Don’t take our word for it. Here’s every fact on this site, with its evidence grade, its caveats, and a link to the source, so you can check us.
We start you on the strong ones: findings that have been replicated or come from one large, well-controlled study. Moderate and weak facts are here too, labeled for what they are. Use “Link to this fact” to share a single card.
The industry / Other evidence
EWG sells a separate consulting program, EWG Reviewed for Science, to help companies formulate products to meet Verified standards; completing it does not make a product Verified, and its cost (by company size, product count, and timeline) is not published.
Moderate evidence: Publisher's description only; the same organization therefore advises on and then certifies products.
Source: EWG Verified FAQ, verified-portal.ewg.org, accessed 2026-10-16, EWG Verified portal web page Link to this fact
The industry / Other evidence
The 2006 ADBAC reregistration database was supported by a registrant consortium (Lonza, Mason Chemical, Stepan), with EPA reviewing the data it submitted.
Moderate evidence: EPA reviewed the studies; the point is that the underlying studies are registrant-submitted, not independent.
Source: EPA RED 2006 Link to this fact
The industry / Other evidence
The safety data behind the 2006 EU review of three hair-conditioner quats were an industry dossier of mostly unpublished manufacturer and contract-lab reports from 1975-2004, and the committee judged several summaries unevaluable.
Moderate evidence: Description of the dossier as printed in the opinion; says nothing on whether the studies were biased.
Source: SCCP 2006 Industry-funded Link to this fact
The industry / Other evidence
An FDA investigator's May 2009 Form 483 to Matrixx Initiatives (Scottsdale, AZ) records that the firm did not classify loss of smell or taste as a serious adverse event, so it did not report those complaints to FDA's MedWatch system; three complaints are named as examples.
Moderate evidence.
Caveats
An inspectional observation by one investigator, not a final FDA determination of noncompliance; the form does not name the product, give dates or outcomes for the three complaints, or state any later enforcement or the firm's response.
Source: FDA Form 483, Matrixx Initiatives, 2009, FDA Form 483 (inspectional observations) Link to this fact
The industry / Other evidence
The EU committee relaxed its earlier rinse-off limit for cetrimonium plus steartrimonium chloride (0.5% in 2007 to 2.5% in 2009) largely on the cosmetics industry's own 18-month post-marketing report (under 0.2 irritation events per million units sold), which it noted lacked a protocol and raw data.
Moderate evidence.
Caveats
The opinion states the 2007 limit and the 2009 limit but does not itself say the surveillance data alone caused the change; the report came from five cosmetics companies (COLIPA); the committee also cites human patch tests.
Source: SCCS 2009 trimoniums, SCCS opinion (PDF) Link to this fact
The industry / Other evidence
The cosmetics industry's safety panel (CIR) has only ever set one numeric limit for cetrimonium chloride, cetrimonium bromide and steartrimonium chloride: 0.25% in leave-on products (1997), and its own 2010 draft lists leave-on products using these salts at up to 3-4%.
Moderate evidence.
Caveats
Draft panel packet, not a final report; the survey is self-reported by industry and the Panel had not yet decided whether to keep, change or extend the limit (Discussion blank). CIR is funded by the Personal Care Products Council. Whether the products are over the 1997 limit depends on which survey line is leave-on.
Source: CIR 2010 trimoniums (draft) Industry-funded Link to this fact
The industry / Other evidence
Between 1990 and 2010 FDA's food-substance filings shifted from petitions to voluntary notifications: more than 97% of decisions in 2006-2010 were made through notification, which skips rulemaking and formal public comment.
Moderate evidence: Authors' own count from public listings; notices reach FDA only if companies choose to file; Pew authors characterize the transparency loss.
Source: Neltner et al. 2011, Compr Rev Food Sci Food Saf, Comprehensive Reviews in Food Science and Food Safety Link to this fact
The industry / Government agency
In 2012 the EU's safety committee stated that it had no confidence the safe levels produced by the fragrance industry's dermal sensitization risk assessment (QRA) were safe for consumers, quoting an earlier committee finding.
Moderate evidence: Quoted from the earlier SCCP finding on the first-generation QRA; the 2021 guidance makes a similar statement about QRA2; industry has since revised the method.
The industry / Government agency
The animal tests behind the EU committee's fragrance allergen review were mostly supplied by the fragrance industry's research institute (RIFM/IFRA, 59 substances), and the committee found several of them of insufficient quality and not following the international test guideline.
Moderate evidence: Committee's own critique in sections 6.1.2, 8.4 and 12.2; no guinea-pig studies were submitted; the committee did not allege bias, only quality.
The industry / Other evidence
The cosmetics industry's own safety panel (the Cosmetic Ingredient Review, funded by the Personal Care Products Council) concluded in a May 2015 draft that 80 polysorbates, including polysorbate 60, are safe in cosmetics only 'when formulated to be non-irritating'.
Moderate evidence: Industry-funded panel's position, in a draft stamped 'do not cite or quote'; the published version was not read.
Source: CIR 2015 draft Industry-funded Link to this fact
The industry / Other evidence
FDA alleged that the owner of a homeopathic-labeled, preservative-free, multi-dose eye drop had contractors fill it without aseptic processing or terminal sterilization, and that the owner's vice president approved manufacture 'in a nonsterile room' and did not review contractor records.
Moderate evidence: FDA's account of its inspections; the firm's side appears only in FDA quotations. Contractors are not named.
Source: FDA warning letter 570947, 2 May 2019, FDA warning letter (MARCS-CMS 570947), 2 May 2019 Link to this fact
The industry / Other evidence
In a pre-registered field test in a Dutch second-hand clothing store, diffusing a fresh-laundry scent was followed by slightly higher spending per transaction in the register (about EUR 7.95 vs EUR 7.62 with no added scent), a very small effect (d = 0.06).
Moderate evidence.
Caveats
One store, one blend, day-level assignment analyzed at transaction level; omnibus test not significant (p = .096) and the contrast weakens with outliers included; scent vendor supplied the blend. Number of items per transaction did not change.
The industry / Other evidence
The scent-diffusion units were placed above the entrance and next to the ventilation 'to decrease the likelihood of participant awareness of the manipulation', and shoppers were not told in advance.
Moderate evidence: Research procedure in one study with ethics approval and a debrief afterwards; not evidence of retail practice generally.
The industry / Government agency
FDA's proposal counts over 1,200 human-food GRAS notices filed since 1998 (as of March 25, 2025) and 75 animal-food notices (as of March 28, 2025), but its own economic model estimates 1,028 unique firms with un-notified independent GRAS conclusions covering about 2,000 substances (1,885 human food), including 1,740 association-expert-panel substances.
Moderate evidence.
Caveats
The 1,028 firms, 2,000 conclusions and 1,740 panel substances are FDA PRIA modeling assumptions, not observed counts; FDA says it cannot verify the older '1,000 substances' estimate. The 1,200 and 75 figures are FDA filing counts. Proposal stage.
Source: FDA 2026, 91 FR 51834 (proposed) Link to this fact
The industry / Other evidence
The main safety data set the oxybenzone sunscreen maker offered against clinic reports of oxybenzone allergy is 64 of its own unpublished studies, written up by its employees and former employees; the authors argue clinic-based literature overstates risk because clinic patients already have skin disease.
Moderate evidence.
Caveats
The authors' point about clinic selection is fair, but their healthy-volunteer design cannot measure risk in the photosensitive people where oxybenzone photoallergy is reported. 'Meta-analysis' here means pooling the sponsor's studies, with no search or inclusion criteria.
Source: Agin 2008 (oxybenzone HRIPT), Photodermatology, Photoimmunology & Photomedicine Industry-funded Link to this fact
The industry / Other evidence
The same preservative varied up to 87 to 100 times in concentration between similar cosmetic products (parabens) and from 0.8 ppm to above 15 ppm (MCI/MI), with no product above the legal maximum at the time of each study; none of the surveys examined why.
Moderate evidence: Combined use, releasers, and unlisted boosters such as chelators explain part of the spread; the >15 ppm MCI/MI value came from 1990 when 30 ppm was allowed.
The industry / Other evidence
CIR reported cetrimonium chloride in 959 cosmetic formulations in FDA's 2010 voluntary registration data, up from 162 at the 1994 review; behentrimonium chloride was listed in 743 formulations and behentrimonium methosulfate in 273.
Moderate evidence: FDA's registration program is voluntary, so counts are approximate. CIR is financed by the Personal Care Products Council, the cosmetics industry trade association.
Source: Becker et al. 2012 (CIR), Int J Toxicol, International Journal of Toxicology Industry-funded Link to this fact
The industry / Other evidence
A regulatory-consultancy site (Obelis Group, COSlaw.eu) presents the EU UV-filter limit change as a compliance event for brands, with membership and consultancy calls to action on the page.
Moderate evidence: Commercial interest of the publisher; the page disclaims legal advice and liability for inaccuracies.
Source: COSlaw.eu (Obelis) 2022, UV filters news Industry-funded Link to this fact
The industry / Other evidence
The cosmetics industry's CIR panel, funded by the Personal Care Products Council, reports hydrogen peroxide use at up to 12.4% in consumer hair dyes, up to 12% in hair bleaches, 15% in a professional developer, 4.6% in dentifrices and 4% in aerosol hair sprays, from a 2017 industry survey.
Moderate evidence: Maximum reported use concentrations from a voluntary industry survey and FDA's voluntary registration database; not measured consumer exposure.
Source: Becker et al. 2024, International Journal of Toxicology Industry-funded Link to this fact
The industry / Government agency
The refined exposure estimates in EFSA's polysorbate opinion rest entirely on use levels reported by industry groups (248 data points on 14 of 17 authorized categories), because no analytical data on polysorbate content of foods existed.
Moderate evidence: Industry-supplied data is the panel's only source for typical levels; EFSA flags three categories with no data and calls for analytical data.
Source: EFSA ANS Panel (2015), full opinion, EFSA Journal Link to this fact
The industry / Review of other studies
A 1995-96 survey by the fragrance industry's own research body (RIFM) found about 4,000 metric tons of diethyl phthalate (DEP) a year went into fragrance mixtures, and the RIFM author calls DEP 'an important solvent and vehicle for fragrance and cosmetic ingredients'.
Moderate evidence: Industry-authored review; usage figure comes from a manufacturer survey that is not independently verifiable.
Source: Api 2001 (RIFM), Food and Chemical Toxicology Industry-funded Link to this fact
The industry / Review of other studies
The fragrance industry's 2001 review concluded 'no toxicological endpoints of concern' for DEP, yet its own text lists lower testosterone in rats (about 1,000 mg/kg/day for 1 week) and fewer sperm and heavier prostates in the high-dose second generation of mice, which it attributes to body-weight loss.
Moderate evidence: Animal studies at very high doses; the conclusion is the industry position and many cited studies are unpublished RIFM reports; later human data are not covered.
Source: Api 2001 (RIFM), Food and Chemical Toxicology Industry-funded Link to this fact
The industry / Other evidence
The authors estimate that each lost IQ point lowers average lifetime earnings by about 12,000 euros (US$18,000, 2008 currency), and that US childhood lead poisoning costs about US$50 billion a year and methylmercury about US$5 billion.
Moderate evidence: Modeled economic estimates from other papers, dependent on assumptions.
Source: Grandjean & Landrigan 2014, Lancet Neurology, The Lancet Neurology Link to this fact
The industry / Other evidence
The white musk pilot's fragrance blend was developed by a Tokyo fragrance company (Nextday Co., Ltd) with Kyushu University; the company supported the study and an employee is a co-author, though the paper states no competing interests.
Moderate evidence: Funding amounts and the blend's formula are not disclosed; the authors declare no competing interests.
Source: Zennifa 2025, Scientific Reports Industry-funded Link to this fact
The industry / Other evidence
EFSA's panel re-analyzed the Southampton data with its own model and concluded the trial gave only limited evidence of a small effect in some children and was no basis for changing the acceptable daily intake of the colors or sodium benzoate.
Moderate evidence: EFSA is the regulator reviewing a study its UK counterpart funded; its re-analysis used recalculated unnormalized scores and was not a new trial.
Source: McCann 2007 / EFSA 2008, The Lancet Link to this fact
The industry / Other evidence
The Allen 2016 green-building cognition study was supported by a gift from United Technologies (a building-systems manufacturer) to Harvard, whose research center suggested adding the control (Conventional) day and the third CO2 level; the authors declared no competing interests and say the company had no role in data collection or analysis.
Moderate evidence: Funding statement is the authors' own; the paper does not say what United Technologies sells.
Source: Allen 2016, Environmental Health Perspectives Industry-funded Link to this fact
The industry / Other evidence
The 2012 Nigg meta-analysis of food colors and ADHD was funded by the industry-supported ILSI North America and partly by the National Confectioners Association, and two authors work for a research organization that takes money from food companies and trade associations; its conclusions were cautious, calling the evidence too weak for action recommendations but too substantial to dismiss.
Moderate evidence: The authors report no biomedical financial conflicts and state the funders' views are not theirs.
Source: Nigg 2012 Industry-funded Link to this fact
Laws and loopholes / Measured in people or real products
More than 70% of the chemicals measured in childcare air had no health-based safety limit; several fragrance compounds were among 12 the authors flagged for further study.
Moderate evidence: Flags come from database/QSAR hazard scores, not measured effects.
Laws and loopholes / Review of other studies
No law in the US, the EU, or Australia requires air-freshener makers to list all their ingredients; a label can simply say 'fragrance'.
Moderate evidence: Review's legal summary (2016); EU cosmetics allergen labeling does not cover air fresheners.
Source: Steinemann 2017, Building and Environment Link to this fact
Laws and loopholes / Measured in people or real products
US product rules written to limit smog (ozone) exempt several chemicals that still form fine particles, and fragrance ingredients do not have to be disclosed.
Moderate evidence: Regulatory analysis in the paper.
Laws and loopholes / Review of other studies
The EU bans more than 1,400 substances from cosmetics, while US rules restrict only a handful.
Moderate evidence: EU list includes never-used substances; US rules changing under MoCRA 2022; verify against a regulatory source.
Source: Alblooshi 2025, Frontiers in Toxicology Link to this fact
Laws and loopholes / Journalism
In a 2010 undercover test by the US Government Accountability Office, the Energy Star program certified 15 fake products, including a gas-powered alarm clock the size of a generator.
Moderate evidence: Energy efficiency label, not chemical safety; EPA/DOE promised reform.
Source: Dahl 2010, Environmental Health Perspectives Link to this fact
Laws and loopholes / Measured in people or real products
Trace benzene was found in 83% of 79 US feminine hygiene products and 1,4-dioxane in 50%, yet these products are regulated as medical devices with no federal ingredient-disclosure requirement.
Moderate evidence: Trace ng/g levels; 1,4-dioxane is a surfactant by-product.
Source: Lin 2020, Environment International Link to this fact
Laws and loopholes / Review of other studies
History shows removing the exposure works: as industrial turpentine use fell from 94.5% of US supply as a solvent in 1935 to 4.5% in 1975, turpentine skin allergy declined with it.
Moderate evidence: Ecological historical correlation.
Source: Karlberg & Lepoittevin 2021, Contact Dermatitis Link to this fact
Laws and loopholes / Review of other studies
Official limits for the same gas odorant differed about 280-fold in 2009: Germany allowed 50 ppm at work, a Dutch health agency derived 0.18 ppm, and the US had no limit.
Moderate evidence: Regulatory values as reported by the paper (2009); may have been revised since.
Source: Baur & Bittner 2009, American Journal of Industrial Medicine Link to this fact
Laws and loopholes / Review of other studies
In the US, "fragrance-free" means that no ingredient is used solely to give a smell. A fragrance chemical that also does another job, such as benzyl alcohol used as a preservative, can legally be in a "fragrance-free" product.
Moderate evidence: US definition as quoted by dermatologists in 2007; not a legal analysis; FDA has no binding definition of "fragrance-free".
Laws and loopholes / Review of other studies
After German industry stopped using musk xylene in 1993, its level in breast milk fell about 70% in four years, but the related musk ketone, which was not phased out, did not fall.
Moderate evidence: Cites a BgVV 2000 press release; single-country natural experiment.
Source: Schmeiser 2001, International Journal of Hygiene and Environmental Health Link to this fact
Laws and loopholes / Self-reported survey
Nearly half (49%) of US families in a survey bought children's makeup from large online retailers, and US labeling law (the Fair Packaging and Labeling Act) requires ingredient lists on the package, not on the website.
Moderate evidence: Purchase share is survey self-report; legal point is the authors' reading of the FPLA as of 2022.
Source: Medley 2023 Link to this fact
Laws and loopholes / Review of other studies
The researchers report that citronellol content varies up to 1000-fold within the same product category, which they attribute to the absence of regulation of fragrance content in household products.
Moderate evidence: Stated in the discussion citing industry/market sources; no product measurements in this paper.
Source: Kim 2024, Journal of Hazardous Materials Link to this fact
Laws and loopholes / Measured in people or real products
Workers with fragrance-related asthma were twice as likely as other work-asthma cases to still be exposed at work (50% vs 26%) and more often had workers' compensation claims denied (30% vs 21%), though ER visit and hospitalization rates were the same.
Moderate evidence: Interviewed cases only (~58% of fragrance cases); unadjusted.
Laws and loopholes / Review of other studies
More than 40% of US occupational exposure limits are set to prevent eye, nose, and throat irritation, and a systematic comparison of 18 agencies confirms that US, German, and EU regulators set substantially different limits for the same chemicals, overall stringency ranges from Poland's geometric-mean level of 0.23 to US OSHA's 0.61 (a 2.67-fold spread), with the EU's own 'health-based' indicative limits sitting above Germany's stricter national MAK limits.
Moderate evidence.
Caveats
Workplace limits, not consumer or home limits. The >40%-for-irritation figure is still secondhand (Edling & Lundberg 2000, not independently in our evidence base). The 'agencies differ' clause is now backed by a large, systematic primary (Schenk et al. 2008: 18 agencies, 1,341 substances), but the claim stays below 'strong' because the irritation-basis figure remains unverified.
Source: Dalton & Jaén 2010, Current Opinion in Allergy and Clinical Immunology Industry-funded Link to this fact
Laws and loopholes / Review of other studies
A fragrance-and-flavor company reported that about half of the chemicals it handles are classified hazardous, and that few of the more than 3,000 flavoring substances in use have workplace exposure limits.
Moderate evidence: Industry self-description, no inventory published; flavor materials at one company.
Source: Angelini 2016, PLoS ONE Industry-funded Link to this fact
Laws and loopholes / Review of other studies
US product labels only have to say "fragrance", not which chemicals, and household products need not list ingredients at all; MoCRA (2022) requires companies to name on cosmetic labels the fragrance allergens FDA designates by regulation (proposed rule was due June 2024), which the authors expect to be many, but not all.
Moderate evidence: Check current MoCRA rule status before quoting; household products are outside MoCRA; statute §609(b) is a mandate; check final rule status.
Laws and loopholes / Measured in people or real products
The UK national air-pollution inventory counts zero emissions of limonene or the silicone D5 from shampoos, shower gels, and skin products, although these were the two largest emissions measured from them.
Moderate evidence: The authors judge the missing mass small at national scale (~0.4 kt/yr vs 807 kt total UK VOC).
Laws and loopholes / Review of other studies
Most national microbead bans cover only rinse-off products such as scrubs and cleansers; microplastics are still commonly used in leave-on products, especially color cosmetics like lipstick and eye makeup.
Moderate evidence: Narrative review; 8 of 14 listed jurisdictions explicitly rinse-off/exfoliant only; EU 2023/2055 is broader.
Laws and loopholes / Review of other studies
The EU bans or restricts more than 1,500 chemicals in personal care products and Canada about 800, while the US restricted 11.
Moderate evidence: Secondhand from a 2018 JAMA Intern Med commentary; EU count includes substances never used; US rules changed after MoCRA 2022.
Source: Khalid & Abdollahi 2021, Iranian Journal of Pharmaceutical Research Link to this fact
Laws and loopholes / Lab study (cells or chemistry)
A finished perfume is usually not toxicity-tested as a whole; its safety is assessed on paper from its secret ingredient list. When researchers tested 42 whole perfumes directly, they found hazards that ingredient-by-ingredient assessment is not designed to catch.
Moderate evidence: EU framework described by the authors; the hazards are in vitro and unidentified.
Source: Morlock & Heil 2025, Journal of Chromatography A Link to this fact
Laws and loopholes / Review of other studies
An advocacy group that pushes for fragrance disclosure itself says many brand owners are not told by their fragrance suppliers what their fragrances contain, so a disclosure law has to reach the fragrance supplier.
Moderate evidence: Asserted without evidence; interview evidence is Scruggs & Ortolano 2011.
Source: BCPP 2018 Link to this fact
Laws and loopholes / Review of other studies
A 2015 CMAJ editorial (Flegel & Martin, CMAJ 187:1187, DOI 10.1503/cmaj.151097) states hospital environments free from artificial scents 'should become a uniform policy, promoting the safety of patients, staff and visitors alike'; the US CDC's own workplace policy separately says fragrance 'is not appropriate for a professional work environment' (CDC wording still unverified against a primary CDC source).
Moderate evidence.
Caveats
CMAJ quote now verified against the primary editorial, now in our evidence base (src-2015-artificial-scents-no-place-hospitals): exact wording is 'should become a uniform policy' (ASEQ-EHAQ's paraphrase drops the article 'a', not a substantive misquote). The editorial is opinion/commentary, not a study — its own cited prevalence numbers (30% scent sensitivity, 27% of asthmatics worsened) are the same Caress & Steinemann survey figures used elsewhere in our evidence base. CDC portion remains unverified; the CMAJ editorial itself never mentions the CDC.
Source: ASEQ-EHAQ 2020 (quoting CMAJ 2015 and CDC) Link to this fact
Laws and loopholes / Review of other studies
People with chemical sensitivities asked the US Justice Department to consider fragrance as an access barrier during its 2008 ADA rulemaking.
Moderate evidence: Shows the issue was raised in the record; the attachment makes no legal argument and our evidence base has no record of DOJ's response.
Source: DONTSPRAYCALIFORNIA 2008 (DOJ ADA docket) Link to this fact
Laws and loopholes / Advocacy group testing
In a 2010 Canadian survey, volunteers found no ingredient list on 28% of toothpastes and mouthwashes and 14% of antiperspirants and deodorants; in Canada, personal-care products sold as 'drugs' need list only their active ingredients.
Moderate evidence: Some missing lists were discarded outer packaging; 2010 Canadian law.
Laws and loopholes / Government agency
In the US, fragrance sensitivity or multiple chemical sensitivity can count as a disability under the Americans with Disabilities Act, but not automatically: it is decided case by case, usually on whether breathing is substantially limited.
Moderate evidence: Authors' reading of statute in a 2009 business-conference paper; no case survey; the 2008 ADA Amendments postdate their cases.
Laws and loopholes / Government agency
In Hunt v. St. Peter School (1997), a scent-free classroom was treated as a reasonable accommodation, but a school-wide fragrance ban was ruled an undue hardship.
Moderate evidence: One district-court case as described by the authors; the opinion itself is not in our evidence base.
Laws and loopholes / Review of other studies
As of 2011, US law let makers write 'fragrance' instead of listing its ingredients as a trade secret, and the FDA pre-approved only color additives in cosmetics; the industry's own review panel had declared just 9 ingredients unsafe since 1976.
Moderate evidence: US situation in 2011; MoCRA (2022) later added limited changes; CIR count from its 2011 website.
Source: Gilton 2011 Link to this fact
Laws and loopholes / Animal study
The EU cosmetics committee's own estimate of how much 4-MBC enters the body of someone using it (0.23 mg/kg body weight) was only three times below the no-effect dose, and thirty times below the lowest harmful dose, in this rat developmental study.
Moderate evidence.
Caveats
The human figure is a 1998 SCCNFP estimate, not a measurement; rat dosing was oral and lifelong while human exposure is dermal and intermittent; developmental risk assessment normally applies a 100-fold factor, which this margin does not meet.
Laws and loopholes / Measured in people or real products
Glycol solvents brought into consumer products as 'low-reactivity' replacements, and largely exempt from VOC limits, still make a large share of consumer-product ozone because so much is used.
Moderate evidence: Model result (oxygenates ~37% of VCP ozone in NYC); exemption statement is the authors' summary of US rules.
Source: Coggon 2021 Link to this fact
Laws and loopholes / Review of other studies
US law has never defined "fragrance-free"; the only definition is of fragrance itself ("used solely to impart an odor", 21 CFR 700.3(d)), so an ingredient that smells but is also claimed as a preservative or moisturizer can go into a "fragrance-free" product. FDA's own website said in 1999 that "fragrance-free" products, like "unscented" ones, may contain fragrance chemicals.
Moderate evidence.
Caveats
Legal point from a 1999 commentary quoting the FDA's own website of that era, not a legal analysis or product survey. The US statute (MoCRA 2022) still has not defined 'fragrance-free' 23 years later.
Source: Scheinman 1999, Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology Link to this fact
Laws and loopholes / Review of other studies
A 2015 CMAJ editorial by two physicians argued that hospitals should adopt uniform scent-free policies, because patients, unlike employees, cannot request accommodation and can be involuntarily exposed to fragrance from staff, other patients, or visitors.
Moderate evidence.
Caveats
An opinion editorial (peer-reviewed CMAJ commentary), not a study; its cited prevalence (~30% scent-sensitive, 27% of asthmatics worsened) and atopy/BHR findings are secondary citations of Caress & Steinemann 2009 and Elberling 2005, already in our evidence base.
Source: Flegel & Martin 2015, CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal) Link to this fact
Laws and loopholes / Review of other studies
As of 2015, no Canadian hospital accreditation standard required a scent-free policy, and it was not policy in all Canadian hospitals.
Moderate evidence: The editorial's own 2015 assessment; the policy landscape may have shifted since — see Roy 2026 for a later, focus-group-based assessment of implementation gaps.
Source: Flegel & Martin 2015, CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal) Link to this fact
Laws and loopholes / Review of other studies
A 2006 Lancet review found that of roughly 3,000 US high-production-volume industrial chemicals, basic toxicity data were publicly unavailable for nearly half, and 80% had no information on developmental or pediatric toxicity at all.
Moderate evidence.
Caveats
Cites the US EPA's own 1998 Chemical Hazard Data Availability Study directly, one citation hop closer to a primary than the Goldman 1998 chain behind our other testing-gap claim. Concerns general developmental/pediatric toxicity testing, a broader category than the narrower 'developmental neurotoxicity' endpoint in the related claim — not a strict numeric confirmation of it. About industrial chemicals in general (solvents, metals, pesticides); no fragrance ingredient named.
Source: Grandjean & Landrigan 2006, Lancet Link to this fact
Information, not medical advice. See also: myths we won’t tell you.