4,4′-ISOPROPYLIDENEDIPHENOL

📋 Quick facts

Description: 4,4′-ISOPROPYLIDENEDIPHENOL — NOT REPORTED.

All Functions: NOT REPORTED

Quick Facts:

• Category: other
• Regulatory Note: Prohibited in the EU

Proven Benefits At A Glance:

• 4,4′-isopropylidenediphenol is the chemical name for bisphenol A (BPA), found in some plastics and resins
• A flame retardant version (TBBPA) shows low toxicity in animal studies at high doses
• BPA itself shows no mutagenic activity, but a chemically altered form created under specific acidic conditions with nitrite does show mutagenic potential in lab tests
• Actual human exposure to BPA is measured in very low amounts

⚗️ Chemical Overview

Bisphenol A (BPA) can cause developmental toxicity according to The National Toxicology Program’s Center for the Evaluation of Risks to Human Reproduction. It can cause female reproductive toxicity according to an independent committee of scientific and health experts. 4,4′-isopropylidenediphenol appears as white to light brown flakes or powder. Has a weak medicine odor. Sinks in water. (USCG, 1999) Bisphenol A is a bisphenol that is 4,4′-methanediyldiphenol in which the methylene hydrogens are replaced by two methyl groups. It has a role as an endocrine disruptor, a xenobiotic, a xenoestrogen and an environmental contaminant.

Source(s): CAMEO Chemicals, ChEBI, California Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA), via PubChem

📊 Comedogenicity

🛡️ Safety rating

Safety tier is a starting heuristic from regulatory status and comedogenic rating, not a dermatological verdict — see our Terms for the full disclaimer. Research confidence reflects how many real cited studies back this ingredient, not the strength of their findings.

🤰 Pregnancy Safety Note

Prohibited by Health Canada Cosmetic Ingredient Hotlist. Synonyms: Bisphenol A.

🌍 Regulatory Status

💧 Skin Type Compatibility

⚠️ Don’t Combine With

📚 Research & Evidence

🔬 The Science

4,4′-isopropylidenediphenol is the formal chemical name for bisphenol A (BPA), a compound commonly used in polycarbonate plastics and epoxy resins, including some food-contact items (Teratog Carcinog Mutagen, 2002). Regarding safety: A brominated version of this molecule called TBBPA (tetrabromobisphenol A), used as a flame retardant, has been extensively studied. #1: In animal toxicity studies, TBBPA showed a no-observed-adverse-effect-level greater than 1,000 mg/kg body weight per day across 90-day oral toxicity, developmental toxicity, and multi-generation reproductive studies (Arch Toxicol, 2014). #2: While some test-tube interactions with hormone pathways were detected, animal studies found TBBPA did not produce adverse effects suggesting endocrine disruption, meaning it should not be classified as an “endocrine disruptor” (Arch Toxicol, 2014).

#3: TBBPA is rapidly excreted by the body and does not accumulate over time (Arch Toxicol, 2014). #4: Measured human exposure to TBBPA from dust, food, and blood samples is extremely low—estimated at only a few nanograms per kilogram of body weight daily—resulting in safety margins between 60,000-fold (infants) to 60 million-fold (adults) below levels of concern (Arch Toxicol, 2014). One important caveat: A 2002 study found that when unmodified BPA is chemically transformed into a nitrosylated form under acidic conditions in the presence of nitrite, this altered compound shows mutagenic activity in bacterial assays (Teratog Carcinog Mutagen, 2002). However, unreacted BPA itself showed negligible mutagenicity in these same tests.

The practical relevance of this finding—whether nitrosylation occurs significantly in the body or food—is not clarified by these abstracts.

📄 Related Research

Matched by search — not necessarily verified support for every statement above.

• Colnot T et al. (2014). Mammalian toxicology and human exposures to the flame retardant 2,2′,6,6′-tetrabromo-4,4′-isopropylidenediphenol (TBBPA): implications for risk assessment. Arch Toxicol.
• Unknown authors (1967). Bisphenol A. (4,4′-isopropylidenediphenol; 2,2-bis(4-hydroxypehnyl)propane). Am Ind Hyg Assoc J.
• Schrader TJ et al. (2002). Mutagenicity of bisphenol A (4,4′-isopropylidenediphenol) in vitro: effects of nitrosylation. Teratog Carcinog Mutagen.

🧴 Products Containing 4,4′-ISOPROPYLIDENEDIPHENOL