Body & Beauty / Compounds / Methanol

Methanol on your skin: a safety profile

Moderate risk

Not medical or professional safety advice, and not a substitute for a qualified clinician — consult one. Full disclaimer →

Well-absorbed through intact skin; mass-poisoning cohorts (Iran 2020, India recurring) document combined cutaneous + ingestion exposure. OSHA PEL carries skin notation reflecting the dermal-uptake pathway.

What is methanol?

Also known as: methyl alcohol, wood alcohol, Methylol, Wood naphtha.

IUPAC name
methanol
CAS number
67-56-1
Molecular formula
CH4O
Molecular weight
32.042 g/mol
SMILES
CO
PubChem CID
887

Risk for people from skin contact

Moderate risk

Well-absorbed through intact skin; mass-poisoning cohorts (Iran 2020, India recurring) document combined cutaneous + ingestion exposure. OSHA PEL carries skin notation reflecting the dermal-uptake pathway.

Regulatory consensus

9 regulatory and scientific bodies have classified Methanol. The classifications differ — that's the data.

AgencyYearClassificationNotes
OSHA—PEL 200 ppm
EPA CTX / Genetox—Genotoxicity: positive (Ames: negative, 3 positive / 13 negative reports)
EPA CTX / Genetox—Genotoxicity: positive (Ames: negative, 3 positive / 13 negative reports)
EPA CTX / Skin-Eye—Eye Irritation: Serious eye damage/eye irritation - Category 2 (score: high)
EPA CTX / Skin-Eye—Eye Irritation: Category 2 (score: high)
EPA CTX / Skin-Eye—Skin Sensitization: Not classified (score: low)
EPA CTX / Skin-Eye—Eye Irritation: Category 6.4A (Category 2A) (score: high)
EPA CTX / Skin-Eye—skin sensitisation: in vivo (non-LLNA): Not likely to be sensitizing (score: low)
EPA CTX / Skin-Eye—eye irritation: in vivo: Studies Indicate No Significant Irritation (score: low)

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 methanol

  • Industrial Facilities — Manufacturing plants, Chemical storage areas, Waste treatment sites
  • Occupational Environments — Factories, Warehouses, Transportation vehicles
  • Fragrance — perfume, cologne, scented personal care products, household fragrance products, candles
    Identified in Fragrance Ingredient Safety Priority Research database (2,325 ingredients)

Safer alternatives

Lower-risk approaches that achieve a similar outcome to Methanol:

  • Fragrance-free formulations
    Trade-offs: Consumer preference for scented products
    Relative cost: 1.2-2×
  • Essential oil-based fragrances (with disclosure)
    Trade-offs: Natural does not mean safe — many essential oils are skin sensitizers
    Relative cost: 2-5×

Frequently asked questions

Is methanol safe for you?

Well-absorbed through intact skin; mass-poisoning cohorts (Iran 2020, India recurring) document combined cutaneous + ingestion exposure. OSHA PEL carries skin notation reflecting the dermal-uptake pathway.

What products contain methanol?

Methanol appears in: Manufacturing plants (Industrial facilities); Chemical storage areas (Industrial facilities); Factories (Occupational environments); Warehouses (Occupational environments); perfume (Fragrance).

Why do regulators disagree about methanol?

Methanol has been classified by 9 agencies including OSHA, EPA CTX / Genetox, EPA CTX / Genetox, EPA CTX / Skin-Eye, EPA CTX / Skin-Eye, with differing conclusions. 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. See the regulatory consensus table on this page for the full picture.

See Methanol in the body app

Look up products containing methanol, compare to alternatives, and explore the full data record.

Open in body View raw API data

Sources (7)
  1. Methanol Toxicity -- StatPearls (NCBI Bookshelf, NIH) -- source corrected: no ATSDR "Toxicological Profile" exists for methanol specifically (unlike lead/benzene/TCE, methanol is not on ATSDR's priority-substance Tox Profile list -- confirmed after searching ATSDR's own toxprofiles directory, ToxFAQs, and NCBI Bookshelf mirrors); this StatPearls clinical toxicology reference covers the same acute/chronic-effects content the record described (1999) — report
  2. CDC: Methanol Toxicity — Clinical and Emergency Response Guidance (2020) — report
  3. US EPA IRIS: Methanol — Reference Concentration and Toxicological Review (2013) — regulatory
  4. Merck Veterinary Manual: Toxicoses from Alcohols in Animals -- source corrected (org attribution): no single ASPCA page combines methanol + isopropanol companion-animal toxicosis; this Merck Veterinary Manual page covers both substances directly and matches the record's framing (2019) — report
  5. OSHA PEL — Methanol with skin notation (29 CFR 1910.1000) (2020) — regulatory
  6. NIOSH Pocket Guide to Chemical Hazards — Methanol (2019) — regulatory
  7. WHO Information Note: Methanol Poisoning Outbreaks (July 2014) -- adulterated/informally-produced-alcohol outbreak surveillance and response guidance (2014) — regulatory

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