representative of the current body of technical and proprietary industry interests.

The Green Nose promises to report in depth on each session, to share real conversations with attendees, and to give you insightful commentary about this dynamic conference.

 

US Fragrance Compound Sales to I&I clients

What are the stakes for the Fragrance industry with the proposed environmental criteria that will reduce the materials that previously were deemed safe? Two market research firms, Kline & Co. and The Freedonia Group, have published reports projecting the US I&I estimated sales to be $10 billion. Kline has provided the segment breakdown to be:

Janitorial    3.25 b

Industrial    2.75 b

Food Service     1.9 b

Food Processing   1.9 b

Laundry      880 m

Sales of fragrance compounds are directly sold to the I&I manufacturers and developed specifically for their product formulations. Aromatic chemicals, like benzaldehyde, methyl salicylate as well Essential Oils, like orange, pine oils and their by-products, mainly terpenes are also used in certain cleaners for their odor and lower cost value. They can be used by themselves or in combination with a compound. These materials are usually resold or transfer sales, therefore the sales amounts are often double counted within the Flavor and Fragrance industry.

The Green Nose has built a projected fragrance compound sales from actual customer sales experience and a wide knowledge of typical price points and end-use dosage. Many of the fragrance company sales to I&I clients include air freshener compounds, of which those sales amounts were omitted from the projection. Therefore the total US I&I fragrance compound annual turnover for products that are rinsed off is $18 million.

Within the Fragrance industry companies (thirty plus), market share to I&I clients is widely segmented. Almost all of the top I&I formulators have an exclusive list of fragrance vendors based on a variety of capabilities and resources. All of the top tier Fragrance companies do not market target the total I&I industry firms due to sales potential, cost of sales and product development return. Typically, I&I segment sales for the top five companies are only ten percent of their compound mix. And due to acquisitions within the past few years, the top fragrance companies have spun off (or tried)"long tail" unit sales due to the same target account strategies. 

Thusly, few fragrance companies service the I&I needs of many. These same few have an influential and biased view which lead to a not-so-desirable response from Trade Associations to the environmental standards of EPA DfE.  $18 million divided among dozens of fragrance companies should not be a roadblock for the Perfumers to replace where needed re-formulated fragrances and should be a corner stone to responsible sustainable policies and product standards. The formulators will hopefully rotate these fragrances into their products very soon.

Definitions, Co-operation and Disruption

Nothing complex can be acheived without co-operation between parties. Nothing moves forward without a foundation of co-operation. The Sustainable Fragrances for Cleaners 2009 Convention in June will be a prime opportunity to put the debate and dialogue of the past few years into action.

The time for action is now. The great strides in the sciences behind this dialogue and thinking have been amplified by recent events. Even while governments around the world are intervening, civilization's footprint is being detected in places more far reaching then ever.  The Fragrance industry, their supply chain and their customers must make a stand.

There will be a host of convention presenters who will be proposing their unique visions and notions of progress, representing avant-guarde thinking and traditional roles.  

One of the most important convention sessions will try to define "sustainability" and "green fragrance" with industry peers: toxicologists, chemists, perfumers, product formulators, suppliers, regulators, marketers, and NGO's. 

This is a very bold step, but I caution the session not to linger too much on the actual wordings of these definitions. Why? Strong definition disagreements are about bias and delay. The session's objective deserves an excellent result. Any compromises read more like a mission statement which only defines a self-igniting purpose or concept for existing. Whereas a definition of standards creates strong guidance and enforceable attributes and criteria.  There is no time to get bogged down in bureaucratic self-regulating politics and filibustering.

Why would definition setting get purposely bogged down? Classically, any innovation improves a product for a larger set of consumers in ways the market did not expect. A disruptive innovation  is particularly threatening to market leaders and suppliers because early adopters are competition from an unexpected direction. Lets examine the concepts of Sustainability and Green Chemistry as a disruptive innovation.

Disruptive innovations are not always recognized by consumers and often take a long time before they are significantly disruptive to established companies and the supply chain. Often it is entirely rational for incumbent companies to ignore these effects. Early green cleaner products compared badly in performance to brand leaders and the current improved green cleaner market share is so small, that established products can still afford not to notice. 

Even as a disruptive innovation like DfE is recognized , businesses are often reluctant to take action since it would involve competing with existing and profitable products. And no one can afford risking profits in this economy.

But in a fragrance product sustaining disruptive innovation is incremental and subtle. To prevent any further bioaccumulation of unnecessary fragrance ingredients lets take the subtlety to a degree of obviousness and continuous improvement.  Let us all embrace the fragrance DfE program, gain from its environmental benefits and quickly move them into the established products before it is too late.

Disruption can be a cause for the moral good and with careful technical guidance, cooperation between suppliers, producers and government, we can all be winners.

River Keepers update

Mentioned in my February 13th post was a river environmental study in Europe that revealed personal care contaminants. Another study this time stateside, was released last month, disclosing materials of concern that are present in the Columbia River basin. The Columbia River serves communities of nearly eight million residents for power, water, fisheries and recreation. The Columbia River has and continues to be in danger.

This particular report will be used to analyze historical contamination levels like DDT and fire retardants and will be the basis for further studies of emerging contaminants. Because of the presence of these new chemicals of concern, a future study will be sponsored by the US Geological Survey (USGS)  as limited samples were taken to characterize these contaminants. It will be four years before another study will be completed. 

The purposes of studying banned materials like DDT is to be certain that the dangerous toxics are declining. Evidence of emerging contaminants are most serious to environmentalist and the regional river community because of the likelihood their concentrations will increase without preventative action. The Green Nose examined the list of fragrance materials. Significant in the report were musk chemicals which are found in nearly every cleaner fragrance for their pleasant long lasting fresh clean perception and fixative properties.

Reports like the EPA study about our waterways give gravitas to the June Sustainable Fragrances 2009 for Cleaning Products meeting. We must stop the use of unnecessary perfume ingredients that are rinsed off down the drain.  Immediate PREVENTION is the only acceptable outcome. It's that simple.

River Keepers

An EU-wide survey on The State of Our Rivers has just been released and is quite notable. Among the many chemical groups identified by the study, the presence of molecules from prescriptive drugs and personal care products stood out. This isn't just happening overseas. The EPA has conducted similar studies and similar results. For example, in Las Vegas waterways the agency discovered a measurable presence of meta-amphetamines!

The Green Nose blog wants to bring out a point made on an earlier post, Green Chemistry and the Current Industry Position, that the fragrance industry stood by environmental toxicity data that was generated from several decades worth of "quantitative risk analysis." This EU survey does report that the amount of toxic chemicals decreased in rural areas which had less storm drain or sewer run-off. Therefore the only valid aquatic toxicity data that is acceptable is "hazard based" which is representative of the population centers.

What might be a difference in USA rivers for comparative survey results? Here in my new home state Oregon very little. Portland, long considered a European-like city, has built something identical; that is a combined sewer/storm water system. Atlanta, my previous residence is slowly changing from the same system as is NYC. Paris has the most famous combined system, Les Égouts de Paris. None-the-less, all kinds of sewer systems seem to be overwhelmed after a large storm.

Sewers are an important part of our society. They serve to promote public health, protect the environment and support economic growth within our communities. Sewers also happen to provide a unique view into everyday life known as sewer sociology. Contrary to popular concepts, sewer treatment facilities regardless of the treatment methods, do not remove household chemicals.

Yesterday, OPB's "Think Out Loud" had a segment on greenwashing and discussion for the need to define sustainability and green for all the products or lifestyle choices. The terms are often confused, made interchangeable, and abused. One listener made a simple delineation. Sustainability is the economy, green is the biology.

Today, we find that the USA's infrastructure funding is bankrupt. Completely. And the unseen chemical elements that are underground are off any priority rescue landscape. To act socially responsible and sustainable, we should continue the good efforts of the EPA's Design for the Environment. DfE which has sound scientific environmental survey data to prove that we must prevent the use of chemicals of concern and replace them with near equal performing chemicals for the public health and to protect the environment. Just starting with cleaners that are rinsed off down the drain is preventatively comparative to reducing auto emissions. Not the end all but a significant improvement.

The Green Nose supports the upcoming fragrance ingredient module which is now under final review this month and will be presented to the entire Fragrance industry this June at the Sustainable Fragrance for Cleaning Products conference. The module will not include many of the materials that produce wonderful, loud, long lasting ultra trendy fragrance accords because they are persistent or toxic. What remains are attractive impactful fresh clean green materials that will mask the unpleasant base odors and make the cleaners appealing and safer for the professional and consumer user and protect our waterways.

We just need to get all of the cleaning product manufacturers to place in the continuum sound green chemistry when improvements are available. It they do not, then they are greenwashing and inexcusable after June 2009.

Perfumer's Point of View

The Green Nose applauds Jeb Gleason-Allured for starting a forum and providing coverage of sustainability issues for the past two months. A Senior Perfumer, Pascal Gaurin responded to "The F&F Horizon: 2009 and Beyond" posted by Mr. Gleason-Allured 12/17/08.  Mr Gaurin reply is titled "Perfumer POV: An Opportunity to Reinvent the Fragrance Creation Process". 

The reply was thoughtful and reasonable and explained the reality of the environmental toxicity circumstance (and other issues) that the Perfumer must contend with when deciding what raw materials are available to use. 

Understanding opportunity vs renunciation is a wonderful step in this process of setting responsible standards. As mentioned in my post of 1-24-09 "Sustainable Fragrances for Cleaners", we are finally getting closer to our goal. If we can count on Perfumers to grasp the simple concepts we are there.  

Sustainable Fragrances for Cleaners

All fragrances are created and do not have mysterious origins. No matter what marketers want you to think fairy pheromones are not scraped off the wings of a butterfly into a perfume bottle and a rainbow's essence has never been successfully evaporated into a magic decanter of dishwashing detergent. Fragrances for cleaning products are simply chemical compounds added to a product base that ultimately are flushed down the drain and into our water supply. This means that these compounds have come under more and more scrutiny by governing agencies leaving suppliers to justify safe toxicity in the environment.

Many Fragrance Houses argue that creativity will be compromised due to the upcoming EPA's DfE criteria and the resultant non-acceptable lists. They also state a lack of known material substitutions for the Perfumer's palette will result in an inferior product. With the new DfE module finalized this Spring and the conference on how to develop responsible sustainable formulas this June, the Green Nose would like to contribute to the dialog by providing a demonstration fragrance compound developed from ingredients that complied to 2008 DfE criteria, as follows:

Fresh Herbal Floral GPF-0411

          [Fresh Notes]

parts            Name and CAS#

01.3     aldehyde c-10     112-31-2

00.5     aldehyde c-12 lauric     112-54-9

00.5     aldehyde c-12 mna     110-41-8

01.5     citronellyl nitrile     51566-62-2

11.2     dihydro myrecenol     18479-58-8

02.0     ethylene brassylate     105-95-3

20.0     tetrahydro linalool     76-69-3

          [Herbal Notes]

02.5     amyl salicylate     2050-08-0

01.0     camphor powder     76-22-2

01.0     dimetol     13254-34-7

00.2     estragole     140-67-0

00.3     ethyl amyl ketone     106-68-3

01.0     eucalyptol     470-82-6

04.0     iso bornyl acetate     125-12-2

09.0     terpinyl acetate     80-26-2

          [Floral Notes]

02.5     benzyl salicylate     118-58-1

02.0     cyclacet     5413-60-5

02.0     dimethyl octanol     151-19-9

10.0     hedione     24851-98-7

05.0     koavone     81786-73-4

10.0     lilial     80-54-6

03.5     linalyl acetate     115-95-7

01.0     methyl napthyl ketone     941-98-0

04.0     terpineol alpha     98-55-5

          [Green Notes]

00.5     cis-3-hexenol     928-96-1

00.5     cis-3-hexenyl acetate     3681-71-8

00.5     liffarome     67633-96-9

01.0     triplal     68039-49-6

00.5     undecavertol     81782-77-6

01.0     viridine     101-48-4

------

100.0

When formulating fragrances for a cleaner intended for DfE approval, Perfumers must depend on what they know thus the importance of the new module and the agreements that should be forged at the June conference. This will facilitate the cleaning product manufacturers to require environmental safe cleaners.

There is an apparent need based from recent trade reports to mention the difference of creating a safe fragrance for skin products like perfume or lotions. For these assignments, the Perfumers enjoy a power of mystique, naivete and experimentation. The Perfumers have access to thousands of materials that help the artistry of the craft. An entirely different set of toxicity reviews and risk assessments guide the safety of those products prior and after consumer market introduction.

My faith and personal experience in the fragrance industry based on past actions, is they will embrace and promote the new environmental interpretive skills to their suppliers and their clients in the future. The time for prevention is now and responsible sustainability is the answer.