PHENOXYETHANOL

What official classifications and rules say for each group. A classification describes the hazard of the pure substance, not the risk of a product that contains it, which depends on the dose and the exposure.

Prohibition or serious classificationThe text prohibits the substance for this use, or ranks it among the most serious hazards (known or presumed carcinogenic, mutagenic or reprotoxic, identified endocrine disruptor).Worth watchingThe text sets a condition or flags a hazard worth knowing: allergen, suspected effect, condition for children, hazard to the aquatic environment.For informationOfficial information with no condition on a finished product: warning to read, irritation of the pure substance.

• Pregnancy and breastfeeding

  No classification harmonised by the European Union covers reproduction, the unborn child or breastfeeding for this substance. This does not mean it has been judged to have no effect during pregnancy.

• Babies and children

  The Cosmetics Regulation sets no age-related condition for this ingredient.

• Skin, eyes and allergies

  For informationOfficial information with no condition on a finished product: warning to read, irritation of the pure substance.

  For information Classified under the CLPEU regulation that classifies chemicals by their hazards (EC No 1272/2008). Regulation: serious eye damage, category 1 (Eye Dam. 1). This classification describes the pure substance; in a finished product it is far more diluted.

• Environment

  No harmonised classification as hazardous to the aquatic environment, and it is not on ECHAEuropean Chemicals Agency.'s Candidate List as an endocrine disruptor for the environment.

• Read on the label

  The Cosmetics Regulation requires no warning to be printed for this ingredient.

Preservative allowed under conditions

Maximum concentration

1.0%

Entry

Annex V, No 29

Substance

2-Phenoxyethanol

Glossary names

PHENOXYETHANOL

CAS

122-99-6

EC

204-589-7

Identity

CosIng identifier

36522

CAS (according to CosIng)

122-99-6

EC (according to CosIng)

204-589-7

Declared functions

Antimicrobial, Preservative

Wikidata

Q418038

PubChem

31236

ECHA InfoCard

100.004.173

InChIKey

QCDWFXQBSFUVSP-UHFFFAOYSA-N

2-phenoxyethanol

Neither carcinogenic, mutagenic nor toxic for reproduction under the harmonised classification

Hazard classes

Acute toxicity, category 4 (Acute Tox. 4)
Specific target organ toxicity, single exposure, category 3 (STOT SE 3)
Serious eye damage, category 1 (Eye Dam. 1)

Hazard statements

H302 H335 H318

• 5 June 2026: Face cream, Greece (“Serious risk”) alert
  The product has an excessive concentration of 2-phenoxyethanol (measured value: 1.2 %). 2-phenoxyethanol is haematotoxic, a mild irritant and may damage the liver. The product does not comply with the Cosmetic Products Regulation.
• 17 April 2026: Skin cream, Glow & Lovely, United Kingdom in respect of Northern Ireland (“Serious risk”) alert
  According to the list of ingredients, the product has an excessive concentration of ethylhexyl methoxycinnamate, butyl methoxydibenzoylmethane, phenoxyethanol, methylparaben and isopropylparaben. Ethylhexyl methoxycinnamate could be an endocrine disruptor and…
• 9 January 2026: Hair lotion, Hair MD Professionel, Germany (“Serious risk”) alert
  The product has an excessive concentration of 2-phenoxyethanol (measured value: 1.76 %). 2-phenoxyethanol is haematotoxic, a mild irritant and may damage blood and liver. The product does not comply with the Cosmetics Products Regulation.

United Kingdom (Great Britain)

• Preservative allowed under conditions (Annex V)

Same entries as in the European Union. Their maximum concentrations are compared in the “Comparison between countries” table; other conditions (product types, warnings) may differ.

Switzerland

Regulation (EC) No 1223/2009 applies in Switzerland (Article 54 of the Ordinance on Foodstuffs and Utility Articles).

United States, federal rules

None of the integrated sections of the federal code (21 CFR 700.11 to 700.27 and 250.250) targets this name. The FDA does not publish a list of allowed ingredients.

Japan

• Allowed under conditions: フェノキシエタノール (Phenoxyethanol)

  Annex 3-1 (allowed preservatives), entry 13, page 7. Limit: 1.0 g per 100 g of product.

  Conditions, source text, in Japanese

  [sub-list] 1　すべての化粧品に配合の制限がある成分 | 100g中の最大配合量（g）: 1.0

South Korea

• Restricted: 페녹시에탄올 (PHENOXYETHANOL)

  별표 2, 보존제 성분 (preservatives), entry 50, page 11. Limit: 1.0%.

Brazil

• Allowed under conditions: 2- Fenoxietanol (PHENOXYETHANOL)

  RDC 528/2021, Anexo (allowed preservatives), entry 26, page 4. Limit: 1.0%.

3,342 recorded products list it, according to Open Beauty Facts contributors. Records are dated: the formula may have changed. See the list (in French).