4,4′-Methylenebis (2-chloroanaline)

Known industrially as MOCA or MBOCA, this is a curing agent for polyurethane elastomers. The FDA prohibits its use in articles intended to contact food; it has no food use and never had one.

Where it is and isn’t permitted

Status of 4,4′-Methylenebis (2-chloroanaline) by jurisdiction. Every jurisdiction this site covers is listed, including those where the substance does not appear.
JurisdictionStatusScope and limitsCitation
United StatesFood and Drug AdministrationProhibited

Prohibited from indirect addition to human food through food-contact surfaces.

21 CFR 189.280retrieved 2026-09-07
Codex AlimentariusCodex Alimentarius Commission / JECFANot listedDoes not appear on this jurisdiction’s permitted list. That is not the same as being prohibited.

What it is made from

A synthetic aromatic diamine made by condensing o-chloroaniline with formaldehyde. Its industrial uses continue outside the food supply, where it is handled as an occupational hazard.

Every name it appears under

1 recorded name. A label may use any of them.

As it appears in regulation

  • 4,4′-Methylenebis (2-chloroanaline)

Hazard reference values

No reference value for this substance in the sources we hold.

Evidence and how bodies read it

Studies, and the differing conclusions regulators drew from them, are curated by hand rather than machine-read, and none has been written for this substance yet.

Sources for this page

  • ecfr retrieved 2026-09-07

Full licence terms and publisher details on Sources. How this page is built and updated: Method.

Machine-readable:/api/v1/additives/4-4-methylenebis-2-chloroanaline.json