Forensic science joins the fight against counterfeit perfumes

To help fight counterfeit perfumes, a doctoral student in forensic science at the Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières (UQTR), in collaboration with the chemistry section of the Laboratoire de sciences judiciaires et de médecine légale de Montréal, analyzed and compared more than a hundred samples, authentic and counterfeit. And through analysis, the scientist managed to get the illegal essences to reveal some of their secrets, and it doesn’t smell very good.

Perhaps, under the tree this year, you will find a small package containing an elegant bottle with a heady fragrance that you will happily spray yourself with. Perfume remains a classic gift, whether at Christmas or any other occasion, but it comes with a cost that pushes many consumers to look for more attractive prices. However, the bargain of the century smells like a scam.

Since the pandemic, with the help of online commerce, the counterfeit perfume market has been booming and very lucrative. According to a 2016 study by economic consultant Frontier Economics, the global market for counterfeiting and pirated goods was already worth nearly $1.13 trillion in 2013. The study estimated that it would reach $2.8 trillion in 2022. PhD student Pier-Louis Dumont, who already has a master’s degree in chemistry, suggests that the amount for 2024 is probably even higher.

He drives the point home by adding that some studies indicate that counterfeiting is as lucrative, if not more so, than other illegal activities, such as the sale of narcotics, for example, and that the money generated by the sale of counterfeits could be used to finance other activities.

Like a bloodhound that Agatha Christie might have imagined, Dumont searched for traces in the samples provided to him by the police and that he was able to obtain on his own. This is the whole principle of forensic science, namely the search for chemical traces on any medium. Each trace, explains the doctoral student, is “a vestige of past activities. There are many events that will leave their mark on a crime scene. Forensic science is interpreting how this trace was produced and what it represents.”

Is the smell worth it?

During his analyses, Dumont discovered that most counterfeit perfumes used methanol as a solvent instead of the ethanol found in branded perfumes. The second is well known to bar-room stalwarts for its effects on the liver when it is absorbed in too large a quantity, but it is not more toxic than that. The first, on the other hand, is what is put in window cleaning products in particular. It is a small molecule that can pass through the pores of the skin and be absorbed by the body. “In the long term, it will end up causing health problems,” says the doctoral student. Methanol is known to cause problems with eyesight, among other things.”

In addition, he was able to identify allergens and toxic substances in the components of counterfeit perfumes. The perfume industry is subject to strict standards that require perfumers to ban certain ingredients and encourage them to avoid others as well. Standards that illegal manufacturers do not bother to respect. Applying their products directly to the skin is therefore not without risk.

In the short term, damage is unlikely, says the chemist. But in the long term, there could be complications. “Counterfeit perfume has a much shorter duration,” he notes (…) These are products that are very diluted, because criminals want to maximize their profits, which means that the consumer will want to reapply them regularly.”

It is this repetition over time that could potentially cause skin irritation, allergic reactions or much more severe complications. However, the various existing studies are not yet able to say precisely what the risks are, because everything depends on the molecule and its concentration, the combination of the two opening up almost infinite possibilities.

Tracing the traces

The other important element that emerged from Dumont’s analyses is the presence of similar traces in counterfeit perfumes from different brands. The chemist sleuth, like the queen of detective novels, does not believe in coincidences, even if his scientific reserve prevents him from drawing definitive conclusions. He therefore deduces that these similarities could indicate that these perfumes are the product of the same source. Either because the traces suggest that the recipe or manufacturing method are partially the same, or because they suggest that the perfumes have undergone the same contaminations, and therefore that they were produced or stored in the same place.

The doctoral student adds that “it becomes interesting for investigations because if, for example, we arrest two individuals who sell counterfeit perfumes and these perfumes come from the same source, it could direct the investigations towards the source of distribution. (…) That means we could catch bigger fish.” For example, uncovering the recipe used by the illegal manufacturer would allow us to spot them when they obtain the necessary ingredients.

How can you spot a counterfeit perfume? Dumont places the price at the top of the list of clues. If it’s too good to be true, it probably is. A luxury perfume sold with a 75 per cent discount is very unlikely to be authentic.

Next come visual clues, namely whether the packaging, label, bottle and liquid conform to the brand’s design. So, if you see the famous Camel No. 5 in an octagonal bottle with green contents, move on. Even more so if the little text on the packaging contains mistakes.

The last clue given by the chemist, which unfortunately is not valid for online sales, is the smell. A counterfeit will quickly dissipate. And, if you know the perfume in question well, is the smell the same?

Dumont strongly insists on this point, you have to be careful, because these scams are multiplying and the phenomenon is becoming more and more worrying.

–This report by La Presse Canadienne was translated by CityNews