Cetyl Alcohol
Also known as 1-Hexadecanol, Palmityl alcohol, C16 fatty alcohol, Hexadecan-1-ol
“CIR Expert Panel says: safe as used in cosmetics.”
Cetyl alcohol (C16 straight-chain fatty alcohol, CAS 36653-82-4) is a widely used cosmetic emollient and emulsion stabiliser derived from palm oil or synthetic reduction of palmitic acid. The 1988 CIR Expert Panel assessed it as safe in cosmetics (JACT 7(3):359-413, 1988), a verdict confirmed without reopening in December 2005. Patch-test literature documents rare cases of allergic contact dermatitis; a 1997 case report (Komamura et al., PMID 9034687) found that pure saturated fatty alcohols tested negative individually, implicating unidentified trace impurities rather than cetyl alcohol itself as the sensitising agents — consistent with the class-wide CIR 1988 finding.
Emollient providing skin smoothness and occlusion in creams and lotions
Emulsion stabiliser and viscosity builder in oil-in-water systems
CIR Expert Panel found safe as used in cosmetics:359-413, 1988; confirmed 12/05)
Long history of safe cosmetic use; practically non-toxic on oral and dermal exposure
- · Rare allergic contact dermatitis in sensitised individuals, with patch-test-confirmed cases reported in the dermatology literature (Aakhus & Warshaw 2011; Komamura et al. 1997)
Sensitization may be driven by impurities in commercial-grade material (trace odd-chain or branched alcohols) rather than pure cetyl alcohol, as pure analytical-grade C16 alcohol produced negative patch-test results (Komamura et al. 1997)
CIR Quick Reference Table (12/2017, revised 07/2018) — Cetyl Alcohol row: Finding=S, Citation=JACT 7(3):359-413, 1988 confirmed 12/05
“Cetyl Alcohol | S | [no detail column entry] | JACT 7(3):359-413, 1988 confirmed 12/05”— QRT-122017revised072018.pdf, p. 25