Is Phenethyl Butyrate safe in cosmetics?
Phenethyl Butyrate has a safety rating of "GOOD" in our database. EU status: permitted. US status: permitted.
Good
Cosmetic Ingredient
Phenethyl Butyrate
Also known as: Butanoic acid, 2-phenylethyl ester, Benzylcarbinyl butyrate, BRN 1955788, EINECS 203-119-8, FEMA No. 2861 (+9 more)
INCI: PHENETHYL BUTYRATE
Phenethyl Butyrate (CAS 103-52-6) is a cosmetic cosmetic ingredient functioning as Fragrance ingredient. NOAEL 1000 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 103-52-6 →
Auto-generated CPSR Part A draft with source citations
Function
Fragrance ingredient
Safety Rating
GOOD
Chemistry & Identifiers
IUPAC Name
2-phenylethyl butanoate
InChIKey
WFNDDSQUKATKNX-UHFFFAOYSA-N
Regulatory Status
EU EU Status
permitted
US US Status
permitted
US Notes
Not restricted by FDA; FEMA GRAS for food flavoring
For full compliance data across multiple jurisdictions, use the Substance Compliance tool.
Safety Data
Margin of Safety, dermal absorption, and sensitization profile summaries for Phenethyl Butyrate.
Calculate MoS for your specific formulation with the MoS Calculator.
Pre-Calculated Safety Assessment
Pre-calculated NOAEL → SED → MoS audit trail for Phenethyl Butyrate across SCCS product categories, with measured dermal absorption where available.
Sensitization AOP Dashboard
Adverse Outcome Pathway data across 5 assays (DPRA, KeratinoSens, hCLAT, LLNA, NESIL) aggregated from public sources.
NESIL
5184 µg/cm²
GHS: 1B
Human: positive
Source: HPPT: [68] Kligman AM (1977): Report to RIFM, 15 February, unpublished.
HRIPT Human Patch Test Studies
3 human repeat insult patch tests aggregated from dermatological literature.
| Test Type | N | Sensitized | Dose µg/cm² | NESIL µg/cm² | Potency |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| HMT | - | 0 | 5400 | - | - |
| HMT | - | 0 | 5184 | - | - |
| HMT | - | 0 | 6750 | - | - |
ECHA REACH Registration
European Chemicals Agency REACH dossier and Substances of Very High Concern listing.
Registration Type
Full
Tonnage Band
Ceased manufacture
Substance Type
SUBSTANCE
SVHC Candidate
No
PubChem Annotations
Safety and regulatory annotations from PubChem (NCBI) aggregated sources.
Regulatory (4)
JECFA Number
991
Source: Joint FAO/WHO Expert Committee on Food Additives (JECFA)
JECFA Evaluation
2-PHENETHYL BUTANOATE | 2002 | No safety concern at current levels of intake when used as a flavouring agent | TRS 913-JECFA 59/53 | FAS 50-JECFA 59/215
Source: Joint FAO/WHO Expert Committee on Food Additives (JECFA)
JECFA Evaluation
BENZYLCARBINYL BUTYRATE | 2002 | No safety concern at current levels of intake when used as a flavouring agent | TRS 913-JECFA 59/53 | FAS 50-JECFA 59/215
Source: Joint FAO/WHO Expert Committee on Food Additives (JECFA)
JECFA Evaluation
PHENETHYL BUTYRATE | 2002 | No safety concern at current levels of intake when used as a flavouring agent | TRS 913-JECFA 59/53 | FAS 50-JECFA 59/215
Source: Joint FAO/WHO Expert Committee on Food Additives (JECFA)
Function Categories & List Membership
Cosmetic/Chemical Function Categories
Flavouring and nutrient
Fragrance
No specific technical function
Regulatory List Membership (3)
IFRA Fragrance Transparency List
FDA Substances Added to Food (EAFUS)
Consumer Product Chemical
Expert Verdict
Expert safety assessment and concern-level summary for Phenethyl Butyrate.
Regulatory Flags
fragrance-component
ifra_fragrance
fda_food_additive
jecfa_safe
NOAEL Studies Summary
View details ->Public NOAEL study rows linked to Phenethyl Butyrate by CAS number or substance name.
Studies
18
Lowest NOAEL
46 mg/kg bw/day
Highest NOAEL
1000 mg/kg bw/day
ECHA_REACH_reach_study_results_dossiers_23-05-2023.zip
Known Synonyms
Butanoic acid, 2-phenylethyl ester
Benzylcarbinyl butyrate
BRN 1955788
EINECS 203-119-8
FEMA No. 2861
NSC 1271
Phenethyl butanoate
beta-Phenethyl n-butanoate
2-Phenethyl butanoate
Phenylethyl butyrate
2-Phenylethyl butyrate
UNII-02E08ZN98R
Phenethyl 2-methylpropanoate
butanoic acid 2-phenylethyl ester
Chemical Function
Fragrance
No specific technical function
Flavouring and nutrient
Regulatory Lists
Australia; Food and drug - smoking-related products
IFRA Transparency
Europe
food_additive; Substances Added to Food (formerly EAFUS) (2/2019)
consumer_product
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
CHEMBL3187974
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Phenethyl Butyrate allowed in the EU?
Phenethyl Butyrate EU regulatory status: permitted. This is based on EU Regulation 1223/2009 and its amendments.
What does Phenethyl Butyrate do in cosmetics?
Phenethyl Butyrate functions as: Fragrance ingredient. It is classified as a cosmetic ingredient in our database. CAS number: 103-52-6.
Is Phenethyl Butyrate used outside cosmetics?
Phenethyl Butyrate 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 Phenethyl Butyrate 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
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Good
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Benzyl Butyrate
Good
Chemical family
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