Is Ethylhexyl Acetate safe in cosmetics?
Ethylhexyl Acetate has a safety rating of "MODERATE" in our database. EU status: permitted. US status: permitted.
Moderate
Cosmetic Ingredient
Ethylhexyl Acetate
Also known as: Acetic acid, 2-ethylhexyl ester, 4-02-00-00166, Acetic acid alpha-ethylhexyl ester, BRN 1758321, EINECS 203-079-1 (+9 more)
INCI: ETHYLHEXYL ACETATE
Ethylhexyl Acetate (CAS 103-09-3) is a cosmetic cosmetic ingredient functioning as Solvent, fragrance ingredient. NOAEL 1070 mg/kg bw/day (cross-referenced against ToxValDB ECHA IUCLID); EU Regulation 1223/2009 status: permitted. Industrial safety data is also available in the chemical safety database. Same-CAS public records also appear in industrial chemical safety and pharmaceutical data.
View industrial chemical safety profile for CAS 103-09-3 →
Auto-generated CPSR Part A draft with source citations
Function
Solvent, fragrance ingredient
Safety Rating
MODERATE
Chemistry & Identifiers
IUPAC Name
2-ethylhexyl acetate
InChIKey
WOYWLLHHWAMFCB-UHFFFAOYSA-N
Regulatory Status
EU EU Status
permitted
US US Status
permitted
US Notes
Permitted — no specific CFR restriction
For full compliance data across multiple jurisdictions, use the Substance Compliance tool.
Safety Data
Margin of Safety, dermal absorption, and sensitization profile summaries for Ethylhexyl Acetate.
Calculate MoS for your specific formulation with the MoS Calculator.
Pre-Calculated Safety Assessment
Pre-calculated NOAEL → SED → MoS audit trail for Ethylhexyl Acetate across SCCS product categories, with measured dermal absorption where available.
HRIPT Human Patch Test Studies
2 human repeat insult patch tests aggregated from dermatological literature.
| Test Type | N | Sensitized | Dose µg/cm² | NESIL µg/cm² | Potency |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| HMT | - | 0 | 2700 | - | - |
| HMT | - | 0 | 2700 | - | - |
ECHA REACH Registration
European Chemicals Agency REACH dossier and Substances of Very High Concern listing.
Registration Type
Full
Tonnage Band
1,000 - 10,000 tonnes
Substance Type
SUBSTANCE
SVHC Candidate
No
PubChem Annotations
Safety and regulatory annotations from PubChem (NCBI) aggregated sources.
Safety (1)
Skin Eye Respiratory Irritation
MODERATE IRRITATION OF SKIN & EYES.
Source: Hazardous Substances Data Bank (HSDB)
Function Categories & List Membership
Cosmetic/Chemical Function Categories
Film former
Flavouring and nutrient
Fragrance
Solvent
Regulatory List Membership (1)
IFRA Fragrance Transparency List
Expert Verdict
Expert safety assessment and concern-level summary for Ethylhexyl Acetate.
Regulatory Flags
fragrance-component
ifra_fragrance
Known Synonyms
Acetic acid, 2-ethylhexyl ester
4-02-00-00166
Acetic acid alpha-ethylhexyl ester
BRN 1758321
EINECS 203-079-1
2-Ethyl-1-hexanol acetate
beta-Ethylhexyl acetate
2-Ethyl-1-hexyl acetate
FEMA Number 2806
NSC 8897
2-Ethylhexylester kyseliny octove
UNII-2C7K8OA8SB
2-Ethylhexanyl acetate
2-Ethylhexyl ethanoate
Chemical Function
Solvent
Fragrance
Flavouring and nutrient
Film former
Regulatory Lists
IFRA Transparency
Europe
air; detected; emissions; Europe; Other direct contact consumer goods
air; detected; emissions; Europe; Other direct contact consumer goods
air; detected; emissions; Europe; Other direct contact consumer goods
inert_ingredient; non_food_use; Pesticides
Australian Status
AICIS status: listed
Cross-Vertical Safety Context
Same-CAS public records found in pharmaceutical data.
SOURCE
ChEMBL / DrugCentral / FAERS
DB_PHARMA CAS match
Pharmaceutical Data
Same-CAS rows from the pharmaceutical spoke database.
ChEMBL ID
CHEMBL1879713
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Ethylhexyl Acetate allowed in the EU?
Ethylhexyl Acetate EU regulatory status: permitted. This is based on EU Regulation 1223/2009 and its amendments.
What does Ethylhexyl Acetate do in cosmetics?
Ethylhexyl Acetate functions as: Solvent, fragrance ingredient. It is classified as a cosmetic ingredient in our database. CAS number: 103-09-3.
Is Ethylhexyl Acetate used outside cosmetics?
Ethylhexyl Acetate also appears in industrial chemical safety and pharmaceutical data. The cross-vertical cards on this page render same-CAS public rows from the matched databases.
Compliance Tools
Check Ethylhexyl Acetate compliance across multiple jurisdictions:
Ingredient Decoder
Paste a full ingredient list for instant analysis
82 Allergen Checker
Check for EU declarable fragrance allergens
Substance Compliance
Check compliance across multiple jurisdictions
MoS Calculator
Calculate Margin of Safety using SCCS methodology
Heavy Metal Limits
Compare limits across jurisdictions
Related Ingredients
2,6-Dimethyl-7-octen-2-ol (Dihydromyrcenol)
Excellent
Same category
Fragrance (perfuming), masking
2-Ethoxy-2,6,6-Trimethyl-9-Methylenebicyclo[3.3.1]Nonane (Boisiris™)
Excellent
Same category
Fragrance (rich woody, orris/iris roo...
3,6-Dimethyl-3-Octyl Acetate
Excellent
Same category
Fragrance / Perfuming agent with flor...
3-Methyl-5-(2,2,3-Trimethyl-3-Cyclopentenyl)Pent-4-En-2-Ol (Sandalore)
Excellent
Same category
Perfuming / Fragrance (sandalwood note)
4-Tert-Butylcyclohexyl Acetate
Excellent
Same category
Fragrance
Acetoin
Excellent
Same category
Skin conditioning, fragrance
(20S)-Protopanaxadiol
Moderate
Similar safety
(Cnidium Officinale/Coptis Chinensis/Glycyrrhiza Uralensis) Root Extract
Moderate
Similar safety
Skin conditioning
(Cryptomeria Japonica/Chamaecyparis Obtusa) Stem Ferment Extract
Moderate
Similar safety
Antimicrobial, antioxidant, humectant
(Eclipta Prostrata/Houttuynia Cordata) Leaf Extract
Moderate
Similar safety
Skin conditioning
(Lepidium Meyenii/Sarcodon Aspratus) Root Water
Moderate
Similar safety
Skin conditioning
(Licorice/Reynoutria Japonica) Root/Stem Extract
Moderate
Similar safety
Skin conditioning, antioxidant
Acetaminophen
Moderate
Chemical family
Skin conditioning; primarily a pharma...
Acetanilid
Poor
Chemical family
Historical antipyretic/analgesic; no ...
Benzyl Butyrate
Good
Chemical family
Perfuming / Fragrance ingredient
Is Ethylhexyl Acetate in Your Products?
Scan any product label with Piro — our free ingredient scanner. Point your camera at the ingredients list and get instant safety scores for every ingredient.
Try Piro Free →Analyze Your Full Ingredient List
Paste any INCI list into the Decoder for instant safety analysis, or calculate the Margin of Safety for Ethylhexyl Acetate in your formulation.