Beyond the simple conviction that natural ingredients produce a more subtle, complex perfume than synthetics can achieve, there are some very serious considerations that accompany the use of synthetic perfume ingredients. According to the National Academy of Sciences, 95 percent of chemicals used in fragrances today are synthetic compounds derived from petroleum, including known toxins capable of causing cancer, birth defects, central nervous system disorders and allergic reactions. [1] These chemicals aren’t good for our health, and they aren’t good for the environment when we wash them off our bodies. [2] Perfume has been crafted and worn for thousands of years, but only since the 20th century and the advent of synthetic fragrance has it become a potential trigger for asthma, migraines, and a whole host of other chemical sensitivities.

The cosmetics industry is self-regulated, which means that they alone are responsible for overseeing their own safety testing, without any input from the FDA or other regulating body, and that they don’t have to show the results of their testing, or lists of their ingredients, to anyone else. [3,4] But independent testing of synthetic fragranced products, including perfume, has shown that they often contain chemicals that are already known to be very bad news. [5]

Some of the best documented examples are synthetic musks and phthalates. Synthetic musks, which accumulate in high levels in the human body and in the environment, are suspected animal carcinogens and may stimulate human cancer tumors. [6] The particularly ugly family of industrial chemicals known as phthalates is found in high concentration in many commercial perfumes. Phthalates have been targeted for concern by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention because they are easily absorbed through the skin, have been found to accumulate in body organs, and have been linked to birth defects and permanent harm of the male reproductive system in laboratory studies. [7, 8]