Sodium Dehydroacetate

What is it?

The sodium salt of dehydroacetic acid, a broad-spectrum cosmetic preservative often paired with benzyl alcohol.

What does it do?

According to PubMed, a 2021 hazard-assessment and risk-characterization study of 13 common cosmetic preservatives found sodium dehydroacetate (alongside dehydroacetic acid and ethylhexylglycerin) had a margin of safety below the generally accepted threshold of 100 under a worst-case full-dermal-absorption scenario, a real safety caveat worth disclosing rather than presenting the preservative as risk-free (DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/jat.4156). Separately, a 2020 zebrafish toxicology study found sodium dehydroacetate exposure decreased locomotor activity and hypoxia tolerance and caused lethality at low concentrations in an aquatic model, an environmental/ecological finding rather than a human dermal safety signal (DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envres.2020.110276). No human efficacy study of its preservative performance specifically (as opposed to general safety/hazard review) was found in this search.

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