What is it?
An aromatic alcohol that occurs naturally in some plant materials, including balsam of Peru and certain essential oils, but is now made synthetically. In cosmetics and personal care products it works as a preservative, a solvent and a fragrance ingredient. It also preserves many medicines, including multiple-dose injectable drugs, and is permitted in limited amounts in some foods.
Key information
- Benzyl alcohol is used as a preservative, solvent and fragrance ingredient, and the EU allows it at up to 1 percent as a preservative.
- The CIR Expert Panel concluded in 2017 that it is safe in the present practices of use and concentration.
- It is an EU-listed fragrance allergen that must be named on labels above 0.001 percent in leave-on and 0.01 percent in rinse-off products.
- Deaths in premature babies were linked to injected flush solutions containing it, not to skin products.
More information
Commercial benzyl alcohol is made from benzyl chloride. The Cosmetic Ingredient Review (CIR) Expert Panel assessed it together with benzoic acid and its salts and, in an amended report published in 2017, concluded that it is safe in the present practices of use and concentration. In the industry survey the panel reviewed, reported use concentrations reached up to 10 percent. In the European Union it may be used as a preservative at up to 1 percent.
Benzyl alcohol is also one of the fragrance allergens that the EU requires to be named on the label above 0.001 percent in leave-on products and 0.01 percent in rinse-off products. The EU’s Scientific Committee on Consumer Safety (SCCS) lists it as an established contact allergen in humans, though with fewer reported cases than the most common fragrance allergens. In one large dermatology-clinic study the SCCS cites, 0.3 percent of 2,166 patients tested reacted to it.
The most serious reports involve injections, not skin care. The CDC described deaths of premature newborns who were given intravenous flush solutions preserved with benzyl alcohol, and the FDA recommended that such solutions not be used for newborns.
Reality check: at the levels used in cosmetics, benzyl alcohol is considered low risk for most people. If you know you react to it, read ingredient lists even on products labeled “fragrance free,” since it may be present as a preservative.
Sources: International Journal of Toxicology (2017), via EPA HERO: Safety assessment of benzyl alcohol, benzoic acid and its salts, and benzyl benzoate; Cosmetic Ingredient Review: Benzyl alcohol, benzoic acid and its salts and ester, amended final report for panel review (2011); European Commission SCCS: Opinion on fragrance allergens in cosmetic products (2012); CDC MMWR: Neonatal deaths associated with use of benzyl alcohol
