Body & Beauty / Compounds / Pulegone

Pulegone on your skin: a safety profile

High risk

(People-specific data is limited; this page draws from human adult context.) Hepatotoxic — metabolized to menthofuran and reactive epoxides that deplete glutathione and cause centrilobular necrosis; nephrotoxic; abortifacient; IFRA restricted to trace levels in natural oils

What is pulegone?

The IUPAC name is (5R)-5-methyl-2-propan-2-ylidenecyclohexan-1-one.

Also known as: (5R)-5-methyl-2-propan-2-ylidenecyclohexan-1-one, (+)-Pulegone, d-Pulegone, Pulegon.

IUPAC name
(5R)-5-methyl-2-propan-2-ylidenecyclohexan-1-one
CAS number
89-82-7
Molecular formula
C10H16O
Molecular weight
152.23 g/mol
SMILES
CC1CCC(=C(C)C)C(=O)C1
PubChem CID
442495

Risk for people

High risk

Hepatotoxic — metabolized to menthofuran and reactive epoxides that deplete glutathione and cause centrilobular necrosis; nephrotoxic; abortifacient; IFRA restricted to trace levels in natural oils

Regulatory consensus

1 regulatory bodyhas classified Pulegone.

AgencyYearClassificationNotes
EDC Assessment—Suspected endocrine disruptor

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 pulegone

  • Personal Care — essential oils containing pulegone
  • Food — pennyroyal tea (AVOID), mint oils (trace)

Safer alternatives

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

  • Avoidance (no chemical substitute)
    Trade-offs: Direct chemical substitution requires verification that the replacement does not introduce new hazards (regrettable substitution). Conduct full hazard assessment of proposed alternative before adoption.
    Relative cost: 1.2-2×

Frequently asked questions

What products contain pulegone?

Pulegone appears in: essential oils containing pulegone (Personal care); pennyroyal tea (AVOID) (Food); mint oils (trace) (Food).

See Pulegone in the body app

Look up products containing pulegone, 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 →