Contact dermatitis
Benzyl alcohol is an ingredient used in the manufacture of soaps, topical creams, skin lotions, shampoos, and facial cleansers and is popular due to its anti-bacterial and anti-fungal properties. It is a common ingredient in a variety of 
household products and can cause severe allergic contact dermatitis in a significant percentage of the population. Safety
Benzyl alcohol has low acute toxicity with an LD50 of 1.2 g/kg in rats. It oxidizes rapidly in healthy individuals to benzoic acid, conjugated with glycine in the liver, and excreted as hippuric acid. Very high concentrations can result in toxic effects including respiratory failure, vasodilation, hypotension, convulsions, and paralysis. Benzyl alcohol is toxic to neonates and is associated with the gasping syndrome.Benzyl alcohol is severely toxic and highly irritating to the eye. Pure benzyl alcohol produces corneal necrosis.Benzyl alcohol is not considered to be a carcinogen, and no data are available regarding teratogenic or reproductive effects. References
External links
International Chemical Safety Card 0833
"Benzyl alcohol". Drug Information Portal. U.S. National Library of Medicine.
Originally, selenium deficiency as a result of malnutrition was thought to reduce D1 catalytic activity, but this theory has not been supported as a cause of NTIS. NTIS as a result of fasting may be regarded as a healthy and adaptive mechanism that reduces energy expenditure. Fasting in healthy, euthyroid people causes reduced T3 and elevated rT3, although TSH is usually unchanged. Even moderate weight loss can lower T3.This may be primarily via reduced levels of leptin (the satisfaction hormone). Low leptin levels can downregulate hypothalamic TRH neurons and cause a reduction in TSH. Ιn fasting animals, administering leptin reverses NTIS symptoms and restores thyroid hormone concentrations. In obesity, increased leptin increases TSH and T3, and lowers rT3, possibly as an attempt to increase energy expenditure and return to weight set point.Other signals associated with hunger also affect the HPT axis. Insulin and bile acids, which are elevated after a meal, lead to increased D2 activity, therefore increasing T3 and reducing rT3. Low leptin increases NPY and AGRP (associated with appetite), which inhibit TRH gene expression; this effect is enhanced by ghrelin (the hunger hormone). a-MSH stimulates TRH gene expression in the PVN. This is enhanced by leptin, and inhibited by low leptin. a-MSH is also antagonized by AGRP. Alternative phenotype (type 2 thyroid allostasis)
An anti-NTIS phenotype is observed in some circumstances, wherein TSH, T3, and T4 are generally elevated rather than suppressed.