Body & Beauty / Compounds / Lauryl alcohol (1-Dodecanol)

Lauryl alcohol (1-Dodecanol) on your skin: a safety profile

Context-dependent

Safety profile for Lauryl alcohol (1-Dodecanol) relevant to people.

What is lauryl alcohol (1-dodecanol)?

Also known as: 1-DODECANOL, Dodecan-1-ol, Dodecyl alcohol, Dodecanol.

CAS number
112-53-8
Molecular formula
C12H26O
Molecular weight
186.33 g/mol
SMILES
CCCCCCCCCCCCO
PubChem CID
8193

Risk for people

Context-dependent

Regulatory consensus

1 regulatory bodyhas classified Lauryl alcohol (1-Dodecanol).

AgencyYearClassificationNotes
Unknown——

Regulators apply different standards of evidence — animal-data weighting, exposure-pattern assumptions, epidemiological power thresholds — which is why two scientific bodies can review the same data and reach different conclusions. The disagreement is the data.

Where you encounter lauryl alcohol (1-dodecanol)

  • Personal Care — shampoo, soap
  • Consumer Products — detergent, industrial surfactant precursor

Safer alternatives

Lower-risk approaches that achieve a similar outcome to Lauryl alcohol (1-Dodecanol):

  • Sodium cocoyl isethionate; Decyl glucoside; Amino acid surfactants
    Trade-offs: Bio-based (from corn/coconut); mild to skin/eyes; biodegrades rapidly (>99% in 28 days); comparable foaming and cleaning at higher concentration; 15-30% cost premium over SLS; compatible with sensitive-skin formulations.
    Relative cost: 1.2-2×

Frequently asked questions

What products contain lauryl alcohol (1-dodecanol)?

Lauryl alcohol (1-Dodecanol) appears in: shampoo (Personal care); soap (Personal care); detergent (Consumer products); industrial surfactant precursor (Consumer products).

See Lauryl alcohol (1-Dodecanol) in the body app

Look up products containing lauryl alcohol (1-dodecanol), compare to alternatives, and explore the full data record.

Open in body View raw API data

Sources (1)
  1. PubChem Compound Database (2026) — database

Reference data, not professional advice. Aggregates publicly available regulatory and scientific data; not a substitute for veterinary, medical, legal, or regulatory advice. Why we built ALETHEIA →