Are Fragrance Oils Really Safe?

[jpmakescandles]

Hi everyone, I have recently started up a business selling my handmade candles. I am concerned about the chemicals in the fragrance oils in my home. The only fragrance oils I will use are CandleScience Clean Scents because they claim those are free from acute toxins, mutagens, carcinogens, etc. I have read horror stories on these craft forums about people who have had lung infections, pneumonia, dry coughs, sinus infections, you name it from making candles. If these fragrance oils can cause all that, then why isn't there a HUGE warning label on candle making kits that say DO NOT INHALE FRAGRANCE VAPORS WHEN MAKING YOUR CANDLES? Also, I have read the MSDS for CandleScience fragrance oils and they say not to inhale the vapors for a prolonged period of time, but then another reputable company, P & J Trading, has MSDS that say "this material does not present a hazard if inhaled." What is CandleScience putting in their fragrance that makes it dangerous to inhale the vapors? Which by the way, I thought the whole point of fragrance was to be inhaled in order to smell it.....

I am working under a homemade fume hood but the vapors sometimes escape and I can smell the fragrance. I try to wear a respirator for organic vapors, but it is cumbersome and takes the joy out of making candles. I made a few batches without any ventilation before and had no breathing/sinus issues until I started reading people's respiratory horror stories online on these craft forums. Am I being a hypochondriac or what? Maybe those people just have allergies and they are reacting to certain fragrance oils, but since they work with so many they can't pinpoint which one it is? I mean if fragrance oils cause health issues, then the people walking around Yankee Candle factory should, by that logic, be dropping like flies. Their factories have 1,000s of lbs of heavily fragranced wax with people walking around like it's nothing.

 

[birdcharm]

They're very dangerous, I think you should stop using and making candles right now!!!

[birdcharm]

Here's the thing ... I think you've fallen prey to some marketing tactics that have the ability to thrive on certain fears that are not exactly sensible.  When a company says they have "clean scents," it infers that other company's scents might be "dirty" ... how is that?  Oh, well, they have "chemicals" in them and you don't know what they are!  In my opinion, it stirs up a frantic atmosphere, in which especially new  candle makers, may be prone to the effects.  This is not to say that the fragrance oils are completely harmless, but neither are essential oils.  The aroma chemicals found in fragrance oils are, for the most part, harmless when used properly, and do not pose any dangers in a candle.  There can be some phthalates in some old-style oils, but, you can find those same substances in all sorts of products, and it's a good thing that there is a trend to get away from them, yet some phthalates haven't been used in candle scents. I'm sure there is a lot of discussion that could go on in regard to the "clean" marketing scheme, but I think that in many ways the "clean" ones may not be any cleaner than some other suppliers' regular ones that simply aren't being labeled or marketed in a similar way.  

 

As for using safety equipment if you pour a lot of candles in a small space and using proper care of any disposal of these oils, definitely, there are material handling procedures that should be paid attention to.  There are ways to be safe and ways to be unsafe.  I think adding a small amount of fragrance oil to a candle isn't nearly as harmful or dangerous as putting dried grasses and flowers on or in a candle or over-wicking, things we see happening far too often.

[jpmakescandles]

@birdcharm Thank you for "clearing the air" (pun intended) about this fragrance thing a bit for me. I know that the clean scents idea isn't a substitute for completely harmless. The oils contain synthetic aroma chemicals no matter what in addition to the concentrated essential oils. I think what I was driving at in my original post is the hazard for the candle maker in terms of the high concentration of fragrance being inhaled during the mixing and pouring phases. Once the candles are cooled, the amount of fragrance released from the cold throw is not hazardous, but it seems like a big pot of hot fragranced wax, even at a 6% fragrance load, would be dangerous in terms of vapor inhalation. Have you or any one you know of had any issues from inhaling the fragrance? What safety/ventilation precautions do you take/ should I take?

[Candybee]

You have to take into account that you as a candlemaker are working with fragrance oils full strength. Your customers are not getting the amount of exposure to the fragrance oils that you are. So to protect yourself you should be wearing a respirator when making candles. Even using CS so called "clean Scents". All fragrances give off vapors that hang in the air and a good respirator will filter that out.

 

The actual amount of fragrance that is in a single candle is dilluted in the wax. The carcinogens coming out of the flaming wick are more potent than the small amount of fragrance in the candle so no need for the customer to worry or to put it on the label because they already know its in the candle.

 

 

Edited November 8, 2020 by Candybee

[BusyBee]

If FOs were dangerous materials to inhale vapor for smell, then we should have seen a lot law suites by employees working at FO manufacturing facilities.  But I did not find any, which makes me think they are all safe.

[jpmakescandles]

1 hour ago, Candybee said:

You have to take into account that you as a candlemaker are working with fragrance oils full strength. Your customers are not getting the amount of exposure to the fragrance oils that you are. So to protect yourself you should be wearing a respirator when making candles. Even using CS so called "clean Scents". All fragrances give off vapors that hang in the air and a good respirator will filter that out.

 

The actual amount of fragrance that is in a single candle is dilluted in the wax. The carcinogens coming out of the flaming wick are more potent than the small amount of fragrance in the candle so no need for the customer to worry or to put it on the label because they already know its in the candle.

 

 

@Candybee The clean scents by candle science don't actually contain carcinogens or any of the following: phthalates, mutagens, reproductive toxins, organ toxins, acute toxins. I suppose people can be sensitive to fragrances (get headaches or nausea if they hate the smell) or they can have allergies to some chemicals, but otherwise it seems like removing these other harmful chemicals makes fragrance oil significantly safer for use over long term frequent exposures to vapors. Not all fragrance companies can say their products don't contain these chemicals. Perhaps the people who have health issues from fragrance oils have been using ones that do contain acute toxins, organ toxins, and all the things listed above. Who knows...Better to be safe than sorry. I have a "fume hood" that I make my candles in. It's a giant box with an inline fan attached to a dryer hose that goes out the window. No heat sources are used in the box so no fire hazard. It's just for mixing and pouring. I am not concerned about the wax melting "vapors" in my kitchen. Wax is just solid oil. No worse than deep frying. Anyways I also wear a respirator. Between my fume hood and the mask I feel pretty safe. Within 30 minutes there is no more odor at all in the room anyways because the candles solidify in the fume hood.

[birdcharm]

3 hours ago, jpmakescandles said:

@birdcharm Thank you for "clearing the air" (pun intended) about this fragrance thing a bit for me. I know that the clean scents idea isn't a substitute for completely harmless. The oils contain synthetic aroma chemicals no matter what in addition to the concentrated essential oils. I think what I was driving at in my original post is the hazard for the candle maker in terms of the high concentration of fragrance being inhaled during the mixing and pouring phases. Once the candles are cooled, the amount of fragrance released from the cold throw is not hazardous, but it seems like a big pot of hot fragranced wax, even at a 6% fragrance load, would be dangerous in terms of vapor inhalation. Have you or any one you know of had any issues from inhaling the fragrance? What safety/ventilation precautions do you take/ should I take?

 

When adding fragrance oil to a melting pot, I make as sure to stand back, same as if I'm working with jalapeno peppers.  I personally do not wear any gear for my candle making, but I only make small amounts at a time. 

 

Many of the synthetic aroma chemicals are not exactly what would be considered harmful for smelling.  For instance, let's take one that is used in some fragrance oils, Linalool Oxide.  I just picked that one for an example and did a quick search.  I found an article about the aroma of wine as it ages and how this chemical plays a role in that ... some of these compounds are actually found in substances we ingest.

 

From an article I was reading, "the compounds present in wine aroma include esters, terpenes, norisoprenoids, phenols, aldehydes and ketones" ...
"... concentration of monoterpene alcohols, such as geraniol (rose, geranium), linalool (flower, lavender), and citronellol (rose) decrease during aging ..."  for instance, a Citrus Spruce scent may include citronellol and geraniol ... interesting, isn't it?

 

Just because you see the words "synthetic aroma chemicals" does not mean that it is something very harmful, it could be wine! 🍷

 

 

 

 

[TallTayl]

The wording of the clean scents feels suspiciously misleading  to me. It implies that one reseller is saying that other companies do use those ingredients, when they likely don’t either. Marketing is a tricky thing.

 

This is just as bad as the soy lobby attacking the paraffin industry. Saying that soy is clean implies that other waxes are not. That is simply not the case.

 

as a seasoned chandler the initial announcement of “clean scents” to me meant they would be even weaker than the last round of reformulations. Weak fragrances are why all too many new candle makers are pushing the wax to 12% fragrance load.

[jpmakescandles]

2 minutes ago, TallTayl said:

The wording of the clean scents feels suspiciously misleading  to me. It implies that one reseller is saying that other companies do use those ingredients, when they likely don’t either. Marketing is a tricky thing.

 

This is just as bad as the soy lobby attacking the paraffin industry. Saying that soy is clean implies that other waxes are not. That is simply not the case.

 

as a seasoned chandler the initial announcement of “clean scents” to me meant they would be even weaker than the last round of reformulations. Weak fragrances are why all too many new candle makers are pushing the wax to 12% fragrance load.

@TallTayl I can assure you that the clean scents are very potent. I have never had an issue with cold or hot throw and I use between 6% and 7.5% fragrance load in my soy wax. In fact, my warm apple pie candle is a little too strong for my tastes at the 7.5% fragrance load. I may be naïve, but I truly believe the clean scents are "cleaner" because I have seen some fragrance oil MSDS with multiple scary looking hazard pictograms. The clean scents MSDS can only have the caution pictogram because candle science limits the chemicals that can be put into it to ones that don't have certain hazards that many other companies have in their oils. I also have to say that I own paraffin candles that I burn properly (trimming wick etc.) and my soy candles burn incredibly cleaner. I don't get any visible soot with my wax compared to the paraffin candles I have from Yankee which all soot like a chimney. It's so gross...That's one reason I make my own candles now. The other is I LOVE selling my candles and watching people light up when they smell them

[TallTayl]

Have you seen the msds for water? It will kill you. 

[jpmakescandles]

1 hour ago, TallTayl said:

Have you seen the msds for water? It will kill you. 

Oh goodness yes! That dihydrogen monoxide is toxic if inhaled for sure. Symptoms of inhalation include coughing, choking, difficulty breathing, gasping for air, and a burning sensation in your lungs. Inhale too much and death will ensue. Ingest too much of it orally and it will result in confusion and the cells will burst in your brain and organs resulting in death. 

[BusyBee]

Yankee soot like crazy because they don't know how to wick their candle right not because it is paraffin.  They are using double Helix #5.  If it is wicked right, then their candles burn clean without any soot.  I make soy wax candles, too.  But paraffin would burn as clean as soy or any vegetable waxes.  See pictures!  *No.  Those aren't wood wicks in there.

 

[TallTayl]

9 hours ago, BusyBee said:

Yankee soot like crazy because they don't know how to wick their candle right not because it is paraffin.  They are using double Helix #5.  If it is wicked right, then their candles burn clean without any soot.  I make soy wax candles, too.  But paraffin would burn as clean as soy or any vegetable waxes.  See pictures!  *No.  Those aren't wood wicks in there.

 

They wick for early and continuous hot throw and nothing more. They overwick because that is what their customers demand. Some of those jars get nasty hot too.

 

what a beautiful burn in those pictures busybee. I know you’ve mentioned your wick design before I just don’t understand what you’ve done. But they look phenomenal.

[Candybee]

12 hours ago, jpmakescandles said:

@Candybee The clean scents by candle science don't actually contain carcinogens or any of the following: phthalates, mutagens, reproductive toxins, organ toxins, acute toxins. I suppose people can be sensitive to fragrances (get headaches or nausea if they hate the smell) or they can have allergies to some chemicals, but otherwise it seems like removing these other harmful chemicals makes fragrance oil significantly safer for use over long term frequent exposures to vapors. Not all fragrance companies can say their products don't contain these chemicals. Perhaps the people who have health issues from fragrance oils have been using ones that do contain acute toxins, organ toxins, and all the things listed above. Who knows...Better to be safe than sorry. I have a "fume hood" that I make my candles in. It's a giant box with an inline fan attached to a dryer hose that goes out the window. No heat sources are used in the box so no fire hazard. It's just for mixing and pouring. I am not concerned about the wax melting "vapors" in my kitchen. Wax is just solid oil. No worse than deep frying. Anyways I also wear a respirator. Between my fume hood and the mask I feel pretty safe. Within 30 minutes there is no more odor at all in the room anyways because the candles solidify in the fume hood.

 

Candles release carcinogens when burning. All candles do regardless of the fragrance oil you use. That was what I was referring to in my post.

[strugglebrother]

It's a tough market out there now, especially when many homemakers outdoor markets closed due to Covid. A huge client base of Candlescience stopped buying materials for probably 6 months.

Candlescience needs to survive and you survive with marketing tricks. How to stand out against their other competition?

My bet is that reformulations needed to be done to cut costs, then this idea came to place with the clean scents along with it. People hate reformulations as it breaks their long tested formulas, so you need an excuse and a good one that people can't argue with. Maybe they removed some bad stuff, who knows until you run their scents through a lab test. I would still not drink them and I would just not take their word for it.


 

Look how they phrase their press release with instructions to their customers and advice like this

 

"Look carefully at the SDS sheets provided by the fragrance manufacturer or supplier. Are they all the same? If so, take caution. Suppliers are required to do this work and do it correctly. If you come across this, we encourage you to ask your supplier more questions before purchasing."

 

I'm always sceptical when you have to downplay your competitors like this, if your product is good enough you shouldn't have to.

These days companies have to pretend that they run a charity business when in reality they don't. Press releases with statements become more important than the actual product, and in reality, there is still very little transparency.

 

Not saying that good intentions might be there for some but maybe I'm just old and jaded as I have seen it so many times now .

Edited November 9, 2020 by strugglebrother

[birdcharm]

Here's a piece about a candle study in regard to comparing waxes as well as sooting ... I only lightly read through it, I'll have to go back when I have more time, but thought I'd post it here; it's not new, so some readers here have probably already seen it.  It's a four page .pdf ... Report on Wax Emissions Study

[BusyBee]

4 hours ago, TallTayl said:

They wick for early and continuous hot throw and nothing more. They overwick because that is what their customers demand. Some of those jars get nasty hot too.

 

what a beautiful burn in those pictures busybee. I know you’ve mentioned your wick design before I just don’t understand what you’ve done. But they look phenomenal.

Good catch!  It's still work in progress.  So far, it works very well in 100% paraffin, 100% coconut (coconut 83), and Yankee & WoodWick soy blend candles.  It does not work in 6006, 464 & Ceda Serica.  They are layers of fibers taken out from the tree.  I was searching for this material's manufacturers, and I found out someone already beat me to it and has patent on this material wick.  I will need to talk to inventor/manufacturer about putting layers of other material to make it work in other popular waxes in US.  Or I can just use it as is in paraffin, coconut wax or make a wax blend like Yankee & WoodWick.  I think I am very close, and I will update you when I am done.  Now, I can do the taper thing that we talked about some time ago. 😉