Allergies to Natural Scents

Filed in archive Skin Allergies on February 5, 2009

Photo courtesy of iStockphoto, Image# 6134295

Allergies to perfumes is one of the more common forms of contact allergies. The perfumes may form irritants upon exposure to air, or as a product of its reaction with enzymes that are present on the skin. Rashes appear on affected areas, which, over time, may start to look like scaly eczema.

Are natural scents, often called essential oils, safer? Not necessarily.

Lina Hagvall, a researcher at the University of Gothenburg's Department of Chemistry, has examined natural lavender oil in her thesis. Her results show that essential oils do not prevent the formation of allergenic substances through reactions with acid; something which had not previously been possible to confirm. Hagvall's thesis also examines geraniol, a common constituent of perfumes such as rose oil. The study shows geraniol by itself to be only slightly allergenic. However through autoxidation and reaction with skin enzymes, the substance is activated and becomes the closely related allergen geranial. This is the first time these activation pathways have been demonstrated for the substance.