Chapter 8: Fragrance · Part 2: What else hides inside "fragrance"
Galaxolide (HHCB)
- Made from a hazardous chemical
The worst fact: it's been found in breast milk, and US levels were about 5 times higher than reported in Europe a decade earlier. Mothers who used a lot of perfume in pregnancy had more in their milk.
Why brands use it: a clean, long-lasting musk.
Take care if: you're pregnant or breastfeeding.
Comes from: made in a factory (a synthetic musk), from pentamethylindane reacted with propylene oxide, then closed into a ring with formaldehyde. Australia classes propylene oxide as "May cause genetic defects; May cause cancer" and formaldehyde as "May cause cancer". That doesn't mean they're in the product, but it's not a great starting point for something you clean with.
Myth check: nil.
Contaminants: nil.
Fair to say: the EU now names it as a fragrance allergen on cosmetic labels. Even in US sewage-plant outflows, levels were below no-effect levels for aquatic life.
Correct as of November 2026. What the badges mean
Sources
- European Commission. Cosmetics Regulation (EC) 1223/2009 Annexes II and III; Regulations (EU) 2017/1410 (HICC, atranol, chloroatranol), 2020/1182 (CLP: Lilial Repr. 1B), 2021/1902 (Lilial ban), 2023/1545 (fragrance allergen labelling), 2026/909 (benzyl salicylate). eur-lex.europa.eu
- Safe Work Australia. Hazardous Chemical Information System (HCIS). hcis.safeworkaustralia.gov.au
- Reiner JL et al. Synthetic musks in US breast milk. Environ Sci Technol 2007 (PMID 17612154).
- Lignell S et al. Musks in Swedish mothers' milk. Environ Sci Technol 2008 (PMID 18800558).
The full source list is at the end of Chapter 8.