Is Potassium Benzoate safe in cosmetics?
Potassium Benzoate has a safety rating of "GOOD" in our database. EU status: restricted. US status: permitted.
Good
Preservative
Potassium Benzoate
Also known as: Benzoic acid, potassium salt, EINECS 209-481-3, UNII-763YQN2K7K
INCI: POTASSIUM BENZOATE
Potassium Benzoate (CAS 582-25-2) is a cosmetic preservative functioning as Preservative (Antimicrobial). NOAEL 750 mg/kg bw/day (cross-referenced against ToxValDB ECHA IUCLID); EU Regulation 1223/2009 status: restricted, max 0.5% (as acid). 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 582-25-2 →
Auto-generated CPSR Part A draft with source citations
Function
Preservative (Antimicrobial)
Safety Rating
GOOD
Chemistry & Identifiers
IUPAC Name
potassium benzoate
InChIKey
XAEFZNCEHLXOMS-UHFFFAOYSA-M
Regulatory Status
EU EU Status
restricted
EU Max Conc.
0.5% (as acid)
US US Status
permitted
US Notes
GRAS for food. CIR 2017: safe in present use.
For full compliance data across multiple jurisdictions, use the Substance Compliance tool.
Safety Data
Margin of Safety, dermal absorption, and sensitization profile summaries for Potassium Benzoate.
Calculate MoS for your specific formulation with the MoS Calculator.
Pre-Calculated Safety Assessment
Pre-calculated NOAEL → SED → MoS audit trail for Potassium Benzoate across SCCS product categories, with measured dermal absorption where available.
ECHA REACH Registration
European Chemicals Agency REACH dossier and Substances of Very High Concern listing.
Registration Type
Full
Tonnage Band
100 - 1,000 tonnes
Substance Type
SUBSTANCE
SVHC Candidate
No
Additional Ingredient Properties
1 property record from structured ingredient metadata.
pediatric_safety
{"safe_for_newborn_0_6m": "yes", "safe_for_infant_6_12m": "yes", "safe_for_toddler_1_3y": "yes", "safe_for_child_3_12y": "yes", "safe_for_teen_12_18y": "yes", "pediatric_max_concentration_pct": "1.0", "adult_max_concentration_pct": "1.0", "pediatric_dermal_absorption_factor": "normal", "immature_skin_barrier_risk": "low", "oral_ingestion_risk": "low", "eye_irritation_risk": "low", "diaper_area_saf…
PubChem Annotations
Safety and regulatory annotations from PubChem (NCBI) aggregated sources.
Regulatory (2)
JECFA Evaluation
POTASSIUM BENZOATE | 2021 | 0–20 mg/kg bw | Applying a chemical specific adjustment factor of 2 for interspecies toxicokinetics variation instead of the default factor of 4.0, the Committee established a group ADI of 0–20 mg/kg bw, which applies to benzoic acid, the benzoate salts (calcium, potassium and sodium), benzaldehyde, benzyl acetate, benzyl alcohol and benzyl benzoate, expressed as benzoi
Source: Joint FAO/WHO Expert Committee on Food Additives (JECFA)
EU Food Improvement
Food additives
Source: EU Food Improvement Agents
Function Categories & List Membership
Cosmetic/Chemical Function Categories
Antioxidant
Biocide
Preservative
Regulatory List Membership (2)
EPA Safer Chemical Ingredients List (SCIL)
FDA Substances Added to Food (EAFUS)
Expert Verdict
Expert safety assessment and concern-level summary for Potassium Benzoate.
Regulatory Flags
EU_RESTRICTED
epa_safer_alternative
fda_food_additive
Known Synonyms
Benzoic acid, potassium salt
EINECS 209-481-3
UNII-763YQN2K7K
Chemical Function
Preservative
Antioxidant
Biocide
Regulatory Lists
SCIL (9/2019)
inert_ingredient; Pesticides
inert_ingredient; non_food_use; Pesticides
inert_ingredient; non_food_use; Pesticides
inert_ingredient; non_food_use; Pesticides
active_ingredient; Europe; Pesticides
food_additive; Substances Added to Food (formerly EAFUS) (2/2019)
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
POTASSIUM BENZOATE
ChEMBL ID
CHEMBL2105241
Max Phase
-1
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Potassium Benzoate allowed in the EU?
Potassium Benzoate EU regulatory status: restricted. Maximum allowed concentration: 0.5% (as acid). This is based on EU Regulation 1223/2009 and its amendments.
What does Potassium Benzoate do in cosmetics?
Potassium Benzoate functions as: Preservative (Antimicrobial). It is classified as a Preservative in our database. CAS number: 582-25-2.
Is Potassium Benzoate used outside cosmetics?
Potassium Benzoate 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 Potassium Benzoate compliance across multiple jurisdictions:
Ingredient Decoder
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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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(AGARICUS BLAZEI FERMENT + GANODERMA LUCIDUM FERMENT + GANODERMA MULTIPILEUM FERMENT) EXTRACT
Good
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