The composition of fine fragrances is changing.

High frequencies of contact allergy to fragrance ingredients have been reported in recent years. Developments in analytical chemistry have made it possible to measure exposure to well-known fragrance contact allergens. It has been shown that exposure is widespread in different types of products. The products with the highest concentrations of allergens have been shown to be prestige perfumes intended for women. This investigation explores the possible development in formulation of prestige perfumes, with regard to their content of the chemically defined ingredients of the diagnostic patch test material, the fragrance mix (FM). 10 fine fragrances were subjected to chemical analysis: 5 of these had been launched years ago (1921-1990) and 5 were the latest launches by the same companies, introduced 2 months to 4 years before purchase. The analysis revealed that the 5 old perfumes contained a mean of 5 of the 7 target allergens of the FM, while the new perfumes contained a mean of 2.8 of the allergens. The mean concentrations of the target allergens were 2.6 times higher in the old perfumes than in the new perfumes, range 2.2-337. It is concluded that the old perfumes, which are still popular products on the market, have a different composition from the new perfumes. This may be due to change in fashion or to an effort by the fragrance industry to focus on fragrance contact allergy, especially that to the FM ingredients.