Cosmetic brands may have to disclose fragrance ingredients — a welcome change for Canadians with allergies

Alisha Minielly was mystified as rashes suddenly started appearing all over her body, including one that persisted on her left leg for six months.

She figured something in her makeup or shampoo could be the culprit and began switching to personal products labelled as having "natural" ingredients but that did not help. Neither did a steroid cream prescribed by a doctor at one of the walk-in clinics she visited because she didn't have a general practitioner.

A patch test, which had a dermatologist placing small amounts of various fragrance mixes on her back and covering them with patches for five "very itchy" days, revealed she was allergic to a long list of fragrances. The fragrances are commonly used in products ranging from face wash and moisturizer to shampoo, conditioner and hair dye.

The allergens included propolis, which smells like beeswax, as well as nickel, geraniol, limonene, linalool and anise alcohol. The fragrances add floral, citrus, woodsy and other scents, which sometimes mask unpleasant smells. For Minielly, they caused contact dermatitis.

However, learning about the allergens that were making her miserable was only half the battle for Minielly, even after she shunned every product that could possibly cause a rash. She realized she breaks out just from being around others who have used something her body reacts to, restricting her social interactions.

"Now, all my close friends and family know when they see me to not wear cologne or perfume. And to try and limit the fragrances that they're wearing, like a fragrant shampoo, for example. It's really hit and miss and it is tough," she said from New Hamburg, Ont., about an hour's drive west of Toronto.

Minielly is hoping proposed regulations by Health Canada to require the cosmetics industry to disclose 24 fragrance allergens on product labels will provide some relief for people like her.

The agency is currently doing a 70-day online consultation, ending April 22, of the cosmetics industry and the public as part of a requirement that would have the industry include the 24 allergens on labels. It can currently use the term "parfum" to represent a mixture of substances.

The move would bring Canada in line with the European Union, where that regulation was established in 2005.

"When certain fragrance allergens come in contact with skin, this can sometimes cause or lead to allergic reactions, resulting in irritations such as redness or rashes," Health Canada said in a statement.

"This requirement would allow consumers to be aware of, and avoid, products that contain certain fragrance ingredients to which they may be sensitive, in order to protect their health."

It said disclosure would be required if the substances are present in a cosmetic at a concentration greater than 0.01 per cent in rinse-off products and 0.001 per cent in leave-on products — a level "sufficient to protect Canadians."

Fragrance mixtures may also include trace amounts of other ingredients that fall below this threshold, however it would be impractical to disclose hundreds of them on a label, Health Canada said.

"There are no jurisdictions that require the entire fragrance composition of a cosmetic on the product label."