About the IFRA Transparency List

The IFRA Transparency List is an ordered register of all fragrance ingredients used in consumer goods by the fragrance industry’s customers worldwide.

It represents a snapshot of all the ingredients used in active formulas at the time of publication. This also includes those used in very small quantities or only in certain countries or regions.

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What types of ingredients are on the List?

There are two main types of ingredient on the List.

Fragrance ingredients are basic substances used for odor or malodor coverage.

Functional ingredients are substances that are not used to provide odor or malodor coverage, but which are essential for the functionality or durability of a fragrance compound – such as an antioxidant, preservative, diluent, solvent or color.

How is the List compiled?

The IFRA Transparency List is based on reporting provided by IFRA Members in the ‘Volume of Use Survey’, which is compiled every five years. This reporting comprises all ingredients going into fragrance compounding for a given year.

In line with our anti-trust obligations, the Survey is anonymous and confidential. As well as helping us to develop the IFRA Transparency List, the data provided by the Survey is used for the industry’s safety assessment program managed by the Research Institute for Fragrance Materials (RIFM).

Why does the current List have more ingredients than its predecessors?

The number of ingredients on this List is greater than in previous years largely due to the introduction of a new, more refined nomenclature system for natural products. These products can have various geographical origins, be extracted via different processes, and come from different parts of the plant.

We therefore employ a system that provides greater detail and transparency than the Chemical Abstracts Service (CAS) number system.

In addition, general increases or decreases in the Transparency List should be expected as it is based on a single year of industry activity.

Are new ingredients automatically assessed for safety?

Each fragrance ingredient included on the Transparency List is included in the RIFM safety assessment program. However, it needs to be noted that manufacturers are responsible for the safety of the ingredients they use in their products.

Have all materials on the list been tested for safety?

Manufacturers are responsible for the safety of the ingredients they use in their products.

The ingredients reported in the Volume of Use Survey appear on the IFRA Transparency List and are also used for the industry’s safety assessment program, managed by RIFM. As part of this program, RIFM manages a list of ‘non-supported’ materials.

It is important to note that a material being non-supported does not mean that it is unsafe. Instead, it means that RIFM has not received a sample or concentration data, and so cannot conduct its own safety assessment. For non-supported materials a number may no longer be in use as such (the current list having been based on use in 2015).

Once a material is on the non-supported list, RIFM takes a series of steps to gather data from the primary user or the industry at large.

Should the information not be provided, the material is removed from the safety assessment program and has its RIFM identity number removed. IFRA is informed, and may or may not implement risk management measures.

In all cases, companies must demonstrate safety of the products they place on the market. This can be shown via a company safety assessment.

However, as the representative body of the global fragrance industry, IFRA encourages members to have as many materials as possible assessed in the RIFM program as a way of reinforcing the risk assessment and management process.