image

Exploring Benzyl Alcohol: Its Role Beyond Cosmetics in Food, Pharma, and More

Explore the versatility of benzyl alcohol, a compound utilized in cosmetics, food, pharmaceuticals, and paints. From enhancing fragrances to preserving products, its wide-ranging applications and regulatory considerations are key in various industries.

July 09, 2022

Benzyl alcohol is one aromatic alcohol that can be seen widely used in cosmetic formulations as a fragrance component, solvent, preservative and viscosity-decreasing agent. Benzoic acid is an aromatic acid used in various cosmetics as a pH adjuster and preservative.  

Then you have the sodium benzoate from benzyl alcohol suppliers, which is the sodium salt of the benzoic acid used for preservative purposes. It is also widely used as a cosmetic product type around here. 

 Supply for Benzyl Alcohol - End-User Analysis

1. Personal Care

It was found that Benzyl Alcohol is one aromatic alcohol which is widely used in various cosmetic formulations as the fragrance component, solvent, preservative and viscosity decreasing agent. You have used benzoic acid, which is aromatic and commonly used in cosmetics, as the significant pH adjuster and preservative product.

2. Food & Beverages

Benzyl Alcohol can be used as a flavoring substance for food items and beverages at around 400mg/kg. The chosen quality is requested as the carrier solvent for flavoring substances to the food and beverages is about 300mg/kg in the final food consumed.

3. Pharmaceutical

Benzyl Alcohol is noted to be aromatic alcohol, which is used as an antimicrobial preservative in multi-dose medication vials and parenteral solutions. The concentration amount ranges from around 0.9% to 2.0%.

4. Paints & Coatings

Most of the time, Benzyl Alcohol is a general solvent for waxes, inks, shellacs, paints, lacquers and even epoxy resin coatings. So, it can be seen used in paint strippers, mainly when combined with compatible viscosity enhancers. The main goal is to combine the Benzyl Alcohol for clinging onto the painted surfaces.

Reassessing benzyl alcohol's use as a food additive

The panel on the FAF provided one scientific opinion on re-evaluating the safety of Benzyl Alcohol usage whenever used as a food additive. Experts considered proper exposure and toxicity data during the initial surveys. 

1. Benzyl Alcohol is mainly authorised as a food additive in the EU in accordance with Annex III to Regulation EC no 1333/2008. 

2. The panel considered this chemical of lower acute toxicity without any concern regarding carcinogenicity and genotoxicity and also established an ADI of around 4mg/kg body weight per day.

3. The higher exposure estimated in refined exposure scenes was a maximum of around 0.27 and 0.81 mg/kg per day in toddlers. 

Specifications for Benzyl Alcohol Analytical Reagent Grade

The Benzyl Alcohol Analytical Reagent Grade is a clear, colorless and oily liquid, soluble in water and miscible with ethanol and with essential and fatty oils. It has a relative density of around 1.043 to 1.049. The product can be identified through infrared absorption spectrophotometry and compared primarily with benzyl alcohol CRS. It has a maximum peroxide value of 5, and related substances will be gas chromatography for passing the tests. 
 

Other Related Blogs