RIFM Reports Little Concern on Cyclic and Non-Cyclic Terpene Alcohols

Sixty eight cyclic and non-cyclic terpene alcohols are "practically non-irritating, have a generally low sensitization potential, and show no grounds for environmental concern" at the current levels of use, according to a recent publication by the Research Institute for Fragrance Materials (RIFM; Woodcliff Lake, New Jersey).1 This group of materials includes d,l-citronellol, geraniol, linalool, and tetrahydrolinalool, and others that are among the high priority list of fragrance materials selected for review, according to the organization.

According to an official release:

The Terpene Alcohol Group Summary and FMRs were authored by the Expert Panel and RIFM staff, respectively. The group assessment approach is based on structural relationship, enabling consistency in predicting metabolism and toxicity, and conserves resources by reducing duplicate testing. The Group Summary publications and related FMRs provide the scientific and regulatory communities with all the toxicological data available to RIFM on these fragrance ingredients. And, they provide the Expert Panel’s safety assessment of these groups. The Group Summaries and FMR’s continue to support the structure of RIFM’s safety assurance program and are a key part of RIFM’s proactive program. They also are used by industry to meet REACH requirements. Seven Group Summaries and 182 FMRs have already been published. There are plans to publish Group Summaries on Alcohol Branched Chain Unsaturated; Alcohols Branched Chain Saturated; Benzaldehyde and benzaldehyde derivatives; and Aryl Alkyl Alcohols. Two more groups and 56 FMRs are due for release soon.

The complete volume on terpene alcohols is available from the RIFM Web site.

References

1. A Lapczynski, J Lalko, D McGinty, S Bhatia, CS Letizia and AM Api, Toxicologic and Dermatologic Assessment of Cyclic and Non-Cyclic Terpene Alcohols. Food Chem Toxicol, 45(1), Supplement 1, S188-S191 (2008)

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