CONSTITUENT REPORT
Dodecanoic acid
Dodecanoic acid, better known as lauric acid, is a C12 saturated fatty acid with a much deeper nutrition, antimicrobial, and formulation literature than most archive aroma constituents. In AromaForge it appears in white cognac and related fatty distillate contexts, while the strongest live sources support identity, a full RIFM fragrance safety assessment, and preclinical-to-translational studies on antimicrobial action and skin-permeation behavior. Those findings are real but exposure-context dependent, so AromaForge should present dodecanoic acid as a well-studied fatty acid constituent without turning diet, drug-delivery, or acne-model data into medical claims.
Chemical identity and composition
NIST and the RIFM assessment identify dodecanoic acid as C12H24O2, CAS 143-07-7, with lauric acid as the dominant common name. Unlike highly volatile terpene constituents, lauric acid sits closer to fatty-matrix and formulation chemistry than to classical top-note perfumery.
Aroma and practical use
- Use the recorded faint, fatty, waxy, soapy, bay-like descriptors to explore a blend's scent character; perceived strength also depends on the other ingredients.
- Review the flagged use concerns across every contributing oil and the selected dilution.
- Read the route, preparation and experimental context before using a study finding to choose an oil.
Reported benefits and effects
Findings retain their study context. An animal or laboratory result describes that experiment.
RIFM concluded that lauric acid was not expected to be genotoxic, did not present a skin-sensitization concern at current declared fragrance use levels, and was not expected to be phototoxic or photoallergenic.
The full assessment also reports a repeated-dose NOAEL of 333.33 mg/kg/day and a reproductive-toxicity NOAEL of 1000 mg/kg/day under its read-across-based framework.
The source assessment applies to its specified exposure and preparation; this entry is not an unrestricted-use clearance.
A Journal of Investigative Dermatology paper described lauric acid as strongly bactericidal and evaluated it in a Propionibacterium acnes inflammatory-acne model, supporting real but preclinical antimicrobial relevance.
The PubMed abstract metadata frames the paper as therapeutic-potential research, but the archive should keep this as model-level evidence rather than a clinical claim.
This experimental finding does not establish benefit, dose or safety in people using this blend.
A Biological and Pharmaceutical Bulletin study found that lauric acid barely permeated through rat skin, accumulated in the skin, and increased with concentration when used as a percutaneous-absorption enhancer.
This is useful formulation evidence because it distinguishes skin accumulation from full transdermal passage.
This experimental finding does not establish benefit, dose or safety in people using this blend.
Use concerns and concentration limits
Sensitization concernNot flagged
Not flagged in the current model. This is not proof of absence or unrestricted safety.
Phototoxicity concernNot flagged
Not flagged in the current model. This is not proof of absence or unrestricted safety.
Oxidation concernNot flagged
Not flagged in the current model. This is not proof of absence or unrestricted safety.
Penetration enhancementFlagged
Flagged in the constituent reference; assess the source, route and finished-product concentration.
No numeric constituent-specific use limit is available here. Missing is not an unrestricted-use clearance.
RIFM's 2020 assessment concluded that lauric acid is safe as described in that fragrance-use assessment and did not indicate concern for skin sensitization at declared use levels.
The source assessment applies to its specified exposure and preparation; this entry is not an unrestricted-use clearance.
No direct public citation is attached to this entry.
The same assessment found no expected phototoxicity or photoallergenicity based on UV spectra and reported no significant absorbance between 290 and 700 nm.
The source assessment applies to its specified exposure and preparation; this entry is not an unrestricted-use clearance.
No direct public citation is attached to this entry.
Topical research and antimicrobial studies use exposure conditions that are not equivalent to trace fragrance occurrence, so efficacy-style wording would overstate the evidence.
This reference does not establish a therapeutic result or a safe use level for a custom oil blend.
No direct public citation is attached to this entry.
Constituents it may interact with
These are research candidates recorded in the interaction matrix. They do not add a proven-amplification bonus to the score.
EugenolAmplification candidate
Candidate in the research matrix. A coefficient alone does not establish amplification at the dose, route or goal of your blend; no proven amplification is inferred from this row.
in vitro · effect
No source citation attached.
Read Eugenol report →How the effects were investigated
membrane_disruption_antimicrobial_activity
Preclinical acne and antimicrobial literature treats lauric acid as a bactericidal fatty acid with membrane-active behavior against susceptible organisms.
This experimental finding does not establish benefit, dose or safety in people using this blend.
skin_accumulation_and_permeation_enhancement
An in vitro skin study reported that lauric acid accumulated in skin more than it permeated through it and correlated with increased thiamine disulfide uptake, supporting a penetration-enhancer role in formulation science.
This experimental finding does not establish benefit, dose or safety in people using this blend.
What this report cannot establish
- A reported constituent percentage does not establish an effective human therapeutic dose or the amount absorbed into the body.
- The presence of a constituent does not guarantee a clinical benefit, rash treatment or sleep improvement from a custom blend.
- An unflagged concern or missing use limit does not establish safety for ingestion, inhalation, skin exposure or a particular person.
- A candidate constituent interaction does not establish that two oils amplify one another at the selected proportions.
- Constituent descriptors alone do not establish a precise top, heart or base lifetime in a finished blend.
Known data gaps (8)
- This pass did not verify a newer full-text RIFM update PDF beyond the 2020 public assessment.
- Most antimicrobial and skin papers are preclinical or formulation-specific rather than human fragrance-exposure studies.
- No claim should imply that trace aromatic exposure reproduces the concentrations used in acne or penetration-enhancer experiments.
- sensitizing set to false and penetration_enhancer set to true (2026-07-11) based on already-cited sources: RIFM's 2020 assessment (rifm-lauric-acid-2020) found no skin-sensitization concern at declared fragrance use levels, and the 1995 percutaneous-absorption study (pubmed-lauric-acid-skin-1995) documented lauric acid's skin-accumulation/penetration-enhancer behavior. No numeric IFRA/EU Annex III dermal percentage limit was located, so dermal_limit_verified remains false.
- dermal_limit_pct corrected from an unsourced 25 to null (2026-07-13): a second search pass confirmed no IFRA Standard or EU Annex III numeric percentage limit for lauric acid/dodecanoic acid (CAS 143-07-7) is publicly available.
- No constituent-specific numeric dermal reference is available here.
- Some findings do not record an explicit exposure route; consult the linked study before applying them to a use.
- Interaction candidates lack an attached source citation and remain unqualified.