Database/Antimicrobial/Dichlorobenzyl Alcohol
100% petroleum · ISO 16128

Is Dichlorobenzyl Alcohol natural?

No. Made by chlorinating petrochemical benzyl alcohol; no natural chlorinated-aromatic route exists.

INCI nameDichlorobenzyl Alcohol
CAS1777-82-8
FormulaC7H6Cl2O · 177.02 Da
FunctionAntimicrobial · Preservative
FeedstockManufactured by direct chlorination of benzyl alcohol, itself…

How we scored it

Chlorinated benzyl alcohol from petrochemical toluene/benzyl alcohol chlorination; entirely synthetic = 0/177 = 0.0
What counts. ISO 16128-2 scores the atoms that remain in the final ingredient. Reagents, solvents, catalysts and protecting groups used during manufacture leave no mass behind and are not counted.

Where it comes from

Manufactured by direct chlorination of benzyl alcohol, itself from toluene. No natural route.

In plain English

A synthetic chlorinated alcohol used to control microbial growth as a preservative in cosmetic formulas.

CosIng definition: Dichlorobenzyl Alcohol is the substituted aromatic compound that conforms to the formula:

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Structure

2D structure of Dichlorobenzyl Alcohol

(2,4-dichlorophenyl)methanol

PubChem CID 15684 ↗

References

  1. 1ISO 16128-1:2016 and ISO 16128-2:2017 — Guidelines on technical definitions and criteria for natural and organic cosmetic ingredients and products. ISO, Geneva.
  2. 2Dichlorobenzyl Alcohol. PubChem CID 15684. National Center for Biotechnology Information. pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov ↗
  3. 3DICHLOROBENZYL ALCOHOL. CosIng — European Commission cosmetic ingredient database. ec.europa.eu/cosing ↗
  4. 4DICHLOROBENZYL ALCOHOL. CosIng u2014 European Commission database for information on cosmetic substances and ingredients. https://ec.europa.eu/growth/tools-databases/cosing/search?search=DICHLOROBENZYL%20ALCOHOL