A.I.S.E. Air Fresheners Stewardship Programme

A.I.S.E.’s Product Stewardship Programme (PSP) on Indoor Air Emissions from Air Fresheners is implemented by the major European manufacturers of indoor air freshening products Reckitt, SJ Johnson and P&G and has been in place since 2007. The PSP is a powerful tool for companies to show their commitment to responsible marketing of air care products.  It combines best practices in all relevant areas, including advertising, labelling, safety assessment and education to consumers and goes beyond regulatory requirements. 

Indoor Air Emissions from Air Fresheners

The PSP is open to companies operating in Europe and manufacturing non-combustible air fresheners e.g. sprays – including aerosols, mini and pump-sprays, liquid wicks, gels, potpourris, electrical devices and car fresheners, as well as perfumed and non-perfumed candles. The commitments involve good safety and communication practices.  In the areas of design, manufacturing, marketing and communication. The commitment of each participating company is monitored by A.I.S.E. according to key performance indicators as well as external third party audits. 

Scope of the programme

The programme applies to all manufacturers placing air fresheners on the market in Europe (EU, plus the UK, Iceland, Norway, Lichtenstein, and Switzerland) regardless of whether they are A.I.S.E. members. The product category covered includes: 

• Non-combustible air fresheners e.g. sprays – including aerosols, mini and pump-sprays, liquid wicks, gels, potpourris, electrical devices and car fresheners
• Perfumed and non-perfumed candle

The programme commitment includes measures to enable consumers to make informed choices when buying air freshener products. These are: 

1. Responsible manufacturing – ensuring that exposure value limits provide a firm basis to meet consumer expectations, take into account global standards and respect global limits in emissions of formaldehyde, benzene and naphthalene.
2. Product development/product safety
   
   a) For all products: companies commit to evaluate their products’ ingredients, even, beyond current regulatory requirements in order to ensure that they are safe in use. This will be done by the systematic use of internationally recognised standards, e.g. World Health Organisation (WHO) , International Fragrance Association for fragrances (IFRA)
   b) For combustion products specifically: where a participating company manufactures and/or places on the market a combustion product with flame, i.e. perfumed candles, it shall, in addition to complying with the Classification, Labelling and Packaging (CLP) Regulation and all relevant legislation, adopt the latest relevant European standards set by the European Committee for Standardisation CEN. For products with combustion without flame, participating companies are required to apply the precautionary principle on the basis of a careful scientific risk assessment which is currently used to assess incense cones and incense sticks that are manufactured and/or placed on the market. 
   
3. Responsible marketing and communication including labels carrying clear and legible safety and health advice for consumers, no toy or food shaped products, no images of children touching the products or pregnant women in advertising, and the availability of information on product composition.
4. Focus on consumer safety with clear on-label advice for safe usage of the product including maximum exposure where appropriate. Inhalation abuse warnings on sprays using solvents and propellants to be added where applicable and within local frameworks. Participating companies will refrain from using the absence of banned materials in a product as a marketing claim (e.g. without “CFC”). 

Commitments 

By signing up to the PSP, companies commit to apply a voluntary set of rules and standards to all their products which essentially focus on good safety and communication practices, responsible design and manufacturing, and common standards for substance emissions.

Common standards for emissions

The industry goes beyond the regulatory requirements and ensures that exposure value limits provide a firm basis to meet the expectations of consumers, taking global standards into account. Companies must respect standard global limits in emissions of formaldehyde, benzene and naphthalene. A.I.S.E. has actively contributed to the initiative to measure emissions from combustible air fresheners within CEN (the European Committee for Standardisation). Working together with the European candle industry since 2010, A.I.S.E. member experts, through their national standardisation bodies, were instrumental in the development of three standards that are now applicable across Europe. Combustible air fresheners in scope of the A.I.S.E. PSP must comply to these European emission standards: 

• Standardised test methods for the emissions of substances
• Evaluation and calculation of emissions and exposure test results
• User safety information provided on labels.

Responsible marketing and communication

The PSP commits the manufacturer to:

• Clear and legible safety and health advice on labels for consumers
• No toy or food shaped products
• No images of children touching the products or pregnant women shown in advertising
• Information on product composition to be available.
• Focus on consumer safety
• Clear labels which indicate how to safely use a product enable consumers to make informed choices. The following messages will be communicated on product labels “People suffering from perfume sensitivity should be cautious when using this product” “Air fresheners do not replace good hygiene practices” or “Ventilate the room after use”

Verification and compliance 

The commitment of each participating company is monitored by A.I.S.E. with an annual report on common key performance indicators (KPIs), as well as external third-party audits carried out on an annual basis. 

How to join the programme

The documentation below provides full details of the programme, and contains the letter of commitment for new signatories. Companies interested in signing the PSP should contact A.I.S.E. by email [email protected].