Human Pheromone Sciences responds to white paper
This article was originally published in The Rose Sheet
Executive Summary
San Jose, Calif.-based manufacturer of synthesized human pheromones and pheromone-based consumer products points to research conducted at leading research centers, including Stanford University, the University of Chicago and the Karolinska Institute in Sweden, that has shown human pheromones to positively impact the moods, attitudes and emotions of those exposed to them. A July 1white paper prepared for the Sense of Smell Institute takes a skeptical view of current androstadienone- and estratetraenol-based products marketed as having pheromonal properties, based on the authors' contention that humans do not have a functional vomeronasal organ (2"The Rose Sheet" Aug. 3, 2009). Human Pheromone Sciences, Inc. maintains the substances have been linked to "physiological and behavior effects when delivered to the nasal passages in nanogram quantities ... irrespective of whether they could be acting through the VNO or through receptors in the olfactory epithelium." A 2000 study conducted by Bernard I. Grosser, University of Utah School of Medicine, et al., found that administration of androstadienone to female subjects "results in a significant reduction of nervousness, tension and other negative feeling states." In a study out of UC Berkeley involving 60 women, "higher concentrations of [pheromone] increased positive mood and decreased negative mood," the firm says, noting that men in studies have experienced similar mood enhancement. Human Pheromone Sciences sells products online and licenses its patented technology to personal-care firms, which have included Avon, Johnson & Johnson and Henkel
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Pheromone-based fragrances
Sense of Smell Institute, the research and education arm of the Fragrance Foundation, releases white paper -- "Human Pheromones: What's Purported, What's Supported" -- discounting currently marketed products containing fragrance materials for alleged pheromonal effects. Certain steroid molecules including androstadienone and estratetraenol "have been declared to be human pheromones based upon the false premise that humans have a functional vomeronasal organ, which they don't," University of Pennsylvania researchers say. "Consequently, selling and marketing of these fragrance materials as pheromonal products is not based upon valid information." In fact, "there are no published, scientifically-constructed, bioassay-guided studies that have lead investigators through the complex maze of compounds found on the human body to one or more elements that possess pheromonal activity," they add. They note, however, that human body odors do contain substances that alter mood and endocrine function; a company willing to make the investment to isolate such compounds could have the makings for a product of "tremendous potential," the authors say. Androstadienone is the central ingredient in Henkel's Dial for Men Magnetic body wash for young men seeking women and in got2b magnetik hair gel, marketed by Henkel's Schwarzkopf division (1"The Rose Sheet" July 13, 2009)
Cosmetic And Personal Care Trademark Review: 16 April
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Health And Wellness Weekly Trademarks Review: 16 April
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