Benzophenone-3 (Oxybenzone, UV-9): Properties, Uses in Plastics and Regulatory Status

Benzophenone-3 (BP-3, UV-9, CAS 131-57-7) is a 2-hydroxybenzophenone UV absorber used in PVC, polystyrene, cellulosics and acrylics, and it is the same substance that cosmetic labels call oxybenzone. Because one CAS number carries both a polymer additive and a sunscreen filter, the first question is which of the two sets of rules applies to a plastic part. Its molecular weight is 228.24 g/mol and its systematic name (2-hydroxy-4-methoxyphenyl)phenylmethanone.

Benzophenone-3 is authorised for EU food-contact plastics as FCM substance 319 under Regulation (EU) No 10/2011, where group restriction 8 caps it at a combined 6 mg/kg, and it is listed in 21 CFR 177.1010 for semirigid and rigid acrylic plastics. It is registered under REACH at 100 to 1,000 tonnes a year, is absent from the Candidate List as of 22 September 2026, and carries no harmonised CLP classification, although a classification intention registered on 1 October 2025 remains open. Benzophenone-3 is one of 44 UV stabilizer pages in our directory of plastic additives, each with the same identity, dosage and regulatory fields.

Five facts organise everything below: the hydroxyl group beside the carbonyl makes this molecule an absorber rather than a screener, 228.24 g/mol is the lowest molecular weight among the commercial benzophenones, 5 plastics applications carry it while no verified dosage figure exists for any of them, one European group limit and one American acrylics clearance define its compliance route, and UV-531, Tinuvin P and Tinuvin 1577 are its alternatives.

The identity table below collects the numbers a specification, a customs declaration and a food-contact declaration ask for.

What Is Benzophenone-3 (UV-9), and Which UV Absorber Class Does It Belong To?#

Benzophenone-3 is a 2-hydroxybenzophenone: a diaryl ketone that carries a hydroxyl group in the 2-position next to the carbonyl and a methoxy group in the 4-position on the opposite ring, which is the structure every UV absorber in this class shares. The hydroxyl group in the 2-position is the working part of the molecule, because it sits close enough to the carbonyl oxygen to form an intramolecular hydrogen bond, and that bond is what lets absorbed ultraviolet energy leave as heat instead of as chemistry. The methoxy group in the 4-position raises the electron density of the ring that carries the hydroxyl. Which additive class does that structure put the molecule in?

Benzophenone-3 belongs to the UV absorbers, one of 5 groups inside the light stabilizer family, written light stabiliser in British usage: UV absorbers, hindered amine light stabilizers, quenchers such as the nickel complexes, hindered benzoates, and UV screeners such as carbon black and rutile titanium dioxide. Six chemistries make up the absorber group itself: benzotriazoles, 2-hydroxybenzophenones, hydroxyphenyl triazines, oxanilides, cyanoacrylates and benzoxazinones. The 2-hydroxybenzophenones are one of those six chemistries covered on UV absorbers, the page that compares the classes side by side.

What does BP-3 stand for, and what does UV-9 mean?#

BP-3 is short for benzophenone-3, the INCI-style name of the substance, while UV-9 is the polymer-industry code carried by grades such as Cyasorb UV-9 from Syensqo. That code is not unique to this additive, because "UV-9" also reads as a UV index value in weather reporting and as an Arkema coatings photoblocker, so a plastics specification names CAS 131-57-7 beside the code.

Is benzophenone-3 the same as oxybenzone?#

Yes: oxybenzone and benzophenone-3 are two names for the same substance, CAS 131-57-7, with oxybenzone the cosmetic name and benzophenone-3 or UV-9 the name used for the polymer additive. The trade names split along the same line. Chimassorb 90 from BASF, Cyasorb UV-9 from Syensqo and Eversorb 11 from Everlight are sold into plastics, while Uvinul M 40 and Escalol 567 are the cosmetic grades of the same CAS number. Chemical suppliers list the molecule under a third name, 2-hydroxy-4-methoxybenzophenone, which is the form that appears on laboratory catalogue entries and safety data sheets.

Is benzophenone-3 the same as benzophenone?#

No: benzophenone is CAS 119-61-9 and benzophenone-3 is CAS 131-57-7, and the two carry different regulatory records. California's Proposition 65 lists benzophenone for cancer with effect from 22 June 2012, and that listing is for CAS 119-61-9. The two molecules also do different jobs in a polymer, because benzophenone acts as a photoinitiator and a chemical intermediate while benzophenone-3 acts as a UV absorber. Benzophenone-3 itself carries no harmonised CLP classification. The 3 substances that are confused with one another are separated in the table below.

How Does Benzophenone-3 Protect Plastics from UV Light?#

Benzophenone-3 protects a plastic by absorbing UV photons before the polymer does and converting that energy into heat through excited-state intramolecular proton transfer (ESIPT) across the hydrogen bond between its 2-hydroxyl group and its carbonyl. Sunlight at the Earth's surface starts at 280 to 290 nm, and the absorber takes up photons mainly in the UV-B and the short UV-A region. ESIPT is a keto-enol tautomerism that returns the molecule unchanged, so one absorber handles photon after photon, a route Crawford reviewed in Progress in Polymer Science 24 (1999) 7-43.

The 3 steps of that cycle are listed below.

• Absorption: the molecule takes up a UV photon and reaches an excited singlet state.
• Dissipation: the proton moves along the intramolecular hydrogen bond to the carbonyl oxygen, opening a non-radiative decay path that releases the energy as heat.
• Recovery: the reverse proton transfer restores the ground-state tautomer, so the absorber is available for the next photon.

Absorbing is not the only way a light stabilizer works. Hindered amine light stabilizers do not absorb ultraviolet light: they scavenge the radicals photo-oxidation has already produced, and the Denisov cycle regenerates them instead of consuming them stoichiometrically. Absorbing and radical scavenging are the two mechanisms behind every product sold as a UV stabilizer, and the hub on UV stabilizers for plastics sets them against each other. BASF positions the benzophenone class for moderate durability expectations, so the class trades photo-permanence for cost and breadth.

Why part thickness decides how much a UV absorber protects plastics#

A UV absorber protects a plastic in proportion to concentration multiplied by path length, so benzophenone-3 works best in thick sections and in films thick enough to build absorbance, and it cannot protect the outermost surface layer of any part. That is the Beer-Lambert relationship applied to a moulding: absorbance rises with concentration times thickness, and at zero path length it is zero, which is why the surface layer chalks and yellows first. HALS carry no such penalty, because radical scavenging is thickness independent. Thin film is where the difference shows: UV-531 is combined with HALS in polyethylene and EVA agricultural films above 100 µm precisely because the absorber alone runs short of path length. What the absorber is competing with is explained under photodegradation of plastics.

What Are the Physical and Chemical Properties of Benzophenone-3?#

Benzophenone-3 is a pale-yellow crystalline powder that melts at 65.5 °C (149.9 °F) and distils at 155 °C (311 °F) under 5 mmHg, with a molecular weight of 228.24 g/mol. Its density is 1.32 at 25 °C (77 °F) and its molecular formula C14H12O3. The verified property set, each value taken from PubChem CID 4632, is listed below.

Molecular weight is where benzophenone-3 separates from the rest of the UV absorber shelf. At 228.24 g/mol it is the lightest of the commercial 2-hydroxybenzophenones, below UV-531 at 326.4 g/mol and far below the hydroxyphenyl triazine Tinuvin 1577 at 425.5 g/mol, and a melting point of 65.5 °C (149.9 °F) sits well under any melt-processing temperature. Low molecular weight and a low melting point make processing temperature, volatility and long-term retention the three properties a compounder checks first, and the performance section sets those against measured values for the heavier absorbers.

Which Polymers Use Benzophenone-3, and at What Dosage?#

Benzophenone-3 is used in PVC, polystyrene, cellulosics and acrylics, and in gel coats, where the absorber is dispersed through the mass rather than confined to a coating. How much of it goes into a compound? No supplier dosage figure for benzophenone-3 is verified in our source library, and this page states a range only when a data sheet for a benzophenone-3 plastics grade is on file. Two neighbouring grades give the order of magnitude the class works in: UV-531 runs at 0.1 to 0.7 wt% under the Mayzo BLS 531 data sheet, and Tinuvin P at 0.1 to 0.5 wt% under BASF and Mayzo guidance. The polymer systems and the evidence behind each are set out below.

Dosage cells carry no number because no supplier data sheet for a benzophenone-3 plastics grade is in our source library. See the alternatives table for the levels used by UV-531 and Tinuvin P.

Benzophenone-3 in PVC#

PVC is the clearest case for a benzophenone absorber, because the HALS that dominate polyolefin stabilization are largely ineffective in PVC: the hydrogen chloride released during dehydrochlorination protonates the hindered amine. Capocci and Hubbard described that deactivation in the Journal of Vinyl and Additive Technology in 2005, and NOR HALS are the exception. What the absorber protects against is the polyene sequence: pure PVC does not absorb above 220 nm, so degradation starts at defect sites, and a sequence of 8 or more conjugated C=C bonds is coloured. Opaque profiles and window frames take rutile titanium dioxide, while clear and flexible PVC takes benzotriazoles such as UV-P, UV-329 and Tinuvin 571, or a benzophenone. The full package for clear, flexible and opaque compounds is on UV stabilizers for PVC.

Benzophenone-3 in polystyrene and cellulosics#

Polystyrene yellows under UV because photo-oxidation builds polyene and acetophenone-type chromophores, a pathway Rabek and Rånby described in 1974, and a UV absorber such as benzophenone-3 slows it by intercepting the photons before the polymer does. Cellulose esters take the same treatment, and both systems are transparent, which rules out the screening route through carbon black or titanium dioxide. Tinuvin P competes directly here, since BASF and Mayzo document it at 0.1 to 0.5 wt% in polystyrene and its copolymers, polyesters, acrylics, PVC, PVDC, POM and cellulose esters. Stabilizer choices for GPPS, HIPS, EPS and XPS are compared under additives for polystyrene.

Benzophenone-3 in acrylics, gel coats and thermosets#

Acrylics and gel coats use benzophenone-3 as a mass stabilizer, which means the absorber is compounded through the whole part instead of being concentrated in a surface layer. Gel coats are the outer layer of a thermoset composite, so the absorber has to survive the cure and stay where it was placed. Semirigid and rigid acrylics carry the substance under 21 CFR 177.1010, which makes the acrylic case the only one with an explicit US food-contact route. The rest of the acrylic formulation sits on additives for PMMA (acrylic).

What Is Benzophenone-3 Used For in Plastics?#

Benzophenone-3 is used in 5 plastics applications: clear and flexible PVC, styrenics, cellulose esters, semirigid and rigid acrylics, and gel coats. Each of the five is a transparent or translucent system, because a screener that works by opacity is unavailable there. The 5 applications recorded in our data set are listed below.

• Clear and flexible PVC articles, where hydrogen chloride deactivates conventional HALS.
• Styrenic articles, where photo-oxidation builds the polyene and acetophenone chromophores that yellow the part.
• Cellulose-ester articles, which share the transparency requirement of styrenics.
• Semirigid and rigid acrylics, including US food-contact acrylics under 21 CFR 177.1010.
• Gel coats, where the absorber is dispersed through the mass of a thermoset surface layer.

Wire and cable, agricultural film and automotive exterior parts are absent because our data set assigns them to UV-531, the HALS grades and the hydroxyphenyl triazines.

How Does Benzophenone-3 Perform Against Other UV Absorbers?#

Benzophenone-3 is the low-molecular-weight member of its class at 228.24 g/mol, so it carries the two structural limits of that class: lower photo-permanence than the benzotriazoles and the triazines, and higher volatility than the heavier absorbers. Volatility follows molecular weight closely inside this family, and the measured anchor points make the ranking concrete: BASF records a 1 % thermogravimetric weight loss at 153 °C (307.4 °F) for the benzotriazole Tinuvin P at 225.25 g/mol, at 205 °C (401 °F) for the cyanoacrylate Uvinul 3035 at 277.3 g/mol, and at 300 °C (572 °F) for the triazine Tinuvin 1577 at 425.5 g/mol. No thermogravimetric value for benzophenone-3 is verified in our source library, so the table below leaves that cell empty rather than estimating it. The class positions of the four absorbers are compared below.

Empty cells are gaps in our source library, not zeros.

How is UV stabilizer performance tested: weathering and yellowness index#

UV stabilizer performance is measured by accelerated weathering, with xenon-arc exposure under ISO 4892-2, ASTM G155-25 or ASTM D2565 and fluorescent UV exposure under ISO 4892-3, ASTM G154-23 or ASTM D4329-26, and the result is read as a change in yellowness index. ISO 4892-2 Method A cycle 1 runs 102 minutes of dry light and 18 minutes of light with water spray, at an irradiance of 0.51 W/(m²·nm) at 340 nm and a black-standard temperature of 65 ± 3 °C (149 ± 5.4 °F). Cycle parameters and correlation limits are set out on accelerated weathering tests.

Colour change is the readout that turns exposure hours into a number. Yellowness index is measured under ASTM E313-20, reapproved in 2025, and ASTM D1925 was withdrawn in 1995, so a current report cites E313 alone. The measurement itself is explained on yellowness index. No weathering result for benzophenone-3 is held in our data set, so this page prints no hours-to-failure figure.

How Does Benzophenone-3 Interact with HALS, UV Screeners and Pigments?#

Benzophenone-3 is normally paired rather than used alone: a UV absorber handles the incoming photons while a hindered amine scavenges the radicals that get through, which is the standard combination in light-stabilized compounds. UV-531 in polyethylene and EVA agricultural film is the documented example of that pairing. The 3 additive groups that decide how benzophenone-3 performs are listed below.

• Hindered amine light stabilizers, regenerated in the Denisov cycle rather than consumed stoichiometrically, and largely ineffective in PVC because hydrogen chloride protonates the hindered amine.
• UV screeners, namely carbon black, rutile titanium dioxide and zinc oxide, which block radiation physically instead of absorbing it molecularly.
• Pigments and colourants, which change the radiation balance inside the part in both directions.

The radical-scavenging half of the pair is covered on hindered amine light stabilizers (HALS), and choosing between the two halves is a polymer decision before it is a cost decision. Pigments cut both ways: copper phthalocyanine absorbs ultraviolet light strongly, yet its excited state can act as a photoinitiator. Where opacity is acceptable, UV screeners such as rutile titanium dioxide and carbon black do the same job physically, which is why opaque PVC profiles take titanium dioxide. No synergy ratio specific to benzophenone-3 exists in our source library, so the pairing stays qualitative.

What Is the Regulatory Status of Benzophenone-3?#

Benzophenone-3 is registered under REACH at 100 to 1,000 tonnes a year, is not a Substance of Very High Concern, is authorised for EU food-contact plastics as FCM substance 319 under a group limit of 6 mg/kg, and is listed for semirigid and rigid acrylics in 21 CFR 177.1010 (status 22 September 2026). The full matrix, with every instrument and its reference, is set out below.

Class context explains what is not in that table. Among the UV absorbers only UV-328 (Tinuvin 328) is listed as a persistent organic pollutant, under Stockholm Convention decision SC-11/11 of 2023 and EU Delegated Regulation (EU) 2025/843 in force since 4 August 2025, and benzophenone-3 is not part of that action.

Is benzophenone-3 REACH registered, and is it an SVHC?#

Yes, benzophenone-3 is registered under REACH (Regulation (EC) No 1907/2006) in the 100 to 1,000 tonnes a year band, and no, it is not a Substance of Very High Concern: it is absent from the Candidate List as of 22 September 2026. The registration is a full registration carried by 7 active dossiers in ECHA CHEM. Two neighbouring UV absorbers show the alternative record: UV-326 and UV-329 joined the SVHC Candidate List on 23 January 2024 as very persistent and very bioaccumulative substances, neither is on Annex XIV, and ECHA published a draft Annex XIV recommendation on 2 February 2026 whose consultation closed on 2 May 2026. Benzophenone-3 has never been added to that list.

Is benzophenone-3 allowed in food-contact plastics?#

Yes, in the EU: benzophenone-3 is listed in Annex I of Regulation (EU) No 10/2011 as FCM substance 319, an additive for which the fat reduction factor applies, and its migration is capped by group restriction 8 at 6 mg/kg. Its reference number in the same Annex is 61360. Set against the generic values, that limit is strict: 6 mg/kg is one tenth of the generic specific migration limit of 60 mg/kg, and the overall migration limit of 10 mg/dm² applies on top of it, tightened to 60 mg/kg for articles intended for infants. Fat reduction factors, overall migration and the Union list are explained on EU 10/2011.

What is EU 10/2011 group restriction 8?#

Group restriction 8 of Regulation (EU) No 10/2011 caps 6 benzophenone UV absorbers at a combined 6 mg/kg, so a compound that uses benzophenone-3 and UV-531 together shares one limit rather than getting two. The 6 members of the group, confirmed against the EUR-Lex consolidated text of 14 July 2026, are listed below.

• FCM 317
• FCM 318, benzophenone-1 (2,4-dihydroxybenzophenone)
• FCM 319, benzophenone-3
• FCM 359
• FCM 431, UV-531 (octabenzone)
• FCM 464, 2-hydroxy-4-hexyloxybenzophenone

All group restrictions and their members are tabulated under specific migration limits (SML).

Is benzophenone-3 FDA-cleared for plastics (21 CFR 177.1010)?#

Benzophenone-3 appears in 21 CFR 177.1010, the US regulation for semirigid and rigid acrylic plastics, which is the specific clearance a food-contact acrylic part relies on. The wording matters in a declaration: no plastic additive is "FDA approved" as a product, it is listed in a section of Title 21. How 21 CFR parts 175 to 178 fit together is explained under FDA food contact rules for plastic additives, and our source library records no concentration limit for benzophenone-3 under 177.1010.

The boundary of that clearance is the more useful fact. Benzophenone-3 is not listed in 21 CFR 178.2010, the general list of antioxidants and stabilizers for polymers, so a polyolefin food-contact compound uses octabenzone (UV-531) at up to 0.5 wt% in olefin polymers instead, or 2-hydroxy-4-isooctoxybenzophenone (CAS 33059-05-1) at up to 0.5 wt% in olefin copolymers. The stabilizers that are listed, with their per-polymer caps, are on 21 CFR 178.2010.

Is benzophenone-3 on the EU drinking-water positive list?#

Yes: benzophenone-3 carries entry 0261 on the European positive list of starting substances for materials in contact with drinking water under Directive (EU) 2020/2184. Three other UV stabilizers hold entries on the same list: UV-531 at 0368, UV-P at 0381 and Chimassorb 944 at 0648. Entry 0261 belongs to the European positive list described under plastic additives in drinking-water contact.

Is Benzophenone-3 Safe? Hazard Classification and the Pending CLH Process#

Benzophenone-3 has no harmonised hazard classification under the EU CLP Regulation (EC) No 1272/2008, and a proposal to give it one is in progress: a CLH intention was registered on 1 October 2025 and was still ongoing on 22 September 2026. In the absence of a harmonised entry, the hazard statements on a safety data sheet are the supplier's own self-classification, which is why two data sheets for CAS 131-57-7 differ in their classification section. The 3 layers of the current record are listed below.

• Harmonised classification: none in Annex VI of the CLP Regulation as of 22 September 2026.
• Notified classifications: H315 (skin irritation), H319 (eye irritation) and H335 (respiratory irritation), notified by about 70 % of notifiers to ECHA, with minority notifications of H361 (suspected reproductive toxicity), H317 (skin sensitisation) and H400 and H410 (aquatic toxicity).
• Open processes: the CLH intention of 1 October 2025, which follows the ECHA substance evaluation concluded on 20 August 2025.

A notified classification and a harmonised classification are not the same instrument, because only the harmonised entry binds every supplier in the EU. How a harmonised classification is made is explained on CLP classification of plastic additives, and this page reports the open process and its dates without predicting its outcome.

What did the ECHA endocrine-disruptor assessment conclude?#

ECHA concluded its endocrine-disruptor assessment of benzophenone-3 on 22 August 2025 and its substance evaluation on 20 August 2025, and a harmonised-classification intention followed on 1 October 2025. The content of that intention is not retrievable in the sources this page is built from, so the assessment is reported here as a dated process rather than as a result. What a compounder does with it is the practical question: the substance stays fully usable under current rules, and any change reaches plastics through a CLP entry or through a review of the FCM listing, not through the cosmetics rules. The wider debate is summarised on endocrine disruptors in plastics; this page carries only the regulatory record.

What Are the Alternatives to Benzophenone-3 in Plastics?#

The 4 main alternatives to benzophenone-3 in plastics are UV-531, the benzotriazoles Tinuvin P and Tinuvin 326, the hydroxyphenyl triazines such as Tinuvin 1577, and the cyanoacrylates such as Uvinul 3035. Molecular weight, food-contact route and Candidate List status separate them more sharply than absorption does. The five absorbers are compared below.

Dosage figures come from supplier data sheets published by BASF and Mayzo. No figure is published for benzophenone-3 because none is verified in our source library.

Benzophenone-3 vs UV-531 (Chimassorb 81)#

UV-531 is the better choice wherever the compound is a polyolefin or a food-contact film, because its octyloxy chain raises the molecular weight to 326.4 g/mol, and it is the benzophenone that 21 CFR 178.2010 clears at up to 0.5 wt% in olefin polymers. Its melting point of 46.5 to 49 °C (115.7 to 120.2 °F) sits below that of benzophenone-3, and Mayzo puts it at 0.1 to 0.7 wt% in polyethylene, polypropylene, EVA, flexible PVC, acrylics, polyesters and polycarbonate, with the best results in films above 100 µm. Both molecules count towards the same 6 mg/kg limit of group restriction 8, so substituting one for the other creates no headroom. UV-531 (Chimassorb 81, octabenzone) is the higher-molecular-weight benzophenone in that same food-contact group.

Benzophenone-3 vs Tinuvin P and the benzotriazole UV absorbers#

Benzotriazoles hold their absorbance longer than benzophenones, which is why Tinuvin P and its relatives dominate transparent styrenics, polyesters and acrylics, and 3 of them now carry regulatory baggage that benzophenone-3 does not. Tinuvin P (UV-P, drometrizole) is the benzotriazole that competes directly in styrenics and rigid PVC: CAS 2440-22-4, 225.25 g/mol, absorption maxima at 301 and 341 nm with an extinction coefficient of 16,150 l/mol·cm in chloroform, and a 1 % thermogravimetric loss at 153 °C (307.4 °F). It forms coloured complexes with iron and cobalt ions, a compatibility limit benzophenone-3 does not share.

Regulatory records are where the class comparison turns. UV-326 and UV-329 have been on the Candidate List since 23 January 2024 as very persistent and very bioaccumulative substances, and UV-328 has been on Annex A of the Stockholm Convention since decision SC-11/11 in 2023 and in the EU POPs Regulation since 4 August 2025, with trace limits of 100 mg/kg from 2025, 10 mg/kg from 2027 and 1 mg/kg from 2029. Tinuvin 326 (UV-326, bumetrizole) carries that vPvB entry, which is the strongest reason a formulator revisits a benzophenone.

Benzophenone-3 vs hydroxyphenyl triazines and cyanoacrylates#

Hydroxyphenyl triazines replace benzophenones wherever processing temperature is the constraint: Tinuvin 1577 loses 1 % of its weight only at 300 °C (572 °F), against 153 °C (307.4 °F) for the low-molecular-weight benzotriazole Tinuvin P. At 425.5 g/mol, CAS 147315-50-2, FCM 770 with an SML of 0.05 mg/kg and an FDA clearance of up to 0.5 wt% in polycarbonate, polyester elastomers and PET, Tinuvin 1577 is the high-temperature triazine used where processing exceeds the benzophenone window. Cyanoacrylates occupy the middle ground: Uvinul 3035 (etocrylene, CAS 5232-99-5, 277.3 g/mol) is documented by BASF at 0.1 to 1.0 wt% in PVC, PA, PC, ABS, SAN, ASA, PS and PUR, with FCM 487 and an SML of 0.05 mg/kg.

Who Manufactures Benzophenone-3? Plastics Grades and Suppliers#

Benzophenone-3 is supplied for plastics by BASF as Chimassorb 90, by Syensqo as Cyasorb UV-9 and by Everlight as Eversorb 11, while Uvinul M 40 and Escalol 567 are the cosmetic grades of the same CAS number. Syensqo carries the Cyasorb line after its spin-off from Solvay and its listing on 11 December 2023. Company locations and portfolios are compared in the directory of UV stabilizer and HALS manufacturers.

Chimassorb and Uvinul reached BASF with the Ciba acquisition completed on 9 April 2009, which is why a plastics grade and a cosmetics grade of the same molecule sit in one corporate catalogue; the full BASF plastic additives portfolio lists both lines. Buyers should request the current technical data sheet and safety data sheet for any grade named here, because grade availability in this class changes and our source library does not track discontinuations. The producers and the market each grade serves are listed below.

How Does Benzophenone-3 Fit into the Benzophenone UV Absorber Class?#

Benzophenone-3 is the reference molecule of the 2-hydroxybenzophenones, one of 6 UV absorber chemistries that sit beside the benzotriazoles, hydroxyphenyl triazines, oxanilides, cyanoacrylates and benzoxazinones. Every member carries the same hydroxyl group next to the carbonyl, and the members differ only in what hangs off the second ring: a methoxy group in benzophenone-3, an octyloxy chain in UV-531, a hexyloxy chain in FCM 464. BASF positions the class for moderate durability expectations, which is a statement about photo-permanence rather than about absorption strength. The class as a whole, including the grades that never reached the food-contact list, is covered on benzophenone UV absorbers.

Benzophenone-1, BP-6 and the other benzophenones in EU 10/2011 group 8#

Five benzophenones share group restriction 8 with benzophenone-3: FCM 317, FCM 318 (benzophenone-1, 2,4-dihydroxybenzophenone), FCM 359, FCM 431 (UV-531) and FCM 464 (2-hydroxy-4-hexyloxybenzophenone). The shared 6 mg/kg total means a food-contact formulator treats the group as one budget, and the two most common members of that budget in plastics are benzophenone-3 and UV-531. Benzophenone-1 and the other members have no substance page in this reference, because our data set holds no plastics application record for them. The parallel group, group restriction 12 with its SML(T) of 30 mg/kg, belongs to the benzotriazole UV absorbers.

Benzophenone-3 outside plastics: sunscreens and cosmetics#

Outside plastics, the same substance is a cosmetic UV filter: Regulation (EU) 2022/1176 has capped oxybenzone at 6 % in face, hand and lip products, 2.2 % in body products and 0.5 % where it protects only the formulation, applicable since 28 January 2023. The substance holds that position as an Annex VI entry under the EU Cosmetics Regulation, a separate legal system whose limits are expressed as a percentage of the product rather than as migration into food. That is why the head query for this molecule returns sunscreen pages while this page returns polymer data. Cosmetic limits do not apply to plastic articles, which are governed by Regulation (EU) No 10/2011 and by 21 CFR 177.1010.

Is benzophenone-3 banned in Europe?#

No: benzophenone-3 is authorised for EU food-contact plastics as FCM substance 319 and is not on the REACH Candidate List, and in cosmetics it is limited by concentration rather than banned (status 22 September 2026). The open CLH process registered on 1 October 2025 is a classification proposal, not a restriction.

Is benzophenone-3 the same as benzophenone-4?#

No: benzophenone-4 is a different substance, a water-soluble sulfonated benzophenone used in cosmetics, and it is not the polymer additive covered here. Our data set holds no identifier for it.

Does benzophenone-3 migrate out of plastics?#

Migration is the reason the limit exists: EU 10/2011 caps benzophenone-3 together with 5 other benzophenones at 6 mg/kg of food, and low-molecular-weight additives migrate more readily than oligomeric ones. At 228.24 g/mol it sits at the light end of that scale, and the overall migration limit of 10 mg/dm² applies alongside the group limit. Why low-molecular-weight additives move faster is explained under additive migration in plastics.