'Read this and be safe!' Comparison of regulatory processes for communicating risks of personal care products to European and South African consumers

BACKGROUND:Most personal care products (PCPs) contain hazardous ingredients, but current legislation in the European Union (EU) and South Africa (SA) does not require these to be labelled as hazardous products. Instead, ingredients must only be listed on containers to inform consumers of potential hazards. We assessed whether current legal strategies provide the means for effective risk communication (RC) mechanisms for PCPs in order to protect consumers' health and the environment.RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS:RC strategies used in developed countries are not necessarily better compared to developing countries despite the existence of extensive legislation in the former. Socio-cultural factors, scientific literacy and language differences are key reasons why the current ingredient lists on PCP labels are not an effective RC strategy. The assumption is that consumers will interpret the risks of these ingredients by conducting a risk assessment for their personal context. Realistically, the following risk mitigation measures should be implemented in developed and developing countries to reduce the public's potential exposures to hazardous substances: substitute hazardous ingredients with less hazardous; provide accessible mechanisms for consumers to comprehend RC measures; delete the exception clause in the EU Regulation on Classification, Labelling and Packaging (CLP); apply clear mandatory labels where PCPs health risks are clearly illustrated; and increase enforcement of legislation.The high incidence of fragrance allergies caused by PCPs is one example illustrating how current legal measures in the EU and SA fail to protect consumers and the environment from hazardous exposures. Therefore, efforts must be made to improve legally required RC measures

Between attraction and avoidance: From perfume application to fragrance-free policies

Background According to a national representative survey, 19.9% of the German population describe various adverse effects on personal health upon exposure to fragranced consumer products. This study investigates whether these fragrance-sensitive persons have a higher risk awareness compared to the general public, whether they show a different safety behavior concerning fragrances and whether they reduce exposure and hence risk. Results The presence of fragrances can have a major impact on the participation in public activities. Half of the fragrance-sensitive persons have ever been prevented from going to some place to avoid exposure to fragrances. More than half of them prefer fragrance-free alternatives (products, laundry, hotels, airplanes, health care facilities, or workplaces), while there are also fragrance-sensitive individuals, who indicate to prefer fragranced products and spaces. Half of fragrance-sensitive persons use perfumes to feel themselves more attractive. Furthermore, there is a large number of persons who prefer fragrance-free alternatives without being fragrance-sensitive. Around half of the general population indicate not to use a fragranced product if they know that it emits hazardous air pollutants. This shows that health effects associated with the presence of fragrances proved to be one out of several factors, but not the only one, which influences attitudes towards fragrances and their usage. The answers given reveal the multitude of aspects influencing risk awareness and safety behavior. According to the survey results, 7.4 workdays were lost due to illness from fragranced product exposure in the workplace per person on average, with estimated personal economic costs of 14.5 * 109 Euro/year in Germany. Conclusions The high prevalence of persons who correlate their health effects with exposure to fragrances shows that existing risk communication instruments are too weak, even for people who are aware of a risk, like fragrance-sensitive persons. The data substantiate how important it is to respect cognitive dissonance, confirmation bias and the inadequacy of the deficit model in risk management. The issue of adverse health effects associated with fragrances has reached a dimension, which requires immediate action: The results of this study are strong supporting arguments in favor of fragrance-free policies

Advocacy for more fragrance-free policies

International surveys show that around one third of the population reports adverse health effects in connection with scented consumer products. Some highlights of the representative survey conducted in Germany are summarized in this interview.Translation of a publication in the journal Umwelt • Medizin • Gesellschaft 36(2)2023: 29-33 with the friendly permission of the editor

Do consumers care about substances of very high concern in articles?

Abstract Background Consumers have the right to inquire whether a consumer article contains substances of very high concern (‘SVHC right to know’). This communication tool is designed to stimulate suppliers to substitute such ingredients. A survey among 1321 consumers with high motivation and interest in harmful substances in everyday products was conducted to understand the acceptance of this ‘right to know’ among consumers. Results Only one out of seven survey participants stated to be well informed about the ‘SVHC right to know’ with nearly all of them having good self-reported chemical knowledge. Three quarters of the participants who are not working with chemicals or REACH at their workplace have never heard about the ‘SVHC right to know’. Every second participant declared their interest to search for more information about an SVHC in a certain article, but, in fact, not more than 4% of all participants inquired for SVHCs with various methods. Only 1% would buy an SVHC-containing article with no strings attached. While detailed comments by some survey participants showed a high level of understanding of the issue, many respondents were not sure what the SVHC information means for their daily life. They declared that they would inform themselves, reduce the use of the article with SVHCs, circulate this information, or throw such an article into the garbage. Most study participants suggested improvements of the ‘SVHC right to know’. The preferred suggestions were a ban of SVHCs, easily understandable information on the packaging, full ingredient declaration on the articles, or no need to inquire for every single item, while smartphone applications for SVHC requests were the least popular suggestion in all age groups. Conclusions Various reasons could be identified why most consumers—even these motivated and interested ones—do not use the ‘SVHC right to know’. This allowed developing recommendations for improving the effectiveness of this communication instrument on the way to the gradual elimination of SVHCs in consumer articles

Exposures and effects from fragranced consumer products in Germany

Fragranced consumer products — such as cleaning supplies, laundry products, perfumes, and air fresheners — have been associated with adverse human health effects and subsequent impacts in society. This study investigates effects associated with exposures to fragranced consumer products in Germany. Using a nationally representative population-based sample (n = 1102), data were collected in March 2019 using an online survey of adults in Germany. The study found that, across the German population, 19.9% report health problems, such as respiratory problems (55.3%), migraine headaches (25.1%), and asthma attacks (16.9%), when exposed to fragranced products. Of these reports of health effects, 33.8% could be considered potentially disabling. Further, 5.5% of the population have lost workdays or a job, in the past year, due to exposure to fragranced products in the workplace. A majority of Germans would prefer that workplaces, health care facilities and professionals, airplanes, and hotels were fragrance-free rather than fragranced. Results from this study provide new evidence that exposures to fragranced consumer products are associated with adverse health and societal effects among the German population, and that reducing exposures such as through fragrance-free policies could provide benefits

MOESM2 of Interested consumers’ awareness of harmful chemicals in everyday products

Additional file 2: Table S1. Age groups of study participants and self-reported knowledge of chemistry

MOESM1 of Interested consumers’ awareness of harmful chemicals in everyday products

Additional file 1. Survey Questions in German