Benzyl Alcohol

CAS Number: 100-51-6

SERIOUS
health hazard

MODERATE
health hazard

FEW OR NO
health hazards

0 79

80 89

90 100

Sources of exposure:

personal care

Cleaning products and household care

industrial use

Arts & crafts

Description:

Benzyl alcohol is an aromatic alcohol. It is used as a fragrance component, preservative, solvent, and viscosity-reducing agent in personal care and pharmaceutical products. Banzyl alcohol is naturally occuring in many plants but is often synthetically produced for commercial use.

Health concerns:

Genotoxicity

May cause mutations or damage DNA in cells.

Immunotoxicity & Allergens

May impact immune system function or cause allergic reactions.

Irritant

May cause skin, eye, or respiratory irritation.

Ecotoxicity

May be toxic to ecosystems and wildlife.

Banned/restricted lists:

European Commission Annex V Preservatives in Cosmetic Products. International Fragrance Association (IFRA) Standards for maximum concentrations in finished products.

References

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.