Excellent Preservative

p-Anisic Acid

Also known as: Benzoic acid, 4-methoxy-, Dermosoft 688, 4-Acetylanisole, 4-10-00-00346, Anisic acid, p-isomer (+7 more)

INCI: P-ANISIC ACID

p-Anisic Acid (CAS 100-09-4) is a cosmetic preservative functioning as preservative, antioxidant, anti-inflammatory. NOAEL 20 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 100-09-4 →

Auto-generated CPSR Part A draft with source citations

CAS Number

100-09-4

View industrial chemical safety profile →

Function

preservative, antioxidant, anti-inflammatory

Safety Rating

EXCELLENT

Chemistry & Identifiers

Formula

C8H8O3

152.15 g/mol

EC Number

202-818-5

PubChem CID

7478

IUPAC Name

4-methoxybenzoic acid

InChIKey

ZEYHEAKUIGZSGI-UHFFFAOYSA-N

ChEBI: CHEBI:40813 UNII: 4SB6Y7DMM3 Wikidata: Q4566032

Regulatory Status

EU EU Status permitted

US US Status permitted

US Notes No restrictions; marketed as natural-origin preservative booster

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

Safety Data

Margin of Safety, dermal absorption, and sensitization profile summaries for p-Anisic Acid.

Calculate MoS for your specific formulation with the MoS Calculator.

Pre-Calculated Safety Assessment

Pre-calculated NOAEL → SED → MoS audit trail for p-Anisic Acid across SCCS product categories, with measured dermal absorption where available.

Endocrine Disruptor Evidence (Expanded)

Cross-referenced EDC classifications, mechanism data, and dose-response evidence from EDLists, SIN List, and cosmetic-specific detail sources.

Cosmetic-Specific Mechanism

Category: UV filter

Receptor targets: ERα (limited)

LOEC: 10 µM

EU status: allowed

weak modulator

ECHA REACH Registration

European Chemicals Agency REACH dossier and Substances of Very High Concern listing.

Registration Type

Full

Tonnage Band

10 - 100 tonnes

Substance Type

SUBSTANCE

SVHC Candidate

Additional Ingredient Properties

3 property records from structured ingredient metadata.

ecotoxicity

{"biodegradable": "yes", "biodegradation_days": "28-60", "bioaccumulative": "no", "aquatic_toxicity_level": "low", "coral_reef_safe": "yes", "marine_toxicity": "low aquatic toxicity", "freshwater_toxicity": "minimal impact", "endocrine_disruptor": "no", "persistent_organic_pollutant": "no", "microplastic": "no", "nano_particle": "no", "hawaii_banned": "no", "eu_restricted_environmental": "no", "pa…

ph_stability

{"optimal_ph_min": "4.0", "optimal_ph_max": "5.5", "stable_ph_min": "3.5", "stable_ph_max": "6.0", "degrades_above_ph": "6.5", "ph_dependent_function": "Active below pH 5.5; organic acid preservative", "formulation_note": "pH determines undissociated acid concentration", "source": "PMC 2023"}

pregnancy_detail

{"pregnancy_safe": "yes", "breastfeeding_safe": "yes", "risk_category": "not-rated", "reason": "Safe; natural preservative", "source": "COSMOS"}

PubChem Annotations

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

Safety (1)

Endocrine Disruptors

Potential endocrine disrupting compound

Source: NORMAN Suspect List Exchange

Regulatory (6)

JECFA Number

883