Method fragrances are crafted from high quality, non-toxic materials by some of
the world's leading perfumers.
We believe in the magic of scent. In a world where cleaning products smell at best
bland and boring, and at worst noxious and offensive (fake pine, anyone?), we take
pride in making products that smell great. So we make sure that we put the right
attention into developing fragrances that don't pose any threat to people and the
environment.
To make sure that all of our fragrances are made with safe ingredients, we have
developed stringent guidelines for the materials they are crafted from. These guidelines
have several elements, starting with a list of materials we will never accept in
our fragrance blends, a disclosure of fragrance formulations to the material assessment
and regulatory groups here at method, a requirement that all fragrance ingredients
be biodegradable, and a validation process where fragrances are assessed and reviewed
by EPEA & MBDC
Our front-end design screen is known as the dirty fragrance ingredients list. It
is an array of materials that are frequently used to make conventional fragrances,
but that we specify never be used in method's fragrances.
Some examples of these dirty materials include:
- Phthalates, a family of synthetic solvents linked to respiratory problems, endocrine
disruption and shown to accumulate in human tissue
- Alkylphenol ethoxylates (aka APEs, including nonylphenol and octylphenol ethoxylate)
are fragrance emulsifiers that have been shown to disrupt hormonal function in the
body and break down to hazardous materials in the environment
- Styrene, a solvent used in fragrances that has been classified as a possible human
carcinogen by IARC, the international agency for research on cancer
All method fragrance formulations are disclosed to our material assessment, toxicology
and regulatory groups, who are free to review any of the materials used to make
the fragrances. This degree of transparency from our suppliers allows us full confidence
in the quality of the materials that are used.
In addition to our own internal process, the fragrances in any of our
55 DfE-recognized products or 43 Cradle to Cradle
certified products have undergone the additional health and environmental
review processes required for each of these labels.
