BBP (Butyl Benzyl Phthalate): Properties, Uses in Plastics and Regulatory Status

BBP (butyl benzyl phthalate, also written benzyl butyl phthalate or BBzP; CAS 85-68-7) is a low-molecular-weight ortho-phthalate that was used as a fast-fusing plasticizer for vinyl floor tile, PVC foams and coated fabrics, and it is one of the 4 phthalates the European Union has restricted in all articles since 7 July 2020. Because BBP carries one butyl chain and one benzyl group instead of two identical alcohol chains, it solvates PVC faster than the general-purpose esters, which is exactly why flooring formulators used it and why its loss forced a specific class of replacement.

BBP entered the REACH Candidate List on 28 October 2008, has needed authorisation for EU use since the Annex XIV sunset date of 21 February 2015 under entry 5, is capped at 0.1 % of the plasticised material of all articles under Annex XVII entry 51, and carries a specific migration limit of 6 mg/kg into food under Regulation (EU) 2023/1442. BBP is one of 56 plasticizer pages in our directory of plastic additives, each carrying the same identity, dosage and regulatory fields.

This page carries the plastics data sheet and the compliance record together: the identity that separates BBP from DBP and DEHP, the benzyl ring behind its fast fusion, the physical constants, the flexible PVC systems it was formulated into, its typical substitution factor of 0.93, the dated restriction matrix from REACH to TSCA and Washington State, and the dibenzoate route that took its flooring market.

Table T1. BBP identity card.

Footnote: identity and physical data from PubChem CID 2347; regulatory entries from the ECHA obligation lists and the EU legal texts cited in each section. Status as of 23 September 2026.

What Is BBP (Butyl Benzyl Phthalate)?#

BBP is the mixed benzyl and n-butyl ester of ortho-phthalic acid (benzene-1,2-dicarboxylic acid), a strongly solvating plasticizer whose aromatic benzyl group gives it more solvating power for PVC than an equivalent pair of aliphatic chains. One carboxyl group of the aromatic diacid carries an n-butyl chain and the other a benzyl group, both in the ortho position on adjacent ring carbons, the arrangement that defines an ortho-phthalate. Which substance does the name BBP cover, given that the same three letters stand for bloodborne pathogens? In plastics BBP means butyl benzyl phthalate, CAS 85-68-7.

The function follows the structure. BBP meets the ASTM D883 definition of a plasticizer, a substance incorporated into a plastic or elastomer to increase flexibility, workability or distensibility, and its record calls it a strong solvator in PVC flooring and foams rather than a general-purpose softener. As a strongly solvating ester it belongs to the largest additive family by weight; the hub on plasticizers for plastics compares all classes.

What is another name for butyl benzyl phthalate?#

Butyl benzyl phthalate is also called benzyl butyl phthalate and BBzP, its systematic name is 2-O-benzyl 1-O-butyl benzene-1,2-dicarboxylate, and it has been sold under the trade names Santicizer 160, Palatinol BB and Unimoll BB. Both name orders describe the same molecule, CAS 85-68-7: PubChem and Wikipedia title the record "benzyl butyl phthalate", while US agency documents and the REACH entry use "butyl benzyl phthalate".

Is BBP the same as DBP?#

No: BBP (CAS 85-68-7) carries one benzyl group and one n-butyl chain, while DBP (CAS 84-74-2) carries two n-butyl chains, and the two substances have separate CAS numbers, separate Annex XIV entries and food-contact limits that differ by a factor of 50. The molecular weights differ accordingly, 312.4 g/mol against 278.34 g/mol. Food contact separates them further: BBP is FCM substance 159 at 6 mg/kg, while DBP (dibutyl phthalate) is FCM 157 at 0.12 mg/kg.

What the two share is the regulatory frame. Both fall inside REACH Annex XVII entry 51 at 0.1 % of the plasticised material, both entered the Candidate List on 28 October 2008, both sit in Annex XIV with the same 21 February 2015 sunset date, both carry Repr. 1B with H360Df, and both were listed under California Proposition 65 on 2 December 2005.

Table T1b. BBP and DBP compared.

Why is BBP the only mixed ester among the four restricted phthalates?#

BBP is the odd molecule of REACH Annex XVII entry 51: DEHP, DBP and DIBP are symmetric diesters with two identical alcohol chains, while BBP carries one n-butyl chain and one aromatic benzyl group, which is where its higher solvating power comes from. DEHP (CAS 117-81-7) carries two branched 2-ethylhexyl chains, DBP two straight n-butyl chains and DIBP (CAS 84-69-5) two branched isobutyl chains, each built from a single alcohol reacted twice onto the same aromatic diacid.

The asymmetry has a processing consequence. Shorter alcohol chains and aromatic groups both raise solvating power and lower the fusion temperature, which is why the benzyl ring makes BBP gel PVC faster than an all-aliphatic ester of similar size. That difference changes nothing in law, because all four share entry 51, the same 21 February 2015 sunset date and a Repr. 1B classification, including the branched C4 member DIBP (diisobutyl phthalate).

Where does BBP sit among low-molecular-weight phthalates?#

BBP is one of the 4 low-molecular-weight ortho-phthalates that the EU restricts as a group: DEHP, DBP, BBP and DIBP, the esters whose alcohol chains carry 3 to 6 carbon atoms in the alcohol chain backbone, in the definition European Plasticisers uses. That definition counts BBP's benzyl group as the second chain and groups DEHP with the short-chain esters even though its 2-ethylhexyl chain carries 8 carbon atoms. The 4 substances named in REACH Annex XVII entry 51 are listed below.

• DEHP (CAS 117-81-7): the C8 branched general-purpose ester, the historical benchmark at substitution factor 1.00.
• DBP (CAS 84-74-2): the C4 linear fast fuser, a solvent for polyvinyl acetate and nitrocellulose.
• BBP (CAS 85-68-7): the mixed benzyl and butyl ester of vinyl flooring, PVC foams and coated fabrics.
• DIBP (CAS 84-69-5): the C4 branched isomer of DBP, a gelling aid for dispersions.

High-molecular-weight phthalates sit outside that group: the C9 and longer esters, among them DINP, DIDP and DPHP, carry no harmonised reproductive-toxicity classification and are not in entry 51, so "phthalate" alone says nothing about legal status. Where the split runs is set out on low vs high molecular weight ortho-phthalates.

How Does BBP Plasticize PVC?#

BBP plasticizes PVC by pushing its ester molecules between the polymer chains, weakening the dipole forces that hold them together and lowering the glass transition temperature of the compound. The ester carbonyl groups solvate the polar carbon-chlorine dipoles of poly(vinyl chloride) and break part of the dipole network that makes unplasticized PVC rigid, while the butyl chain and the benzyl ring add free volume between chain segments. Why does an aromatic benzyl group make BBP more aggressive towards PVC than a pair of aliphatic chains? Shorter alcohol chains and aromatic groups raise solvating power and lower the fusion temperature, while longer and branched chains buy lower volatility at the cost of gelation speed.

Compatibility limits that effect: a plasticizer stays in a polymer only while the two solubility parameters differ by less than about ±1.5 (cal/cm3)^0.5, and no solubility parameter, gelation temperature or glass transition value is recorded for BBP itself. The 4 classic plasticization theories are listed below.

• Lubricity theory: the plasticizer acts as an internal lubricant so polymer chains slide past one another under stress.
• Gel theory: the polymer forms a three-dimensional gel held by intermittent attachment points, and the plasticizer breaks a fraction of them.
• Free-volume theory: the plasticizer adds free volume between chains, raising segmental mobility and lowering the glass transition temperature.
• Mechanistic theory (solvation-desolvation): plasticizer molecules exchange continuously between solvated and desolvated states at the polar sites of the polymer.

The four theories are explained with solubility parameters on how plasticizers work.

Why is BBP called a fast fuser?#

BBP is called a fast fuser because it swells and dissolves PVC particles at a lower temperature than general-purpose plasticizers, which is the property that decides how a plastisol gels and how fast a flooring line can run. Fusion, also called gelation or solvating power, measures how fast and at what temperature a plasticizer penetrates a PVC particle and turns a paste into a solid, and a plastisol gels and fuses between 140 and 220 °C (284 to 428 °F). The 5 fast fusers named in this reference are listed below.

• DBP (dibutyl phthalate): the C4 linear ortho-phthalate, restricted in the EU.
• DIBP (diisobutyl phthalate): the C4 branched isomer, restricted alongside it.
• BBP (butyl benzyl phthalate): the benzyl-butyl ester of flooring and foam, the subject of this page.
• DIHP (diisoheptyl phthalate): the branched C7 ester.
• Dipropylene glycol dibenzoate: the non-phthalate dibenzoate fast fuser.

Fast fusion carries a cost in the pot. Fast fusers lower the processing temperature, and they can also drive a strong rise in paste viscosity over storage, which shortens plastisol shelf life and forces a viscosity depressant or a shorter production window. No BBP-specific gelation temperature or paste-viscosity value is recorded here. Fast-fuser blends and their viscosity trade-offs are compared on plasticizers for PVC plastisol.

What Are the Physical and Chemical Properties of BBP?#

BBP is a clear, colourless liquid with a mild odour, a melting point of -35 °C (-31 °F), a boiling point of 370 °C (698 °F) at 760 mmHg and a closed-cup flash point of 199 °C (390 °F). Its relative density of 1.119 g/cm3 at 25 °C makes it denser than water, and the butyl benzyl phthalate molecular weight of 312.4 g/mol sits between the C4 phthalates and DEHP.

Table T2. BBP physical and chemical properties.

Footnote: temperatures are given in both units by arithmetic conversion from the recorded value, never by substituting a second source. Status as of 23 September 2026.

Two values carry a source spread a specification has to resolve. NTP (1992) states the melting point as "less than -31 °F", a bound rather than a point value, and the density appears as 1.12 at 68 °F (US Coast Guard handbook, 1999) and as 1.119 g/cm3 at 25 °C (PubChem), so a certificate of analysis names the source it follows.

Which Polymers Use BBP, and at What Dosage?#

BBP is used in two plastics systems, flexible PVC (flooring, foams and coated fabrics) and polyvinyl acetate dispersions, and the total plasticizer content of a flexible PVC compound runs from 5 to 65 wt% at a target hardness of about Shore A 50 to 90. No BBP-specific level exists anywhere in this reference: the polymer record carries the note "strong solvator" with an empty dosage field, so the range above is a class range and not a BBP dosage.

How does a wt% range convert to the phr figures a PVC recipe uses? Compound recipes give plasticizer levels in PHR (parts per hundred resin), which converts to weight percent as plasticizer parts divided by total parts times 100: 30 phr in 100 phr PVC plus 30 phr plasticizer is 30/130 x 100 = 23.1 wt%. A real compound also carries stabilizers, lubricants and fillers, so the divisor is the full formulation total.

Table T3. Polymers and systems recorded for BBP.

BBP in flexible PVC compounds and plastisols (legacy use)#

BBP served as the fast-fusing partner in flexible PVC compounds rather than as the bulk softener, and its typical substitution factor of 0.93 against DEHP's reference of 1.00 means about 7 % less BBP gives the same hardness. That 0.93 figure is a typical value from a single secondary source, not supplier data. In a legacy compound the fast fuser sat at a fraction of the plasticizer load while a general-purpose ester carried the softening, because the property bought was gelation speed rather than flexibility.

The rule that closed that market is a concentration limit rather than a use ban. Since 7 July 2020, REACH Annex XVII entry 51 caps BBP at 0.1 % by weight of the plasticised material in articles, two orders of magnitude below any working plasticizer level. BBP worked beside DEHP and DINP across the plasticizers for PVC range before entry 51 closed the market.

BBP in PVAc dispersions and coated fabrics#

BBP also plasticizes polyvinyl acetate dispersions and the PVC coating of artificial leather, and both are inside the scope of REACH Annex XVII entry 51, whose definition of plasticised material runs from PVC and polyurethanes to coatings, adhesives, sealants, inks and printed designs. Entry 51 names PVC, PVDC, PVA, polyurethanes and any other polymer including foams and rubber, plus surface coatings, finishes, decals and printed designs, so the 0.1 % limit follows the substance rather than the resin.

That definition is the fact most often missed: entry 51 is not a PVC rule but a plasticised-material rule, so a coated fabric counts its BBP against the same 0.1 % whether the plasticized layer is PVC or polyvinyl acetate. Sealants, PVAc adhesives and coatings sit outside this reference's plastics scope, and their market description is below the contextual border.

What Is BBP Used For in Plastics?#

Inside plastics, BBP has 3 uses: vinyl floor tiles and sheet flooring, PVC foams, and the coated fabrics sold as artificial leather, while its sealant and PVAc adhesive markets sit outside this reference's plastics border. The 3 applications are listed below.

• Vinyl floor tiles and sheet flooring: the plastisol wear layer and the backing, where fusion speed sets line speed.
• PVC foams: chemically blown foam layers, where the compound has to gel around expanding cells.
• Artificial leather and coated fabrics: the plasticized PVC coating on a textile carrier.

Vinyl floor tiles and sheet flooring#

Vinyl flooring is the market BBP was built for: a fast fuser lets the plastisol wear layer gel at line speed, which is why butyl benzyl phthalate appears in flooring formulations before it appears anywhere else. A vinyl floor tile is built from plastisol layers fused in sequence, so the plasticizer that gels earliest decides line throughput. Complete flooring recipes, including the stabilizer and filler package, sit on flexible PVC formulations.

Flooring is also where the legacy of the restricted phthalates is measured. Helene Wiesinger and colleagues at ETH Zurich reported in Environmental Science & Technology in 2024 that 16 % of 151 new Swiss PVC floorings contained regulated chemicals above 0.1 wt%, mainly lead and DEHP linked to recycled PVC, and that 29 % contained other ortho-phthalates above the same threshold. That study measured DEHP, lead and phthalate classes rather than BBP, so its percentages describe the flooring stock and not this substance. Flooring sits inside the wider construction package covered under additives for building and construction.

PVC foams and artificial leather#

PVC foams and artificial leather use the same property for a different reason: a strong solvator gels the compound quickly around the expanding cells and through the coating layer, which is why BBP sat in foam and coated-fabric recipes beside the flooring ones. In a chemically blown PVC foam the matrix has to gel in step with gas evolution, and in a coated fabric the thin plasticized layer has to fuse on a moving textile carrier.

No blowing-agent interaction data, foam density or coating weight is recorded for BBP, so the role is described and nothing is quantified. Blowing agents, kickers and the rest of the foam package are on additives for plastic foams.

What products still contain BBP?#

Inside the EU, plastic articles may still contain BBP only where REACH Annex XVII entry 51 exempts them: industrial and agricultural articles without prolonged skin contact, laboratory measuring devices, medical devices, food-contact materials under separate rules, electrical equipment under RoHS, and spare parts for vehicles and aircraft placed on the market before 7 January 2024. The outdoor-use exemption applies where there is no prolonged contact with skin or mucous membranes, which entry 51 defines as more than 10 minutes continuous or 30 minutes intermittent per day.

Food contact is the one route with its own permission rather than an exemption. Regulation (EU) No 10/2011 allows BBP in repeated-use articles, in single-use articles contacting non-fatty foods other than infant formula, follow-on formula and baby food, or as a technical support agent at up to 0.1 % of the final product. Outside those categories the 0.1 % cap of entry 51 applies to the article as placed on the market.

How Does BBP Perform as a Plasticizer?#

BBP is more efficient than the general-purpose esters at a typical substitution factor of 0.93 against DEHP's reference of 1.00, which means about 7 % less BBP gives the same hardness, and like the other short-chain phthalates it pays for that efficiency with higher volatility and mobility. If BBP is more efficient than DEHP, why was it never the bulk plasticizer? Short-chain esters are more volatile and more mobile than long-chain esters, and fast fusers drive a rise in paste viscosity over storage, so BBP served as a fusion aid and blend partner rather than the main softener.

Table T4. BBP performance indicators and test methods.

Footnote: substitution factors are typical figures from one secondary source (Kanademy), not supplier data, and are published here as unverified.

The methods in the last column are named because the values are not available: no measured volatility, migration, extraction, low-temperature or Shore A figure exists for BBP here, so the number is left to the test report. Substitution factors for 15 plasticizers are listed on plasticizer efficiency and substitution factors, and ASTM D1203, ISO 177 and ASTM D1239 are explained on plasticizer migration.

How Does BBP Interact with Other Plasticizers and Additives?#

BBP is a blending partner rather than a standalone plasticizer: formulators combined it with a general-purpose ester for bulk softening, with monobenzoates where paste viscosity had to stay flat, and they now have to count it together with DBP, DIBP and DEHP against a single food-contact budget. The 3 interactions that matter in a compound are listed below.

• With general-purpose esters: BBP supplies gelation speed while DEHP, DINP or DOTP supply bulk softening, inside the ±1.5 (cal/cm3)^0.5 compatibility window.
• With monobenzoates: isononyl and isodecyl benzoate combine fast fusion with viscosity depression, according to the patent literature, which offsets the viscosity rise a fast fuser causes in a plastisol.
• With the other three restricted phthalates: DEHP, DBP and DIBP add to BBP both physically and legally, because entry 51 counts the four individually or in any combination and group restriction 36 counts them as DEHP equivalents.

One interaction is purely legal. Since Regulation (EU) 2023/1442, DINP may not be used in combination with FCM substances 157 (DBP), 159 (BBP), 283 (DEHP) or 1085 (DIBP) in food-contact plastics, so a DINP and BBP combination is non-compliant there whatever the two do in the melt. DPGDB (dipropylene glycol dibenzoate) is the dibenzoate formulators pair with or substitute for BBP when gelation speed matters.

What Is the Regulatory Status of BBP?#

BBP is a Substance of Very High Concern, has needed authorisation for EU use since the sunset date of 21 February 2015, is limited to 0.1 % in the plasticised material of all articles under REACH Annex XVII entry 51, carries an EU food-contact migration limit of 6 mg/kg, and lost its US food-contact authorisation on 20 May 2022 (status 23 September 2026).

Table T5. BBP regulatory matrix, status as of 23 September 2026.

Is BBP an SVHC, and does it need REACH authorisation?#

Yes on both counts: BBP entered the REACH Candidate List on 28 October 2008 as toxic for reproduction, and it has needed authorisation for EU use since the Annex XIV sunset date of 21 February 2015 under entry 5. The four restricted phthalates occupy consecutive Annex XIV entries, DEHP 4, BBP 5, DBP 6 and DIBP 7, all with the same latest application date of 21 August 2013 and the same sunset date. BBP has been on the SVHC Candidate List since 28 October 2008.

The grounds for BBP's listing are narrower than for two of its siblings. Its entry rests on Article 57(c), toxic for reproduction, with endocrine-disrupting properties for human health under Article 57(f) added afterwards, and it carries no Article 57(f) entry for the environment, while DEHP and DBP do. Regulation (EU) 2021/2045, adopted on 23 November 2021 and published in OJ L 418 of 24 November 2021, added those grounds to all four Annex XIV entries, with derogation dates of 14 June 2023 and 14 December 2024 for the previously exempt uses: immediate packaging of medicinal products, food-contact materials and mixtures at 0.1 to 0.3 %. Entry 5 and its derogation dates sit on the REACH Annex XIV authorisation list.

Why is BBP restricted in the EU?#

BBP is restricted because it carries a harmonised classification as toxic for reproduction category 1B (H360Df) under the EU CLP Regulation, which put it on the REACH Candidate List in 2008, triggered an authorisation requirement from 21 February 2015 and produced a 0.1 % limit in the plasticised material of all articles from 7 July 2020. That classification, with H400 and H410 for aquatic toxicity, is the legal root of every entry in the matrix above.

The EU measure is a concentration limit with exemptions rather than a blanket ban. Regulation (EU) 2018/2005 extended entry 51 to all articles from 7 July 2020, and the 0.1 % limit applies to DEHP, DBP, BBP and DIBP individually or in any combination, with the exemptions listed earlier for industrial articles, medical devices, food-contact materials, electrical equipment and older vehicles. Entry 51, its exemptions and its definition of plasticised material are set out on REACH Annex XVII restrictions.

Is BBP allowed in food-contact plastics?#

In the EU, yes, and BBP has the widest food-contact permission of the four restricted phthalates: it is FCM substance 159 in Annex I of Regulation (EU) No 10/2011 with a specific migration limit of 6 mg/kg since Regulation (EU) 2023/1442, and it is the only one of the four allowed in single-use articles as well as repeated-use articles, provided the food is not fatty and is not infant formula, follow-on formula or baby food. A third use is permitted as a technical support agent at up to 0.1 % of the final product. Group restrictions 32 and 36 and the overall migration limit are explained on EU 10/2011.

The reason the individual limit can be that high sits in the group arithmetic. Group restriction 36 caps the four phthalates at an SML(T) of 0.6 mg/kg in DEHP equivalents, weighted DBP x5, DIBP x4, DEHP x1 and BBP x0.1, the lowest weighting of the four, which is why BBP holds 6 mg/kg while DBP holds 0.12 mg/kg; group restriction 32 adds a further SML(T) of 60 mg/kg across the plasticiser group. The weightings follow the group tolerable daily intake of 50 µg/kg body weight per day that EFSA set for DBP, BBP, DEHP and DINP as DEHP equivalents on 18 September 2019, cited in the recitals of Regulation (EU) 2023/1442.

Older documents carry the previous number: the limit was 30 mg/kg before Regulation (EU) 2023/1442, so a declaration of compliance written before 1 August 2023 may still state it. In the United States, no: the FDA final rule of 20 May 2022 (87 FR 31080) revoked the food-contact authorisations for BBP, leaving 8 ortho-phthalates authorised as plasticizers. Every additive's limit is tabulated under specific migration limits (SML).

Is BBP allowed in toys and childcare articles?#

No: BBP is prohibited above 0.1 % in children's toys and childcare articles in the EU (REACH Annex XVII entry 51), the United States (16 CFR 1307.3(a), permanent), Japan (MHLW Notification 336) and, at 1,000 mg/kg in vinyl, Canada (SOR/2016-188). The 0.1 % of the EU, US and Japanese rules and the 1,000 mg/kg of the Canadian rule are the same concentration in different units.

Table T5b. BBP limits in toys and childcare articles.

BBP belongs to the permanent group of the US rule: 16 CFR 1307.3(a) prohibits DEHP, DBP and BBP above 0.1 % permanently, while DINP, DIBP, DPENP, DHEXP and DCHP were added by the Consumer Product Safety Commission rule effective 25 April 2018. Canada defines a toy as an article for a child under 14 and a child care article as one for a child under 4. The permanent group and the 2018 additions are listed on CPSIA phthalate limits.

Is BBP restricted in electrical and electronic equipment under RoHS?#

Yes: Delegated Directive (EU) 2015/863 limits BBP to 0.1 % per homogeneous material in electrical and electronic equipment, applying from 22 July 2019 and from 22 July 2021 for category 8 medical devices and category 9 monitoring and control instruments. The same directive restricts DEHP, DBP and DIBP at that level and excludes cables and spare parts for equipment placed on the market earlier, while phthalates in toys are left to REACH entry 51. The four restricted phthalates and their category deadlines are on RoHS and plastic additives.

Is BBP listed under California Proposition 65?#

Yes: BBP has been on the California Proposition 65 list since 2 December 2005 for developmental toxicity, the same day DBP was listed, while DIBP and DCHP are not listed at all (OEHHA list of 31 July 2026). A safe-harbour level is not stated here pending verification against the OEHHA list of maximum allowable dose levels. Listing dates for every plasticizer are on California Proposition 65.

Is BBP restricted in vinyl flooring in the United States?#

In Washington State, yes: the Safer Products for Washington rule (chapter 173-337 WAC) restricts ortho-phthalates in vinyl flooring from 1 January 2025, and BBP is an ortho-phthalate. The rule names the chemical class rather than BBP individually, so it reaches every ortho-phthalate in vinyl flooring sold in that state, and it has no federal equivalent. Cycle 1 of the Washington programme and the other state rules are tracked on US state laws on plastic additives.

What did the 2026 TSCA risk evaluation find on BBP?#

EPA's final TSCA risk evaluation for BBP, announced in the Federal Register on 6 January 2026 (91 FR 373), finds unreasonable risk driven by specific conditions of use rather than by the substance as a whole. The notice covers five phthalates together, BBP, DBP, DCHP, DEHP and DIBP, and the finding is risk to workers and, for four of the five, to aquatic organisms, with none identified to consumers or fenceline communities.

EPA also assessed the phthalates cumulatively. The cumulative risk analysis covers DEHP, DBP, BBP, DIBP, DCHP and DINP as a group, the US counterpart of group restriction 36 and of the combined 0.1 % limit in entry 51. Risk management under TSCA section 6(a) has not yet been issued, so the evaluation establishes a finding rather than a restriction. The five phthalate risk evaluations and the pending section 6(a) rules are tracked on TSCA and plastic additives.

Is BBP Toxic? Health, Safety and Environmental Profile#

BBP carries a harmonised classification under the EU CLP Regulation as toxic for reproduction category 1B (H360Df), as very toxic to aquatic life (H400) and as very toxic to aquatic life with long lasting effects (H410), and that classification is the legal basis for every restriction on this page. The 3 strands of evidence behind the classification and the regulatory action are listed below.

• Harmonised classification: Repr. 1B with H360Df, may damage the unborn child and suspected of damaging fertility, in Annex VI of Regulation (EC) No 1272/2008, plus H400 and H410.
• Animal evidence: rodents exposed in utero to DEHP, DBP, BBP or DIBP show the effects Foster described as phthalate syndrome in the International Journal of Andrology in 2006: reduced fetal testosterone, hypospadias, cryptorchidism, shortened anogenital distance and nipple retention.
• Human association: in 85 mother-son pairs reported in Environmental Health Perspectives in 2005, Swan and colleagues at the University of Rochester found monobenzyl phthalate (MBzP), the BBP metabolite, among the urinary metabolites inversely related to the anogenital index.

The human evidence is an association rather than a demonstrated cause, because Swan and colleagues measured metabolites in maternal urine and an anatomical index in the sons, a design that shows a relationship and cannot establish causation. MBzP is the recorded urinary biomarker for BBP. Exposure routes, metabolites and the wider evidence base sit on phthalates: health effects.

Regulators quantify the group rather than the substance: EFSA's group tolerable daily intake of 50 µg/kg body weight per day covers DBP, BBP, DEHP and DINP as DEHP equivalents, and BBP's Candidate List entry records endocrine-disrupting properties for human health under Article 57(f) of REACH. Those grounds are explained under endocrine disruptors in plastics.

Why does BBP carry an aquatic hazard the other three phthalates do not?#

BBP is the only one of the four restricted phthalates whose harmonised classification carries H410, very toxic to aquatic life with long lasting effects: DBP is classified H400 for acute aquatic toxicity only, and DIBP and DEHP carry no aquatic hazard statement at all. DEHP is classified H360FD and DIBP H360Df, neither with an environmental hazard statement.

The H410 entry has three practical consequences: the environment pictogram on the label and safety data sheet, the waste classification of any compound containing BBP, and the environmental side of the 2026 TSCA finding. This reference records the classifications, not the ecotoxicity data behind them.

What Replaces BBP? Alternatives and Substitutes#

Three routes replace BBP: the glycol dibenzoates DPGDB and DEGDB, which reproduce its fast fusion without an ortho-phthalate classification, TXIB where a low-viscosity solvating ester is needed, and DOTP where a general-purpose plasticizer is enough. Switching BBP for DBP or DIBP is not a compliance route, because all four sit in the same Annex XVII entry 51, the same Annex XIV group and the same food-contact group restriction 36.

Table T6. BBP and its comparators.

Footnote: substitution factors are typical figures from one secondary source (Kanademy), not supplier data. Status as of 23 September 2026.

The full replacement landscape is mapped on non-phthalate plasticizers.

BBP vs DPGDB and DEGDB: the dibenzoate route#

The glycol dibenzoates are the like-for-like replacement for BBP: dipropylene glycol dibenzoate is recorded here as a high-solvating plasticizer that replaces BBP, bringing the same fast fusion into vinyl flooring, plastisols and colour concentrates without a reproductive-toxicity classification. DPGDB (CAS 27138-31-4, EC 248-258-5, C20H22O5, 342.4 g/mol) serves PVC plastisol, PVAc adhesives, latex sealants and two-component polyurethane, and is neither an SVHC nor Annex XVII restricted. The class BBP hands its market to is covered on benzoate plasticizers.

DEGDB is the second ester of the pair. DEGDB (diethylene glycol dibenzoate) carries CAS 120-55-8, EC 204-407-6, C18H18O5 and 314.3 g/mol, boils at 236 °C (457 °F) at 0.7 kPa, has a closed-cup flash point of 232 °C (450 °F), plasticizes PVC, polyvinyl acetate, cellulose acetate butyrate, nitrocellulose and PMMA, and carries no harmonised classification.

Neither dibenzoate is a clean sheet. Both carry aquatic-hazard notifications in the ECHA classification and labelling inventory, H411 and H412 for DPGDB and H411 for DEGDB, which are notified rather than harmonised entries, and DPGDB shares BBP's plastisol drawback of a paste viscosity that rises during storage. Neither is listed in Annex I of Regulation (EU) No 10/2011 as consolidated on 14 July 2026, so neither is a food-contact route in the EU, where BBP still holds one.

BBP vs DBP and DIBP: not a compliance route#

Neither DBP nor DIBP is a compliance route away from BBP: the three share REACH Annex XVII entry 51, sit in consecutive Annex XIV entries (5, 6 and 7) with the same 21 February 2015 sunset date, and are weighted into the same food-contact budget. All three carry the harmonised classification Repr. 1B with H360Df, so a substitution between them changes the CAS number and nothing on the compliance side.

Food contact is the one place where the three diverge, and it favours BBP. BBP is the least penalised, weighted x0.1 in group restriction 36, with an SML of 6 mg/kg and permission for single-use as well as repeated-use articles; DBP is weighted x5 at 0.12 mg/kg, repeated-use only; DIBP is not authorised as a food-contact additive at all, holding FCM 1085 only so it can be counted into group restrictions 32 and 36. Switching to dibutyl phthalate does not leave entry 51.

BBP vs DEHP, DINP and DOTP#

DEHP, DINP and DOTP were the general-purpose esters BBP was blended with rather than compared against: BBP supplied fusion speed while they supplied bulk softening, which is why replacing BBP is a separate decision from replacing the main plasticizer. A flooring recipe that drops BBP needs a new fusion aid and changes its general-purpose ester on its own schedule. DEHP (DOP, dioctyl phthalate) is the reference ester at substitution factor 1.00 and the one BBP was blended into.

The three sit on different rungs of the regulatory ladder. DEHP (CAS 117-81-7, 390.6 g/mol) shares entry 51, entered the Candidate List on the same day, holds Annex XIV entry 4 and FCM 283 at 0.6 mg/kg, and is listed under Proposition 65 for cancer since 1 January 1988 and for developmental and male reproductive toxicity since 24 October 2003. DINP is a high-molecular-weight ortho-phthalate, is not an SVHC, is restricted only in mouthable toys and childcare articles under entry 52 and is therefore not banned in the EU, and it carries group restriction 26 at an SML(T) of 1.8 mg/kg. DOTP / DEHT (dioctyl terephthalate) is the non-ortho-phthalate with no restriction and an SML of 60 mg/kg.

TXIB and other fast-fusing replacements#

TXIB is the low-viscosity solvating ester of the replacement set: Helene Wiesinger and colleagues at ETH Zurich list it in Environmental Science & Technology (2024) among the five plasticizers that replaced restricted phthalates in PVC toys, alongside ATBC, DEHT, DINCH and ESBO. TXIB carries CAS 6846-50-0, EC 229-934-9 and C16H30O4 at 286.41 g/mol, is named 2,2,4-trimethyl-1,3-pentanediol diisobutyrate, and is sold as Eastman TXIB and Kodaflex TXIB.

No substitution factor, dosage or EU 10/2011 entry for TXIB is recorded here, so it is named and not quantified. Monobenzoates such as isononyl benzoate and isodecyl benzoate combine fast fusion with viscosity depression, according to the patent literature, which is why benzoate chemistry now carries the fast-fuser role in plastisols. TXIB is one of the five plasticizers Wiesinger and colleagues found replacing restricted phthalates in PVC toys.

Who Supplies BBP? Trade Names, Grades and Sourcing#

BBP is recorded under 3 trade names, Santicizer 160, Palatinol BB and Unimoll BB, and its EU supply is a phase-out picture: it has needed authorisation for EU use since 21 February 2015 and lost its US food-contact clearance on 20 May 2022. No company is recorded here as a current producer, and the brand families below identify the trade-name line rather than a current offer. Producers and their brand lines are listed in the directory of plasticizer manufacturers.

Table T7. BBP trade names and brand families.

Footnote: the brand family identifies the trade-name line, not a current BBP offer. No company is named here as a BBP producer because none is recorded in this reference's supplier data.

Buyers should ask any supplier for the REACH registration number, the authorisation route for the intended EU use and a current safety data sheet, because an EU purchase for a non-exempt use sits inside the authorisation regime. No BBP price is recorded here, and the driver is visible without one: a restricted substance with a shrinking EU market and no US food-contact clearance prices against a demand curve set by regulation rather than by the ester market. Price drivers across the ester range are tracked on plasticizer prices.

How Does BBP Fit into the Wider Phthalate Story?#

BBP is the specialist of the phthalate family: never a volume leader like DEHP, but the fast fuser that flooring, foam and coating lines were built around, inside a class that still carries most plasticizer volume worldwide. European Plasticisers puts phthalates at about 5.5 Mt in 2015, with 90 to 95 % used as PVC plasticizers, and more than 85 % of European plasticizer use going into PVC out of a global market of 8.4 Mt per year. Country-by-country rules are compared on phthalate restrictions worldwide.

Non-plastics uses of BBP: sealants, PVAc adhesives and coatings#

Outside plastics, BBP is used in sealants, polyvinyl acetate adhesives and coatings, which is why a chemical that left the flooring market still appears in supplier databases under adhesives and sealants. REACH Annex XVII entry 51 follows it into those markets, because its definition of plasticised material names adhesives, sealants, paints and inks alongside the polymers.

Adhesives, sealants, coatings and personal care sit outside this reference's plastics scope, so their sector rules are not covered here. What the label actually covers is explained on phthalate-free plastics.

BBP in recycled PVC and legacy flooring#

Legacy phthalates re-enter new articles through recycled PVC, a route Helene Wiesinger and colleagues at ETH Zurich documented in Environmental Science & Technology in 2024, when 29 % of 151 new Swiss PVC floorings carried ortho-phthalates other than the regulated four above 0.1 wt%. The same survey found regulated chemicals above 0.1 wt% in 16 % of the floorings, mainly lead and DEHP from recycled content; it measured classes rather than BBP, so the mechanism transfers and the numbers do not. Legacy-substance screening and restabilization are covered on recycled PVC.

Recyclate holds legacy additives for a long time. Klotz and colleagues reported in Environmental Science & Technology in 2024 that without a phthalate-removal step DEHP stays above 0.1 wt% in recycled flooring for several decades, the timescale on which any restricted phthalate leaves a closed loop. How additive choice decides recyclability is set out on design for recycling.

How is BBP measured in a plastic sample?#

BBP is measured in a plastic sample by solvent extraction followed by gas chromatography with mass spectrometry, the same route used for the other three phthalates of REACH Annex XVII entry 51. Extraction releases the unbound ester from the polymer matrix, and the mass spectrometer identifies BBP against the symmetric diesters that elute nearby. No BBP-specific standard number is recorded here. Sample preparation and instrument choice are covered on additive analysis and deformulation of plastics.

Does BBP need a safety data sheet and a GHS label?#

Yes: because BBP carries a harmonised CLP classification as Repr. 1B (H360Df) and as very toxic to aquatic life with long lasting effects (H410), every supplier must provide a safety data sheet and a GHS label with the health-hazard and environment pictograms and the signal word Danger. The label carries all three hazard statements, H360Df, H400 and H410, and the sheet carries the authorisation status under REACH Annex XIV entry 5. What each section must contain is set out on safety data sheets and GHS labels.

Is BBP the same as BPA?#

No: BPA is a monomer that reacts into polycarbonate and epoxy resins, while BBP is a phthalate ester mixed into a finished polymer as a plasticizer, so they belong to different chemical and regulatory families. A monomer becomes part of the polymer backbone and an additive does not. BPA and its substitutes are covered under bisphenols in plastics.