Worth a closer look
Evidence key Strong Moderate Weak How we grade
Labeled fragrance allergen (EU) Skin allergen Limited by IFRA
- What it can be used for
- Adds scent and protects the product from light (the functions the EU ingredient database, CosIng, lists for it; a product may use it for any of them)
- CAS number
- 118-58-1
Why it’s flagged
A fragrance allergen the EU requires companies to name on the label.
- Annex III entry 75. Source: EU Cosmetics Regulation, Annex III (restricted)
Must be named on EU labels above 0.001% in leave-on and 0.01% in rinse-off products. Elsewhere, including the US, it can hide inside “fragrance”.
Classified as a skin sensitizer (may cause an allergic skin reaction).
- Skin Sens. 1B (H317). Source: EU CLP Regulation, Annex VI harmonized classification
EU hazard statement H317: may cause an allergic skin reaction.
Use limited by the fragrance industry's own IFRA standard.
- IFRA standard “Benzyl salicylate”: use limited. Source: IFRA Standards Library
IFRA, the fragrance industry's own standards body, sets maximum amounts for this material in different kinds of products.
What the research says
- Testing 62 individually purchased fragrance-related ingredients found in the deodorants, 8 were estrogenic in the same cell assay – including the musk HHCB/galaxolide and benzyl salicylate – at potencies the study describes as comparable to parabens, a preservative class with well-documented weak estrogenic activity. Moderate evidence. Lange et al. 2014
- In RIFM's own comparison of 57 fragrance chemicals, the mouse test used to set fragrance skin-allergy safety limits agreed with real human sensitization thresholds within about 3-fold for 76% of the chemicals tested, but was off by up to nearly 800-fold for others, including hexyl and benzyl salicylate. Moderate evidence. Api, Basketter & Lalko 2014 Industry-funded
- The fragrance industry's own 2007 safety review of benzyl salicylate assessed allergy, toxicity, and cancer risk in detail but never tested it for hormone-like activity at all; the first test came two years later, from an independent lab with no fragrance-industry funding. Moderate evidence. Charles & Darbre 2009
- Sanitary pads, panty liners and tampons can contain undisclosed fragrance allergens — chiefly alpha-isomethyl ionone (in every scented tampon tested), hexyl cinnamal, and benzyl salicylate, plus trace limonene, linalool, and geraniol — and in the EU they do not have to declare any of them. Moderate evidence. Pastor-Nieto 2021 (Desmedt 2020)
- Six substances found in the tested perfumes are classed by this report as suspected endocrine disruptors: benzyl salicylate, BHT, butylphenyl methylpropional, ethylhexyl methoxycinnamate, ethylhexyl salicylate, and octocrylene. Moderate evidence. Tegengif 2022
- Benzyl salicylate, one of the most widely used fragrance chemicals (about 2,500 metric tons a year worldwide in 2007), caused skin allergy in the fragrance industry's own tests, and the industry's standards body IFRA restricts how much may be used. Moderate evidence. RIFM Expert Panel / Belsito 2007 Industry-funded
- If you have fragrance allergy, look for benzyl salicylate on the ingredient list (and hexyl salicylate, which cross-reacted with it in human tests); EU rules require named fragrance allergens to be declared above threshold. Moderate evidence. RIFM Expert Panel / Belsito 2007 Industry-funded
- Three fragrance and cosmetic chemicals used in bodycare products applied around the breast — benzyl salicylate, benzyl benzoate, and butylphenylmethylpropional (Lilial) — activated the human estrogen receptor and increased growth of estrogen-dependent breast cancer cells in a laboratory dish, an effect blocked by an anti-estrogen drug, suggesting the mechanism runs through the estrogen receptor. Moderate evidence. Charles & Darbre 2009
About ingredients flagged like this one:
- In a survey of 187 US pediatric personal-care products, preservatives (57.8% of products) were a more common source of contact allergens than fragrance (29.4%), even though the products were being screened specifically for hypoallergenic/fragrance-related marketing claims. Moderate evidence. Hamann 2015
Each finding shows its evidence grade. See every graded fact or how we grade.
Don’t want it on you or in your air? Look for “fragrance-free,” not “unscented.” An unscented product can still contain a masking fragrance. Why the words matter.
What this page can’t tell you
These lists describe what a substance can do, its hazard. The risk from one product depends on how much is in it and how you use it, and the label doesn’t say how much.
Not being on a list doesn’t make an ingredient safe. It may never have been assessed.
“Fragrance” or “parfum” on a label can hide this ingredient and many others. In the US, the individual chemicals in a fragrance are rarely named on the label.
Check your products
Check a whole labelProducts that list itEWG Skin DeepShop fragrance-free
“Products that list it” opens Open Beauty Facts, a free database anyone can edit.
Flagged the same way
Official lists checked September 2026. Spotted a mistake? Tell us.