ABSTRACT
Benzyl salicylate has been identified by chemical analysis in 7 of 91 essential oils, which have caused contact allergy/allergic contact dermatitis. Within a month after avoidance of all products containing benzyl salicylate that the patient had contact with, the lesions had completely cleared, confirming a diagnosis of allergic contact dermatitis caused by benzyl salicylate. In a group of 620 Japanese patients with this condition and non-pigmented recurrent cosmetic dermatitis investigated between 1970 and 1980, 11-25 % had positive patch test reactions to benzyl salicylate 5% in petrolatum in various time periods versus 0-1% in a group of 477 patients with non-cosmetic dermatitis. In 2013, a woman was reported from Singapore to have developed pigmented cosmetic dermatitis from benzyl salicylate in a facewash. In various studies, the presence of benzyl salicylate in cosmetic and sometimes other products has been investigated.
