PerfuMate › IFRA limits › Benzyl cyanide
Is Benzyl cyanide banned in perfume?
IFRA standard: Benzyl cyanide · Category 4, 51st Amendment
Prohibited
IFRA prohibits Benzyl cyanide in fine fragrance (Category 4, 51st Amendment): it may not be added to a perfume at any level.
Where it arrives only inside another material, the data gives no tolerated figure: the calculator shows the amount and marks it No published figure.
Which materials contain Benzyl cyanide?
Sold as Benzyl cyanide itself; these may not be used:
It also arrives inside other materials. The limit is on the total, so the calculator adds every source together. The largest carriers in PerfuMate's catalog, by their typical composition:
| Material | Typical content |
|---|---|
| Sambac (Jasmine) Heart, Natural™ (Robertet) | 0.55% |
| Blackwood Base 199939 RF17™ (dsm-firmenich) | 0.0001% |
Shares are the catalog's typical values. A real batch varies with origin and season, and your supplier's analysis (GC-MS or certificate of analysis) is the real figure.
A worked example
A 100 g concentrate, bottled as an eau de parfum at 18%:
| Material | Weighed |
|---|---|
| Benzyl Cyanide | 1 g |
| Ethylene Brassylate no IFRA limit | 99 g |
Even 1 g in 100 g is too much: the calculator marks Benzyl cyanide Prohibited, and no strength makes this formula pass.
Or paste these lines into the calculator:
Benzyl Cyanide 1 g Ethylene Brassylate 99 g
Questions
Is Benzyl cyanide banned in perfume?
Yes. IFRA prohibits it in Category 4 at any level.
Does this limit apply to candles or soap?
No. This is Category 4, fine fragrance on skin. Other products sit in other IFRA categories with other limits, which these pages and the calculator do not cover.