Poor Cosmetic Ingredient

Diethyl Toluamide (DEET)

Also known as: N,N-Diethyl-m-toluamide, N,N-Diethyl-3-methylbenzamide, N,N-Diethyl-meta-toluamide, DEET (N,N-diethyl-meta-toluamide), BRN 2046711 (+8 more)

INCI: DIETHYL TOLUAMIDE

Diethyl Toluamide (DEET) (CAS 134-62-3) is a cosmetic cosmetic ingredient functioning as Insect repellent (biocidal function, not a cosmetic function). EU Regulation 1223/2009 status: prohibited. 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 134-62-3 →

Auto-generated CPSR Part A draft with source citations

Cross-Vertical Regulatory Divergence

Diethyl Toluamide (DEET) is prohibited in EU cosmetics but has active industrial GHS classifications (H315, H320, H336, H302, H319, H402, H412).

Source: Cosmetics: ingredients.eu_status; Chemicals: ghs_classifications.signal_word/hazard_statement_code

CAS Number

134-62-3

View industrial chemical safety profile →

Function

Insect repellent (biocidal function, not a cosmetic function)

Safety Rating

POOR

Chemistry & Identifiers

Formula

C12H17NO

191.27 g/mol

PubChem CID

4284

IUPAC Name

N,N-diethyl-3-methylbenzamide

InChIKey

MMOXZBCLCQITDF-UHFFFAOYSA-N

ChEBI: CHEBI:7071 UNII: FB0C1XZV4Y Wikidata: Q408389

Regulatory Status

EU EU Status prohibited

US US Status permitted

US Notes Regulated by EPA as a pesticide (FIFRA), not by FDA as a cosmetic; inclusion in a cosmetic product would trigger EPA jurisdiction

For full compliance data across multiple jurisdictions, use the Substance Compliance tool.

Safety Data

Margin of Safety, dermal absorption, and sensitization profile summaries for Diethyl Toluamide (DEET).

Calculate MoS for your specific formulation with the MoS Calculator.

EU CLP Annex VI Harmonized Classification

Legally binding harmonized classification per Regulation (EC) No 1272/2008 (CLP) Annex VI.

Signal Word

Warning

Pictograms

Harmful / Irritant

Hazard Class and Category

Acute Tox. 4; Skin Irrit. 2; Eye Irrit. 2

Hazard Statements

H302 Harmful if swallowed
H315 Causes skin irritation
H319 Causes serious eye irritation

Specific Concentration Limits / M-factors

oral: ATE = 1892.0 mg/kg bw

Inserted via ATP: ATP14

Sensitization AOP Dashboard

Adverse Outcome Pathway data across 5 assays (DPRA, KeratinoSens, hCLAT, LLNA, NESIL) aggregated from public sources.

DPRA Cys %

6.7%

DPRA Lys %

3.35%

KeratinoSens IC50

2957 µM

hCLAT CV75

492.3 µg/mL

LLNA EC3

60%

NESIL

15000 µg/cm²

LLNA: NC (non-sensitizer) GHS: not classified

Source: LLNA: Kern et al. (2010); DPRA: Hoffmann et al., 2018 | Urbisch et al. 2015 [DOI:10.1016/j.yrtph.2014.12.008]; KS: Urbisch et al. 2015 [DOI:10.1016/j.yrtph.2014.12.008] | No reference provided in NICEATM database; hCLAT: No reference provided in NICEATM database

Expanded Jurisdictional Detail

Additional regulatory detail beyond the 7-jurisdiction summary: Saudi SFDA, Korea MFDS, ASEAN ACD, Japan/Korea, Brazil/India, and cross-jurisdictional restriction entries.

Additional Jurisdictional Restrictions (4)

Jurisdiction	Status	Max %	Product Type
CA	banned	-	-
ASEAN	banned	-	All cosmetic products prohibited
PH	banned	0%	All cosmetic products
VN	banned	0%	All cosmetic products

PubChem Annotations

Safety and regulatory annotations from PubChem (NCBI) aggregated sources.

Safety (3)

Carcinogen Classification

No indication of carcinogenicity to humans (not listed by IARC).

Source: Toxin and Toxin Target Database (T3DB)

Evidence for Carcinogenicity

Cancer Classification: Group D Not Classifiable as to Human Carcinogenicity

Source: Hazardous Substances Data Bank (HSDB)

Skin Eye Respiratory Irritation

An eye and skin irritant. | Direct contact may cause eye irritation. | DEET is very irritating to the eyes but not corrosive.

Source: Hazardous Substances Data Bank (HSDB)

Function Categories & List Membership

Cosmetic/Chemical Function Categories

Biocide Humectant No specific technical function

Expert Verdict

Expert safety assessment and concern-level summary for Diethyl Toluamide (DEET).

Known Synonyms

N,N-Diethyl-m-toluamide N,N-Diethyl-3-methylbenzamide N,N-Diethyl-meta-toluamide DEET (N,N-diethyl-meta-toluamide) BRN 2046711 Caswell No. 346 EINECS 205-149-7 EPA Pesticide Chemical Code 080301 MGK diethyltoluamide Repper-DET Diethyltoluamidum Dietiltoluamida UNII-FB0C1XZV4Y

Chemical Function

Humectant No specific technical function Biocide

Regulatory Lists

Canada; consumer_product; Substances in Products - Canada (4/2014) detected; MN Chemical Screening; surface_water detected; MN Chemical Screening; surface_water detected; MN Chemical Screening; surface_water detected; drinking_water; MN Chemical Screening detected; MN Chemical Screening; wastewater detected; MN Chemical Screening; surface_water detected; ground_water; MN Chemical Screening detected; drinking_water; MN Chemical Screening detected; drinking_water; MN Chemical Screening active_ingredient; Europe; Pesticides active_ingredient; Pesticides active_ingredient; Pesticides active_ingredient; Pesticides active_ingredient; Pesticides active_ingredient; Pesticides active_ingredient; Pesticides active_ingredient; 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.

Compound

DIETHYLTOLUAMIDE

ChEMBL ID

CHEMBL1453317

Max Phase

Adverse Event Associations

View full pharmaceutical profile →

Frequently Asked Questions

Is Diethyl Toluamide (DEET) safe in cosmetics?

Diethyl Toluamide (DEET) has a safety rating of "POOR" in our database. EU status: prohibited. US status: permitted.

Is Diethyl Toluamide (DEET) allowed in the EU?

Diethyl Toluamide (DEET) EU regulatory status: prohibited. This is based on EU Regulation 1223/2009 and its amendments.

What does Diethyl Toluamide (DEET) do in cosmetics?

Diethyl Toluamide (DEET) functions as: Insect repellent (biocidal function, not a cosmetic function). It is classified as a cosmetic ingredient in our database. CAS number: 134-62-3.

Is Diethyl Toluamide (DEET) used outside cosmetics?

Diethyl Toluamide (DEET) 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.

Does Diethyl Toluamide (DEET) have different safety status in cosmetics vs industrial chemicals?

Diethyl Toluamide (DEET) is prohibited in EU cosmetics but has active industrial GHS classifications (H315, H320, H336, H302, H319, H402, H412).

Compliance Tools

Check Diethyl Toluamide (DEET) compliance across multiple jurisdictions:

Ingredient Decoder

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82 Allergen Checker

Check for EU declarable fragrance allergens

Substance Compliance

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MoS Calculator

Calculate Margin of Safety using SCCS methodology

Heavy Metal Limits

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