Methyl benzoate (2009)

Abstract

Methyl benzoate was not a skin sensitizer in humans tested with dilute solutions and failed to induce skin sensitization reactions in guinea pigs. It was irritant to the skin of rabbits and rats following repeated application, and caused mild eye effects in rabbits. Methyl benzoate was generally of low acute oral toxicity in laboratory animals, although oral or dermal exposures have induced effects on the central nervous system, blood and kidneys. In genotoxicity assays, methyl benzoate was not mutagenic in bacteria, and did not induce chromosome damage in a limited test using mammalian cells in culture.