The European Green Deal

What the European Green Deal Is

The European Green Deal is the EU’s broad sustainability initiative aimed at achieving a climate-neutral economy. While its goals are environmentally driven, the fragrance industry faces major implications—both opportunities and substantial risks.

On the positive side, the Deal encourages sustainability, traceability, eco-friendly sourcing, and transparency—areas where modern consumers are increasingly invested. But the challenges are significant: potential ingredient bans, increased production costs, reduced palette diversity, and difficulty navigating a more complex regulatory system.

Why Perfumers Are Concerned

Although well-intentioned, several proposals under the Deal could shift chemical regulation toward a hazard-based—not exposure-based—model. This represents a major departure from the scientific principles that currently govern fragrance safety.

Under hazard-based policy, materials may be restricted regardless of:

• how little is used in finished products
• whether exposure is effectively zero
• whether decades of safe use data exist
• whether the material comes from a natural plant source

This model risks eliminating hundreds of natural and nature-identical materials—not because they are unsafe in real-world applications, but because they contain constituents that trigger hazard classifications at high, unrealistic levels.

The result? A potential loss of:

• natural essential oils
• plant-derived isolates
• materials that define entire fragrance families (citrus, floral, aromatic, resinous)

For perfumers, this represents not just a regulatory challenge but a creative one. A reduced palette limits artistic expression and the ability to recreate culturally important fragrance profiles.

The Impact on Creativity, Safety Science, and Cost

Many perfumers argue that abandoning exposure-based safety ignores decades of toxicology research and the foundational principle that the dose makes the poison.

For example, it is scientifically normal for a natural essential oil—like rose, lemon, thyme, or lavender—to contain dozens or hundreds of naturally occurring constituents. Some occur at levels that would classify them as “hazardous” in pure form, yet they pose no risk at realistic use concentrations.

If these materials are restricted based on hazard alone, perfumery loses:

• iconic naturals (rose oil contains 350+ molecules)
• naturally occurring trace components like p-cymene
• materials that have been safely used for generations

Additionally, compliance with new sustainability requirements may increase:

• raw material costs
• manufacturing expenses
• documentation and regulatory overhead

These costs ultimately impact brands—especially small and mid-size companies—and consumers.

Resources to Explore Further

To make your own assessment, here are key resources:

• Read the perfumers’ open letter
• A perfumer’s industry perspective
• IFRA’s overview of the European Green Deal

Notable Excerpts Worth Highlighting

“We live in a chemical world and life itself is chemistry in action.”

“By volume, 50% of the palette of perfumers today is nature-identical.”

“Rose oil is around 350 molecules—not a single substance.”

“We have come to associate the word ‘chemical’ with danger, as though ‘natural’ is its opposite.”

“Harmfulness is exposure-based, not hazard-based. Even hazardous substances can be harmless at low doses—and innocuous substances can be harmful in the right conditions.”

“Banning p-cymene would unintentionally ban hundreds of naturals—lemon and thyme oils included.”

“Exposure to fragrance materials is far lower than exposure to the same constituents in food. Peeling one orange a day equals the limonene exposure of 140 perfume sprays.”

Share Your Thoughts

This is an important moment for the fragrance industry. We’d love to hear your perspective—whether as a maker, brand, perfumer, or consumer.