Responsible consumers base their purchasing decisions on ethical and ecological criteria and are one of the fastest growing customer groups in the cosmetics and household care markets. The question of biodegradability plays a central role in this. Bell is pleased to present its current, readily biodegradable fragrance collections for sustainable products at this year’s SEAPAWA Congress from 26 to 28 October in Berlin at stand A193 + A202.

Furthermore, Bell’s perfumers and application specialists will bring a new collection of fragrances for personal care products to the congress. “Holistic Wellness” is one such fragrance series for shower and bath products inspired by cleansing body-care rituals worldwide. It ranges from traditional massages according to Ayurvedic, Balinese and Hawaiian teachings as well as healing and relaxing baths as part of the cleansing ritual in Japan and Hungary to French lavender and Japanese cherry blossom. The decision for the topic is not a coincidence. Bell’s marketing experts recommend focusing on readily biodegradable products when targeting topics such as wellness that are associated with a natural lifestyle. All the fragrance compositions in this series are more than 99 per cent readily biodegradable.

Bell refers to the official criteria of the OECD, when it comes to biodegradability. Here, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development has defined various levels. A substance is only “readily biodegradable” if it has become at least 60 per cent decomposed within ten days under test conditions comparable to those in a sewage works.

Currently, a big portion of the fragrance compositions offered by Bell meet the strict criteria of ready biodegradability. According to the OECD standards 301A-F, OECD 302 and OECD 310, at least 95 weight per cent of a product must biodegrade to a minimum of 60 per cent within 10 days.

As a basis for the final evaluation of a perfume oil, Bell works with the available data for each component. The data comes either directly from the supplier in the form of a product specification or from listings on the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) website or in the database at the Research Institute for Fragrance Materials (RFIM), of which Bell is a regular member with unlimited access.