How to read this EU Allergen Sheet and Safety Data Sheet to know which aromachem(s) is the offender?

Soapmaking Forum

Help Support Soapmaking Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

akseattle

Well-Known Member
Joined
Apr 10, 2023
Messages
499
Reaction score
793
Location
Seattle, Washington
Question: I am wondering if anyone can tel me how to read this EU Allergen Sheet and Safety Data Sheet to know which aromachem(s) is the offender?

So, this Crafter's choice Christmas Woods FO has a maximum IFRA of 5.10. If I wanted to blend it with another FO so that I could have 6% FO in my soap, and I wanted to make absolutely sure it were a safe blend,
how do I read these two documents to get the information I need?

I did think that I could write to WSP and ask them. But, to be honest, I don't think their staff is that knowledgeable. Their fragrance calculator calculates the same amount of fragrance for M&P as it does for Cold Process. I think it is generally recommended that for M&P its better not to use more than 3% FO. I contacted them last Spring and let them know their calculator was calculating the same for M&P as for CP. They said , "excuse us, we'll make that correction." But, they never did.

So, I think I'll ask on this forum before I ask them. I also noticed that the Safety Data Sheet says on page 1 "this mixture has not been tested as a whole." Does that mean that they didn't test to see if their combination of ingredients or "aroachems" (if that's what they are called) was safe?

I will probably only ever use the method proposed by @lucycat to make a blend. But, I was thinking that one day I might get inspired to be more precise.....

I noticed that on WSP, for some FO's they have both the EU Allegen Sheet and the SDS, for others, they only have one or the other. Can either one of those be used alone?
 

Attachments

  • xChristmasWoods-EU'Allegens-Listing-_9647_EU.pdf
    179.6 KB
  • x-Christmas'Woods'SafetyData'sheet-9647_SDS.pdf
    822.5 KB
  • ChristmasWoods_9647_IFRA50.pdf
    123.5 KB
You'll need the allergen and IFRA sheets of the other Fo. Otherwise it's just blind guessing. I'd not worry about SDS when EU allergen sheets are available.
 
@paradisi, here is the SDS and EUAllegen Sheet for Crafter's Choice Orange Cranberry.
It has a max IFRA usage of 32%
So, basically, you are saying that everything I need is on the EU Allergen sheets? I'm not understanding why WSP has both for some FO's.
 

Attachments

  • x-EU'Allergen-OrangeCranberry_708_EU.pdf
    197.5 KB
  • x-SDS-OrangeCranberry_708_SDS.pdf
    576.4 KB
  • x-IFRA-OrangeCranberry_708_IFRA50.pdf
    123.1 KB
SDS is the information needed by people who handle and ship the material and by those who respond to emergencies that involve the material. This would include shipping and warehouse staff, firefighters and other emergency responders, etc.

Allergen sheets contain information that you need to know to appropriately use the material as an ingredient in other products.

While some information is common to both, they're not substitutes for each other. If you're using fragrance in soap, etc., you're better off to use the allergen sheets or IFRA guidelines.
 
Now, compare both lists to see what might be common to both. Looks like there are six items in common...

Next, check with the IFRA standards list to see if those things have limits, to see if you'd be stacking allergens by combining them. (Note that there may be standards for the other things as well.)

Benzyl benzoate has a restriction, I think benzyl acetate might too.

If you were planning to split the blend 1:1, you'll calculate how much of each of those items that have restrictions will be in each half of the total amount of fo you propose to use in the batch.

Add those, and if you're below the restrictions, you're golden. If not, you will need to tweak or use less overall, to meet them.

(Isn't IFRA fun? 🤪)
 
SDS is the information needed by people who handle and ship the material and by those who respond to emergencies that involve the material. This would include shipping and warehouse staff, firefighters and other emergency responders, etc.
@DeeAnna , it's good to know I don't have to worry about the SDS. Although, given my current soaping addition, I do feel like I'm verging on being a warehouse staff in my basement ;) .

Benzyl benzoate has a restriction, I think benzyl acetate might too.
@ paradisi, thank you for your help. But, I'm not really understanding.

When I compare the lists, which column am I to be looking at? The list of 25 ingredient names is identical. The Orange Cranberry FO has only 4 items in the "total contents" column. I see Benzyl Benzoate on the total contents column. Each list has Linalool in the Total contents column.
But, I don't see benzyl acetate on either sheet. Did you misspeak?

I attached the IFRA for Benzyl Benzoate. It says the max for a finished product is 1.9%
Christmas Woods has 33.2925% of contents of Benzyl Benzoate and Orange Cranberry has 1.25%

When it says the max is 1.9% of the finished product. Is the finished product the FO? Benzyl Benzoate is already 33.2925% of Christmas Woods.
How can that be? I'm confused.
 

Attachments

  • xIFRA-Benzul'Benzoate-_STD_009.pdf
    229.4 KB
Whoops, you're right, I kept opening the wrong pdf.

Benzyl benzoate, limonene, linalool.

The IFRA limit for Benzyl benzoate in category 9 is 1.9% of the finished product.. in the case of soap, that's the cured weight.

If the fo was 100% Benzyl benzoate, you'd be allowed 1.9% of that finished weight.

But it's only about a third b.b. so the limit in the finished soap would be about three times higher. In a batch of... 66ish oz oils, curing out to about 84-ish oz, that would mean around 4.75 oz of fo to reach the limit.

And the other oil has a lot less b.b.
Blended, you'd have to use way more fo than you reasonably would, to hit the limit.
 
@paradisi , thank you! I'm very excited because I think I actually understand this!!

It kind of makes sense why the IFRA max on the Christmas Woods is 5.1%. If it were used at 6%, usage, this would be just over IFRA max for the Benzyl Benzoate.

I'm sure I'll have to pull your post back up when I actually go to make a blend. So long as I have the allergen sheets for my FO's, this isn't that much harder than pretending like I'm making 2 different soap batches.

I had never before looked at an EU Allergen Listing. I kind of like seeing what's in my FO-- although it mostly looks like a pile of chemicals.... .

Thank you again!!!
 
It's posting the image over and over, can the extra be deleted, mods? It won't let me delete.
 
Last edited:
You're most welcome.

And yes, discovering what's in a fragrance can be fascinating. As to chemicals.. here's a fun graphic
ingredients-of-an-all-natural-strawberry-english_1.jpg
 
Last edited:
@paradisi , that's crazy. 😲 I guess as long as they disclose the contents, they get to call it whatever they want? No wonder some people decide not to eat anything or wear anything they don't grow or weave themselves.
That's just the naturally occurring ingredients in a strawberry. Nothing artificial. Nothing added.

The same as in the most organically grown ever strawberry from your garden.

Look at the other posters at that link; those are the same, the natural chemical makeup of those fruits and vegetables.

Long names of flavor or scent compounds don't mean dangerous or artificial, they're just exact.
 
While we're at it, here's a listing from Poucher, vol. 1, on compounds in Lavender oil. I'll see if I can post the image only once this time

poucherlavvera.jpg
 
Back
Top