Baby Safety / Compounds / Methyl isoeugenol

Is Methyl isoeugenol safe for babies and kids?

Context-dependent for kids

(Babies-specific data is limited; this page draws from human pregnant context.) Prenatal exposure to Methyl isoeugenol through personal care products may affect fetal development. Some fragrance chemicals are sensitizers or endocrine-active compounds with transplacental transfer.

What is methyl isoeugenol?

Also known as: Methylisoeugenol, trans-Methylisoeugenol, Isomethyleugenol, Isoeugenol methyl ether.

CAS number
93-16-3
Molecular formula
C11H14O2
Molecular weight
178.23 g/mol
SMILES
CC=CC1=CC(=C(C=C1)OC)OC
PubChem CID
637776

Risk for babies

Context-dependent

Prenatal exposure to Methyl isoeugenol through personal care products may affect fetal development. Some fragrance chemicals are sensitizers or endocrine-active compounds with transplacental transfer.

No specific reproductive toxicity data identified, but pregnancy-specific safety data is limited for most chemicals. Precautionary minimization of exposure is recommended.

What to do: Minimize exposure during pregnancy and lactation. Consult healthcare provider regarding specific risks. Consider alternative products with lower hazard profiles.

Risk for pregnant and nursing people

Context-dependent

Prenatal exposure to Methyl isoeugenol through personal care products may affect fetal development. Some fragrance chemicals are sensitizers or endocrine-active compounds with transplacental transfer.

No specific reproductive toxicity data identified, but pregnancy-specific safety data is limited for most chemicals. Precautionary minimization of exposure is recommended.

What to do: Minimize exposure during pregnancy and lactation. Consult healthcare provider regarding specific risks. Consider alternative products with lower hazard profiles.

Regulatory consensus

1 regulatory bodyhas classified Methyl isoeugenol.

AgencyYearClassificationNotes
Unknown——

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 kids encounter methyl isoeugenol

  • Personal Care — perfume, soap, cosmetics
  • Consumer Products — cleaning products, candles

Safer alternatives

Lower-risk approaches that achieve a similar outcome to Methyl isoeugenol:

  • Lower-sensitization structural analog; Unscented formulation
    Trade-offs: Eliminates allergen risk entirely; consumer acceptance varies (some associate scent with cleanliness/efficacy); growing market segment; regulatory advantage in EU (no IFRA compliance needed).
    Relative cost: 1.2-2×

Frequently asked questions

What products contain methyl isoeugenol?

Methyl isoeugenol appears in: perfume (Personal care); soap (Personal care); cleaning products (Consumer products); candles (Consumer products).

See Methyl isoeugenol in the baby app

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

Open in baby View raw API data

Sources (1)
  1. PubChem (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 →