ChemForward Alternatives

Beauty and Personal Care: Fragrance Solvents or Fixatives

All chemical hazard assessments in this portfolio were performed by independent assessors who meet and maintain our qualification requirements and were verified by independent expert toxicologists. In addition to authoritative governmental data sources (e.g. ECHA, USEPA), assessors use the international toxicological literature and New Approach Methods including read across and predictive toxicology tools such as QSAR as needed to fill data gaps.

About this portfolio

These substances have been identified as potentially safer alternatives based on:

Recommendations in the Washington State Department of Ecology research report, “Alternatives to Five Phthalates of Concern to Puget Sound” prepared by Northwest Green Chemistry.
The absence of chemicals found on the ZDHC MRSL, the C2C RSLv4 (DRAFT), and Reach Annexes 14 and 17.

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Beauty and Personal Care: Fragrance Solvents or Fixatives

About this portfolio

What are fragrance solvents and fixatives

Fragrance solvents are substances used to dissolve the various ingredients in a fragrance or perfume.

Fragrance fixatives function to equalize the varying volatilities of a perfume so more volatile ingredients do not evaporate before less volatile ones. They are important to maintaining a consistent scent over time as it allows for slower evaporation of the more volatile ingredients. Fixatives themselves can either lend a particular scent note to the perfume or are odorless.

Some chemical substances can serve to varying degrees as both solvents and fixatives.

Human health and environmental concerns associated with some solvents and fixatives

Diethyl phthalate (DEP, CASRN 84-66-2) is a phthalate ester used as a fragrance solvent and fixative and valued for its low cost, odorlessness, and versatility as a solvent. Although some sources report that DEP has limited fixative properties, that has been an important use of the product.

Northwest Green Chemistry evaluated alternatives to five ortho phthalates deemed to be of concern to Puget Sound that included DEP. The report cited studies showing that about 25% of all cosmetics (for adults and children) and up to 90% of perfumes were found to contain DEP (Northwest Green Chemistry, 2018).

Demand for the removal of DEP from fragrances is being driven by consumer concerns, especially for children and women’s health (Eden Botanicals, 2015). While the US Food & Drug Administration (FDA) states that DEP “does not pose known risks for human health as it is currently used in cosmetics and fragrances,” it does pose risks as a skin sensitizer and as an irritant, as well as an acute aquatic toxin (Northwest Green Chemistry, 2018).

Alternatives to DEP Fragrance Solvents

Solvent and fixative alternatives must be functional alternatives that could replace DEP as a fragrance solvent or fixative. Such performance requirements are based on current use patterns and fragrance formulator feedback. For example, preferred alternatives are those that function as a solvent and/or a fixative and that do not have a strong odor that would unfavorably alter the fragrance profile and inhibit formulation of the fragrance to achieve the desired results.

Alternatives must also meet minimum requirements to be included in this portfolio; alternatives must not be listed as a High Priority Substance on the Sephora Public Chemicals Policy, and they should not be found on the Cradle to Cradle Certified Restricted Substances List (RSL) v4 (DRAFT), the REACH Annex 14 (Candidate List for Authorisation) or the REACH Annex 17 (Restricted List).

Preferred alternatives are those that would be effective as solvents and/or fixatives for fragrances, for which comprehensive human health and environmental toxicity and fate data are available, and for which the human and environmental health hazards are low.

This ChemForward Fragrance Fixative and Solvent Portfolio includes full chemical hazard assessments for dipropylene glycol, triethyl citrate, triacetin and isopropyl myristate. Each ChemForward portfolio is dynamic and more alternatives may be added over time.

Cradle to Cradle Products Innovation Institute. 2019. Draft v4 Basic Level Restricted Substances List (RSL)

Eden Botanicals. 2015. Fixatives and Their Function in Natural Perfumery

European Chemicals Agency (ECHA). Authorisation list. Accessed March 2020

European Chemicals Agency (ECHA). Restricted substances by Annex XVII to REACH Regulation. Accessed March 2020

FDA. 2018. Fragrances in Cosmetics

Northwest Green Chemistry. 2018. Alternatives to Five Phthalates of Concern to Puget Sound

Chemical Name	CAS #	Chemical Class	ChemForward Hazard Band	C2C Chemical Rating	GHS Health	GHS Enviro	INCI
BENZYL ALCOHOL	100-51-6		B	c/b	H302H319+ 2 others	None	BENZYL ALCOHOL
TRIETHYL CITRATE	77-93-0		C	grey/c	H336	None	TRIETHYL CITRATE
Propanol, oxybis-	25265-71-8	glycol ether	B	N/A	None	None	DIPROPYLENE GLYCOL
Isopropyl myristate	110-27-0		C	x/c-CMR(2)	H336H361	None	ISOPROPYL MYRISTATE
TRIACETIN	102-76-1	Ester	B	c/b	None	None	TRIACETIN

Hazard Band	Leading Program Equivalency			Implications
	C2C Chemical Rating	GreenScreen Benchmark	US EPA SCIL status
A	a	4		Low hazard and low risk
B	b or c/b	3 (3tp, 3dg)	green full circle	Some moderate hazards but low risk
C	x, x/c, x/c-CMR(Cat 2), grey/c	2 (2tp, 2dg)	green half circle, yellow triangle	Moderate to high hazards and moderate risk; or uncertainty that could result in moderate risk
F	x-PBT, x-CMR, x/c-CMR(Cat 1), (also x* and x*-CMR), banned	1 (1tp), LT-1	grey square	High hazards and high risk in most scenarios
U	grey	BM U		Not enough information to make a decision
?	No CHA	No CHA, LT-UNK, LT-P1	No CHA	Not enough information to make a decision

The Cradle to Cradle Material Health Assessment Methodology assigns hazard ratings to 24 individual human and environmental health endpoints. The system is largely based on GHS with the addition of endpoints including but not limited to Persistence, Bioaccumulation Potential and Endocrine Activity/Disruption. The possible C2C Chemical Ratings that can result from ChemForward’s simplified C2C chemical rating logic are:

C2C Chemical Rating	Color	Short Definition	Rules Summary
a	green	preferred in all applications	Chemical has no YELLOW or RED hazards or Cancer data gaps.
b	green	preferred in all applications	Chemical has no YELLOW hazards but lacks long-term cancer studies.
c/b	yellow/ green	acceptable in all applications	Chemical has one or more YELLOW risk flags before considering application. Applications where exposure is possible would result in a ‘c’ rating. Applications where exposure is unlikely or expected to be negligible would result in a ‘b’ rating.
grey/c	grey/ yellow	insufficient information available	Chemical has one or more GREY risk flags before considering application. Applications where exposure is possible would result in a ‘grey’ rating. Applications where exposure is unlikely or expected to be negligible would result in a ‘c’ rating.
x/c	red/ yellow	may be acceptable or problematic depending on application	Chemical has one or more RED risk flags before considering application. Applications where exposure is possible would result in a ‘x’ rating. Applications where exposure is unlikely or expected to be negligible would result in a ‘c’ rating.
N/A	red	problematic in all applications	Chemical is on a regulatory concern list, is climatically active, and/or is an organohalogen.
x-PBT	red	problematic in all applications	Chemical has a RED hazard for Persistence, Bioaccumulation, and another endpoint.
N/A	red	problematic in all applications	Chemical is a toxic metal, all of which have a RED hazard for Cancer, Mutagenicity, or Reproductive toxicity.
N/A	red	problematic in all applications	Chemical is on a regulatory concern list and has a RED hazard for Cancer, Mutagenicity, or Reproductive toxicity.
N/A	purple	banned in all applications	Chemical is on the C2C Certified banned list.

Beauty and Personal Care: Fragrance Solvents or Fixatives

About this portfolio

Beauty and Personal Care: Fragrance Solvents or Fixatives

About this portfolio

ChemForward Hazard Band

C2C Chemical Ratings

GHS