NEVER MADEWITH
NITROMUSKS/POLYCYCLIC
WHAT NITROMUSKS/POLYCYCLIC MUSK ARE
Nitromusks/polycyclic musks are synthetic musks (or white musks) that are used in the fragrance industry. These synthetic aroma compounds are used to imitate the scent of deer musk, ambergris, castoreum and civet.
WHERE YOU CAN FIND THEM + WHY MADEWITH DOESN’T ALLOW THEM
They are a class of synthetic compounds used to emulate the scent of natural animal musks in perfumes and personal care products. Nitromusks/polycyclic musks pose possible health/environmental issues from endocrine disruption to environmental persistence toxicity.
WHERE THEY’RE BANNED OR RESTRICTED
Japan banned nitro-musks in the 1980s due to concerns over environmental persistence toxicity. The global International Fragrance Association (IFRA) has banned musk xylene (a nitro musk). Based on IFRA’s standards the European Commission banned musk xylene, and musk ketone and tonalide have been restricted.
WHERE WE'RE GETTING OUR INFORMATION
[1] NIH, NCBI. Hutter H-P (2010) Higher blood concentrations of synthetic musks in women above fifty years than in younger women. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20056483
[2] NIH.NCBI. Human exposure to nitro musks and the evaluation of their potential toxicity: an overview. (2014). https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4007519
[3] NIH, NCBI. Journal of Environmental Management. Homem V, Silva J, Ratola N, Santos L, Alves A. (2015) Long lasting perfume – a review of synthetic musks. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25463582
[4] NIH, NCBI. International Journal of Hygiene and Environmental Health. Zhang X, Jing Y, Ma L, Zhou J, Fang X, Zhang X, Yu Y. (2015) Occurrence and transport of synthetic musks in paired maternal blood, umbilical cord, and breast milk. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25256814
[5] European Commission. Commission regulation (EU) N. 143/2011, amending Annex XIV to regulation (EC) No 1907/2006. Section 3. (2011). https://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=OJ:L:2011:044:0002:0006:en:PDF
[6] ECHA (European Chemicals Agency). REACH Act. Xylene is listed on the list of PBTs (persistent, bioaccumulative and toxic) and vPvBs (very persistent and very bioaccumulative). (2007). https://echa.europa.eu/information-on-chemicals/pbt-vpvb-assessments-under-the-previous-eu-chemicals-legislation
[7] The SAGE Encyclopedia of Cancer and Society. Japan discontinued use of Xylene in 1982. Page 907. (2015). https://books.google.com/books?id=U4iECgAAQBAJ&pg=PA907&lpg=PA907&dq=Musk+xylene+was+discontinued+in+Japan&source=bl&ots=1zTEdXZaNH&sig=ACfU3U0NfFuhYJO6a_yAZanBGZshRU3PSw&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwj637iwyvXoAhWVKn0KHYsjCBcQ6AEwAnoECAwQKA#v=onepage&q=Musk%20xylene%20was%20discontinued%20in%20Japan&f=false
