You may have noticed that some of our products feature Benzoic Acid on their ingredient lists. In this post we explore what Benzoic Acid is and explain how it is different to Benzene.
What is Benzoic Acid?
Benzoic Acid is a preservative. A naturally occurring compound, it is found in many fruits including cherries, cranberries and raspberries.
Is Benzoic Acid safe?
The level at which we use Benzoic Acid (and its salts) in our cosmetics is very safe and we are not aware of any adverse health implications associated with this preservative used at this low level.
Is Benzoic Acid the same as Benzene?
No, Benzoic Acid is not the same as benzene. Pure, isolated benzene itself is a highly volatile and hazardous liquid which is banned from use in cosmetics in the UK and the EU.
Benzene forms part of the molecular structure of a huge number of other substances – these include many fragrance molecules such as those found in a lot of essential oils. When incorporated into other more complex molecules benzene generally loses its reactivity and does not have the harmful properties associated with the isolated ingredient.
Therefore, although Benzoic acid contains benzene as part of its molecular structure, it does not have any of the adverse effects associated with benzene in its isolated, volatile form.
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