Find products and ingredients Learn how Skin Deep® works Meet our experts Discover EWG VERIFIED®

Data: Limited

Benzyl Salicylate

  • Products with the EWG VERIFIED mark have met use restrictions and warnings based on EWG review of company data.

IMAGE SOURCE: PubChem

SEARCH PRODUCTS

Other Concerns

Use restrictions (moderate), Endocrine disruption (low), and Irritation (skin, eyes, or lungs) (low)

SYNONYMS

● 2-HYDROXY- PHENYLMETHYL ESTER BENZOIC ACID
● 2-HYDROXYBENZOIC ACID, BENZYL ESTER
● BENZOIC ACID, 2-HYDROXY-, PHENYLMETHYL ESTER
● BENZOIC ACID, 2HYDROXY, PHENYLMETHYL ESTER
● BENZYL 2-HYDROXYBENZOATE
● BENZYL ESTER 2-HYDROXYBENZOIC ACID
● BENZYL ESTER SALICYLIC ACID
● BENZYL O-HYDROXYBENZOATE
● BENZYL SALICYLATE
● PHENYLMETHYL 2-HYDROXYBENZOATE
● PHENYLMETHYL ESTER BENZOIC ACID, 2-HYDROXY-
● SALICYLIC ACID, BENZYL ESTER

Restricted

Restricted: EWG VERIFIED products cannot contain this ingredient without adequate substantiation


Benzyl Salicylate is an ester of benzyl alcohol and salicylic acid; this ingredient has been associated with allergies and contact dermatitis.

Common concerns

See how this product scores for common concerns.

  • LOW
    Cancer
  • HIGH
    Allergies & Immunotoxicity
  • LOW
    Developmental and Reproductive Toxicity
  • MODERATE
    Use Restrictions

Ingredient concerns

  • CONCERNS
  • DATA SOURCES

Products with this Ingredient

Expand content Collapse content
shampoo282 products
conditioner242 products
hair treatment/serum226 products
fragrance for women215 products
foundation186 products
moisturizer183 products
hair styling aide172 products
body wash/cleanser104 products
facial moisturizer/treatment85 products
styling gel/lotion84 products
concealer76 products
hair spray74 products
body spray68 products
hand cream58 products
antiperspirant/deodorant55 products
mask51 products
liquid hand soap49 products
fragrance for men48 products
exfoliant/scrub47 products
lipstick44 products
serums & essences42 products
lip gloss33 products
body oil32 products
styling mousse/foam31 products
hair color and bleaching30 products
bar soap28 products
sunless tanning26 products
bath oil/salts/soak23 products
antiperspirant/deodorant (men's)22 products
facial cleanser18 products
setting powder/spray18 products
body firming lotion16 products
daily use with SPF15 products
eye shadow15 products
around-eye cream11 products
detangler11 products
blush11 products
toners/astringents10 products
beard care10 products
lip balm9 products
polish remover9 products
lip plumper9 products
bronzer/highlighter8 products
after shave7 products
anti-aging7 products
shaving cream7 products
makeup primer7 products
hand sanitizer6 products
nail treatment5 products
body powder4 products
4 products
beard oil4 products
beard cleanser4 products
cuticle treatment3 products
depilatory3 products
glitter3 products
nail polish3 products
facial powder2 products
foot moisturizer2 products
after sun product2 products
bubble bath2 products
tanning oil2 products
BB cream2 products
baby shampoo2 products
makeup remover1 products
diaper cream1 products
baby lotion1 products
hair relaxer1 products
recreational sunscreen1 products
hair-loss treatment1 products
damaged skin treatment1 products
hair removal waxes1 products
foot odor control1 products
baby powder1 products
nail glue1 products
baby soap1 products

Allergies/immunotoxicity

Expand content Collapse content
CONCERN REFERENCE
Known human immune system toxicant or allergenSCCPNFP Opinion on Fragrance Allergy
Human any toxicant or allergen - strong evidenceOpen scientific literature
Limited evidence of any toxicity or allergiesOpen scientific literature

Use restrictions

Expand content Collapse content
CONCERN REFERENCE
Recommended restricted in cosmetics - use, concentration, or manufacturing restrictions - Fragrance subject to restrictions: safe only within recommended use or concentration limitsn)International Fragrance Association Codes & Standards
Determined safe for use in cosmetics, subject to concentration or use limitations - anyOpen scientific literature
Restricted in cosmetics - labeling requirement for allergensCosIng

Irritation (skin, eyes, or lungs)

Expand content Collapse content
CONCERN REFERENCE
any irritation - weight of evidence unknown/unassessedOpen scientific literature

Endocrine disruption

Expand content Collapse content
CONCERN REFERENCE
Associated with endocrine disruptionOpen scientific literature

Ecotoxicology

Expand content Collapse content
CONCERN REFERENCE
Suspected to be an environmental toxinEnvironment Canada Domestic Substance List

Multiple, additive exposure sources

Expand content Collapse content
CONCERN REFERENCE
Designated as safe for general or specific, limited use in foodFDA Everything Added to Food

Organ system toxicity (non-reproductive)

Expand content Collapse content
CONCERN REFERENCE
Classified as not expected to be potentially toxic or harmfulEnvironment Canada Domestic Substance List

Persistence and bioaccumulation

Expand content Collapse content
CONCERN REFERENCE
Not suspected to be persistentEnvironment Canada Domestic Substance List
Not suspected to be bioaccumulativeEnvironment Canada Domestic Substance List

Data gaps

Expand content Collapse content
CONCERN REFERENCE
49 studies in PubMed science library may include information on the toxicity of this chemicalNLM PubMed
  • SCCPNFP (Scientific Committee On Cosmetic Products And Non-Food Products). 1999. Opinion Concerning Fragrance Allergy In Consumers. . SCCNFP/0017/98 Final, December 1999; and SCCPNFP (Scientific Committee On Cosmetic Products And Non-Food Products). 2000. An Initial List Of Perfumery Materials Which Must Not Form Part Of Fragrances Compounds Used In Cosmetic Products. SCCNFP/0320/00, final May 2000.
  • Open scientific/peer reviewed literature
  • IFRA (International Fragrance Association). 2006. Codes and Standards.
  • European Commission. 2013. Cosing, the European Commission database with information on cosmetic substances and ingredients. Accessed on March 1, 2013 at http://ec.europa.eu/consumers/cosmetics/cosing/ .
  • EC (Environment Canada). 2008. Domestic Substances List Categorization. Canadian Environmental Protection Act (CEPA) Environmental Registry.
  • FDA (U.S. Food and Drug Administration). 2008. EAFUS [Everything Added to Food]: A Food Additive Database. FDA Office of Food Safety and Applied Nutrition.
  • NLM (National Library of Medicine). 2012. PubMed online scientific bibliography data. http://www.pubmed.gov.

Understanding scores

Cosmetics and personal care products are not required to be tested for safety before being allowed on the market. The Skin Deep® scoring system was designed to help the public understand whether a product is safe to use or whether it contains ingredients of concern.

Every product and ingredient in Skin Deep gets a two-part score – one for hazard and one for data availability. The safest products score well by both measures, with a low hazard rating and a fair or better data availability rating.

HOW WE DETERMINE SCORES

Hazard score

The Skin Deep ingredient hazard score, from 1 to 10, reflects known and suspected hazards linked to the ingredients. The EWG VERIFIED® mark means a product meets EWG’s strictest criteria for transparency and health.

Score legend

Data availability

The Skin Deep data availability rating reflects the number of scientific studies about the product or ingredient in the published scientific literature.

NONE LIMITED FAIR GOOD ROBUST
Low Availability
Moderate Availability
High Availability

Can’t find your product?

Enter the ingredients in EWG’s Build Your Own Report tool to get an approximate score for that product.

BUILD YOUR OWN REPORT
Skindeep Healthy Living App

EWG research
on the go

Find personal care, cleaning, and food products on the EWG Healthy Living app.

DOWNLOAD THE APP