Following the provision of additional data by industry after an initial Opinion of the SCCS, the European Commission mandated the Scientific Committee to assess the safety of acetylated vetiver essential oil in spray products. The SCCS has just published its preliminary Opinion, which is open for comments until 3 May 2024.
Background
In 2019, the SCCS considered the use of Acetylated Vetiver Oil with 1% alpha-tocopherol as a fragrance ingredient in cosmetic leave-on and rinse-off type products as safe (at the concentrations proposed by IFRA), but noted that “Inhalation toxicity of Acetylated Vetiver Oil (AVO) was not assessed in this Opinion because no data were provided. Assessment of the inhalation risk would be needed if AVO was intended to be used in sprayable products.”
In March 2023, industry submitted a new safety dossier focusing on the inhalation toxicity of AVO in sprayable cosmetic products to address the SCCS concerns.
For an exhaustive background information, see the articles
• Acetylated Vetiver Oil: Final Opinion of the SCCS, CosmeticOBS, 12 March 2019
• 1,2,4-THB, Salicylic Acid, Acetylated Vetiver Oil: new final Opinions of SCCS, CosmeticOBS, 1st July 2019
• Acetylated Vetiver Oil in sprayable products: request for an Opinion to the SCCS, CosmeticOBS, 12 June 2023
Opinion
(1) In light of the data provided concerning inhalation toxicity, does the SCCS consider Acetylated Vetiver Oil (AVO) safe when used in sprayable cosmetic products with intended maximum concentrations (IMCs) of 0.9% (w/w) in fragrance pump sprays, 0.05% (w/w) in deodorant sprays and …
