Body & Beauty / Compounds / Octocrylene

Octocrylene 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 →

Sunscreen-application dermal absorption produces measurable systemic levels; the dominant general-exposure route. Octocrylene degrades to benzophenone (a photoallergen) in product formulations over time.

What is octocrylene?

The IUPAC name is 2-ethylhexyl 2-cyano-3,3-diphenylprop-2-enoate.

Also known as: 2-ethylhexyl 2-cyano-3,3-diphenylprop-2-enoate, 2-Ethylhexyl 2-cyano-3,3-diphenylacrylate, Octocrilene, 2-Propenoic acid, 2-cyano-3,3-diphenyl-, 2-ethylhexyl ester.

IUPAC name: 2-ethylhexyl 2-cyano-3,3-diphenylprop-2-enoate
CAS number: 6197-30-4
Molecular formula: C24H27NO2
Molecular weight: 361.5 g/mol
SMILES: CCCCC(CC)COC(=O)C(=C(C1=CC=CC=C1)C2=CC=CC=C2)C#N
PubChem CID: 22571

Risk for people

Moderate risk

Regulatory consensus

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

Agency	Year	Classification
WHO	2021	no carcinogenicity classification; UV sunscreen filter; FDA Category III (insufficient data for GRASE pending additional safety studies); notable for degradation to benzophenone (IARC Group 2B) in stored sunscreen formulations
EPA CTX / Genetox	—	Genotoxicity: negative (Ames: negative, 0 positive / 7 negative reports)
EPA CTX / Genetox	—	Genotoxicity: negative (Ames: negative, 0 positive / 7 negative reports)

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 octocrylene

Industrial Facilities — Manufacturing plants, Chemical storage areas, Waste treatment sites
Occupational Environments — Factories, Warehouses, Transportation vehicles
Personal Care — sunscreen, moisturizer with SPF, foundation, lip balm

Safer alternatives

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

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 octocrylene safe for you?

What products contain octocrylene?

Octocrylene appears in: Manufacturing plants (Industrial facilities); Chemical storage areas (Industrial facilities); Factories (Occupational environments); Warehouses (Occupational environments); sunscreen (Personal care).

Why do regulators disagree about octocrylene?

Octocrylene has been classified by 3 agencies including WHO, EPA CTX / Genetox, EPA CTX / Genetox, 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 Octocrylene in the body app

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

Open in body View raw API data

Sources (2)

FDA 2019 OTC Sunscreen Proposed Rule: Octocrylene Category III; Systemic Absorption >0.5 ng/mL; Estrogenic Activity; Benzophenone Degradation in Aged Formulations; log Kow 6.1 Lipophilic Accumulation (2019) — regulatory
Octocrylene Degrades to Benzophenone (IARC 2B) in Stored Sunscreen Products: Commercial Product Analysis 2021; Concentration Increases with Storage Temperature and Age; Palau Key West Reef Protection Restrictions (2021) — scientific

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 →