Found Ethylene Brassylate on a label? You’re allowed to ask what it’s doing there. Here’s what it can be used for, who flags it, and what the research says, with a source for every line.
Evidence key Strong Moderate Weak How we grade
Worth a closer look
Scent ingredient
- What it can be used for
- Adds scent and tones skin (the functions the EU ingredient database, CosIng, lists for it; a product may use it for any of them)
- CAS number
- 105-95-3
Why it’s flagged
Used to add scent: its official function is perfuming or fragrance.
- Listed functions: fragrance, tonic. Source: EU CosIng ingredient database
The EU ingredient database (CosIng) lists this ingredient's function as perfuming or fragrance, so it may be there to add scent, even on a label that never says “fragrance.”
What the research says
- In this industry dataset, the fragrance chemical methyl-2-nonynoate was rated a strong skin sensitizer with a human no-effect dose of only 24 micrograms per square centimeter of skin — among the lowest doses in the whole 106-chemical set — while a chemical like ethylene brassylate needed over 23,000 micrograms per square centimeter, nearly a thousandfold more, before it showed no allergic reaction. Moderate evidence. Na et al. 2022 Industry-funded
- Less volatile fragrance compounds (linalool, geraniol, eugenol, ethylene brassylate) moved onto a second fabric far more readily than the volatile terpenes pinene and limonene. Weak evidence. Gherghel 2019
- A synthetic musk (ethylene brassylate) was the most persistent fragrance compound tested on cotton, with about 335 µM/g still on the fabric at 14 days versus about 535 µM/g at 1 hour. Weak evidence. Gherghel 2020
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 labelEWG Skin DeepShop fragrance-free
Flagged the same way
Official lists checked September 2026. Spotted a mistake? Tell us.