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Description
Curator's Comment: description was created based on several sources, including: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benzalkonium_chloride

Benzalkonium chloride, also known as BZK, BKC, BAC, alkyldimethylbenzylammonium chloride and ADBAC, is a type of cationic surfactant. It is an organic salt called a quaternary ammonium compound. In 2011, a large clinical trial designed to evaluate the efficacy of hand sanitizers based on different active ingredients in preventing virus transmission amongst schoolchildren was re-designed to exclude sanitizers based on benzalkonium chloride due to safety concerns. Benzalkonium chloride has been in common use as a pharmaceutical preservative and antimicrobial since the 1940s. While early studies confirmed the corrosive and irritant properties of benzalkonium chloride, investigations into the adverse effects of, and disease states linked to, benzalkonium chloride have only surfaced during the past 30 years. Benzalkonium chloride is classed as a Category III antiseptic active ingredient by the United States Food and Drug Administration. Ingredients are categorised as Category III when "available data are insufficient to classify as safe and effective, and further testing is required”. Benzalkonium chloride is excluded from the current United States Food and Drug Administration review of the safety and effectiveness of consumer antiseptics and topical antimicrobial over-the-counter drug products, meaning it will remain a Category III ingredient. The mechanism of bactericidal/microbicidal action is thought to be due to disruption of intermolecular interactions. This can cause dissociation of cellular membrane lipid bilayers, which compromises cellular permeability controls and induces leakage of cellular contents. Other biomolecular complexes within the bacterial cell can also undergo dissociation. Enzymes, which finely control a wide range of respiratory and metabolic cellular activities, are particularly susceptible to deactivation. Critical intermolecular interactions and tertiary structures in such highly specific biochemical systems can be readily disrupted by cationic surfactants. Benzalkonium chloride is a human skin and severe eye irritant. It is a suspected respiratory toxicant, immunotoxicant, gastrointestinal toxicant and neurotoxicant.

Approval Year

PubMed

PubMed

TitleDatePubMed
[Contact sensitization to pharmaceutic aids in dermatologic cosmetic and external use preparations].
2004 May
Contact sensitivity to preservatives in Turkey.
2005 Jun
Human skin in organ culture and human skin cells (keratinocytes and fibroblasts) in monolayer culture for assessment of chemically induced skin damage.
2007 Aug
Suitability of macrophage inflammatory protein-1beta production by THP-1 cells in differentiating skin sensitizers from irritant chemicals.
2008 Apr
Occludin gene expression as an early in vitro sign for mild eye irritation assessment.
2010 Feb
Upregulation of genes orchestrating keratinocyte differentiation, including the novel marker gene ID2, by contact sensitizers in human bulge-derived keratinocytes.
2010 Jan-Feb
Prediction of the contact sensitizing potential of chemicals using analysis of gene expression changes in human THP-1 monocytes.
2010 Nov 10
An in vitro test to screen skin sensitizers using a stable THP-1-derived IL-8 reporter cell line, THP-G8.
2011 Dec
Patents

Sample Use Guides

Unknown
Route of Administration: Topical
In Vitro Use Guide
Curator's Comment: Cell exposure to 0.1% and 0.05% BAC induced cell lysis immediately after treatment. All cells (100%) treated with 0.01% BAC died in a delayed manner within 24 hours, with most of the characteristics of apoptosis (chromatin condensation and DNA fragmentation, reduction in cell volume, expression of the apoptotic marker Apo 2.7, and apoptotic changes in DNA content).
A continuous human conjunctival cell line (Wong-Kilbourne derivative of Chang conjunctiva) was exposed to benzalkonium chloride (BAC) solutions at various concentrations (0.1%-0.0001%) during a period of 10 minutes.
Name Type Language
BENZALKONIUM
VANDF   WHO-DD  
Common Name English
BENZALKONIUM CATION
Common Name English
ALKYLBENZYLDIMETHYLAMMONIUM CHLORIDE CATION
Common Name English
BENZALKONIUM ION
Common Name English
DODECYL DIMETHYL BENZYL AMMONIUM CHLORIDE
Common Name English
BENZALKONIUM [VANDF]
Common Name English
ALKYL DIMETHYL BENZYL AMMONIUM ION
Common Name English
Benzalkonium [WHO-DD]
Common Name English
Classification Tree Code System Code
NCI_THESAURUS C28394
Created by admin on Fri Dec 15 15:41:04 UTC 2023 , Edited by admin on Fri Dec 15 15:41:04 UTC 2023
EPA PESTICIDE CODE 69124
Created by admin on Fri Dec 15 15:41:04 UTC 2023 , Edited by admin on Fri Dec 15 15:41:04 UTC 2023
WHO-ATC D09AA11
Created by admin on Fri Dec 15 15:41:04 UTC 2023 , Edited by admin on Fri Dec 15 15:41:04 UTC 2023
WHO-ATC D08AJ01
Created by admin on Fri Dec 15 15:41:04 UTC 2023 , Edited by admin on Fri Dec 15 15:41:04 UTC 2023
WHO-VATC QR02AA16
Created by admin on Fri Dec 15 15:41:04 UTC 2023 , Edited by admin on Fri Dec 15 15:41:04 UTC 2023
WHO-VATC QD09AA11
Created by admin on Fri Dec 15 15:41:04 UTC 2023 , Edited by admin on Fri Dec 15 15:41:04 UTC 2023
WHO-ATC R02AA16
Created by admin on Fri Dec 15 15:41:04 UTC 2023 , Edited by admin on Fri Dec 15 15:41:04 UTC 2023
WHO-VATC QD08AJ01
Created by admin on Fri Dec 15 15:41:04 UTC 2023 , Edited by admin on Fri Dec 15 15:41:04 UTC 2023
Code System Code Type Description
NCI_THESAURUS
C87254
Created by admin on Fri Dec 15 15:41:04 UTC 2023 , Edited by admin on Fri Dec 15 15:41:04 UTC 2023
PRIMARY
DRUG CENTRAL
3017
Created by admin on Fri Dec 15 15:41:04 UTC 2023 , Edited by admin on Fri Dec 15 15:41:04 UTC 2023
PRIMARY
DAILYMED
7N6JUD5X6Y
Created by admin on Fri Dec 15 15:41:04 UTC 2023 , Edited by admin on Fri Dec 15 15:41:04 UTC 2023
PRIMARY
EVMPD
SUB00712MIG
Created by admin on Fri Dec 15 15:41:04 UTC 2023 , Edited by admin on Fri Dec 15 15:41:04 UTC 2023
PRIMARY
DRUG BANK
DB11105
Created by admin on Fri Dec 15 15:41:04 UTC 2023 , Edited by admin on Fri Dec 15 15:41:04 UTC 2023
PRIMARY
FDA UNII
7N6JUD5X6Y
Created by admin on Fri Dec 15 15:41:04 UTC 2023 , Edited by admin on Fri Dec 15 15:41:04 UTC 2023
PRIMARY
RXCUI
1378
Created by admin on Fri Dec 15 15:41:04 UTC 2023 , Edited by admin on Fri Dec 15 15:41:04 UTC 2023
PRIMARY RxNorm
All of the following components must be present:
Definition References