Benzoic acid

CAS Number: 65-85-0

SERIOUS
health hazard

MODERATE
health hazard

FEW OR NO
health hazards

0 79

80 89

90 100

Sources of exposure:

Personal care

food

Description:

Benzoic acid is an aromatic carboxylic acid. It is used as a preservative in cosmetics, personal care products, and processed foods. It may also be used to help control pH depending on the formulation.

Health concerns:

Genotoxicity

May cause mutations or damage DNA in cells.

Organ System Toxicity

May cause organ damage and disease.

Irritant

May cause skin, eye, or respiratory irritation.

Banned/restricted lists:

European Commission Annex V Preservatives in Cosmetic Products.

References

US Environmental Protection Agency. Cheminformatics Modules, Computational Toxicology and Exposure Informatics (CompTox).

HOW MILLION MARKER SCORES CHEMICALS

Million Marker's Ingredient Hazard Scoring uses multiple chemical databases and a science-backed scoring system to compute hazard scores for thousands of chemicals found in consumer products and listed on ingredient labels.

We identified key chemicals based on a database compiling dozens of authoritative sources, screening tools, and QSAR models.

Hazard scores within 11 different health categories (carcinogens, endocrine disruptors, reproductive toxicants, developmental toxicants, genotoxicity, neurotoxicity, organ system toxicity, immunotoxicity, respiratory toxicity, skin/eye/respiratory irritants, and ecotoxicity).

They are weighted based on several factors, including strength of evidence for adverse impacts in humans, severity, and potential contamination.