‘Stop spraying perfume on your neck’: Cambridge cancer researcher explains how perfume ingredients may disrupt hormones

Cancer researcher warns that perfumes can disrupt hormones and pose health risks due to hidden chemicals, warns against direct exposure, especially on the neck.

Do you also apply perfume to your neck when getting ready? Ana Canadas, a PhD student at the University of Cambridge’s Department of Pathology, shared a video on Instagram to issue a scientific warning, noting that perfumes are intricate chemical blends that may pose significant health risks with daily use, especially on the neck.

In a video shared on July 12, Ana issued a warning: “Stop spraying perfume on your neck.” She added, “Perfumes are complex chemical mixtures that can contain dozens to hundreds of ingredients. In many countries, companies are allowed to list these simply as 'fragrance' or 'parfum', meaning the individual chemicals don’t have to be disclosed to consumers.”

Why you should be cautious when applying perfume

According to the cancer researcher, people have been spraying perfume on their necks every morning for years without realising they shouldn't spray it directly there. She cited a 2025 review in Frontiers in Toxicology, which analysed the health risks associated with perfumes and other cosmetic products. The threats come from the ingredients used in them, including ‘formaldehyde-releasing products, phthalates, and volatile organic compounds’, all of which are endocrine disruptors.

Explaining how they disrupt the endocrine system, the cancer researcher highlighted that they mimic or block our hormones. She added, “Not only that, several studies linked them with infertility, respiratory problems, or even cancer. When we look at the ingredients of the perfume, you can actually grab your bottle of perfume and check it out yourself. We normally found the term fragrance, which legally is a way in which companies can hide thousands of chemicals without disclosing them at all. So, we never know.”

Why you shouldn't spray perfume on your neck?

While this doesn’t mean every perfume is harmful or that using perfume causes disease, the cancer researcher stressed that it supports reducing unnecessary exposure where it’s easy. She highlighted two problems with direct exposure to perfumes whose ingredients you don't know and spraying them on your neck:

“So, two main problems here. The first one, when we spray, we can inhale those compounds which directly enter our body,” she explained. Every spray creates an aerosol that is breathed into the airways, meaning fragrance chemicals can reach the body through both the lungs and the skin.

But second, she explained, is that the neck is one of the highest-blood-flow areas in the body, and the skin of our neck is quite thin, which means fragrance and chemicals can be absorbed more deeply and faster, entering directly into the bloodstream

She added, “If we start thinking about the exposure of these compounds every day for years, that is the actual concern currently for scientists. The key message isn’t to fear perfume—it’s to understand that small daily exposures from multiple products can add up over decades. Reducing exposure where it’s practical is a reasonable, evidence-based approach.”

About the expert

Ana Canadas is a PhD student at the University of Cambridge in the Department of Pathology. She has published several research papers and is working on research programmes like ‘Childhood, Teenage and Young Adult Cancers’ and ‘Fundamental Biology of Cancer’.

Note to readers: This article is for informational purposes only and not a substitute for professional medical advice. Always seek the advice of your doctor with any questions about a medical condition.

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