Source: https://reeflabel.com/ingredients/butylparaben/ Preservative · Reef research: Some concern # Butylparaben A preservative banned in Thailand's marine national parks and named in Palau's list. Banned in - Palau - Thailand ## Where it’s restricted Named in the law or guidance | Location | Status | Since | | --- | --- | --- | | [Palau](https://reeflabel.com/locations/palau/) [law text ↗](https://www.palaugov.pw/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/RPPL-No.-10-30-re.-The-Responsible-Tourism-Education-Act-of-2018.pdf) | In force | January 1, 2020 | | [Thailand (all national parks)](https://reeflabel.com/locations/thailand-national-parks/) [law text ↗](https://www.ratchakitcha.soc.go.th/DATA/PDF/2564/E/175/T_0001.PDF) | In force | August 4, 2021 | ## Why it’s regulated Thailand's national parks department banned sunscreens containing butylparaben, oxybenzone, octinoxate or 4-MBC in a notification issued 24 June 2021 and published in the Royal Gazette on 3 August 2021 (in force the next day), citing general academic evidence that sunscreen chemicals harm coral larvae and reproduction and cause bleaching. The EU limit is a consumer-safety rule, not a reef one: Regulation 1004/2014, applying from 16 April 2015, caps butylparaben and propylparaben at 0.14% (as acid, summed). ## What the reef research says In Danovaro et al. (2008), single sunscreen ingredients were added to Acropora coral branches, and butylparaben, tested at 0.5% (a level set from the concentrations allowed in sunscreens), caused complete bleaching, as did octinoxate, oxybenzone and 4-MBC. Octocrylene and ethylhexyl salicylate had little or no effect in the same tests. In a five-week experiment on Stylophora pistillata (Fel et al., Coral Reefs 2019), butylparaben at 100 µg/L cut the photosynthetic efficiency of the corals' symbiotic algae by 25%, while 10 µg/L produced no such decline and ethylparaben had no adverse effect. The Fel authors say more is needed on in situ concentrations and on individual and combined effects. Sources (4) - [Danovaro et al. 2008, Sunscreens cause coral bleaching by promoting viral infections, Environmental Health Perspectives](https://doi.org/10.1289/ehp.10966) - [Fel et al. 2019, Photochemical response of the scleractinian coral Stylophora pistillata to some sunscreen ingredients, Coral Reefs](https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00338-018-01759-4) - [Notification of the Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation (Thailand), Royal Gazette 3 Aug 2021](https://www.ratchakitcha.soc.go.th/DATA/PDF/2564/E/175/T_0001.PDF) - [Commission Regulation (EU) No 1004/2014 amending Annex V to the Cosmetics Regulation](https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX:32014R1004) ## Products that contain it (1) [ Banana Boat Kids Sport Sunscreen Lotion Spray SPF 50+ (9.5 oz twin pack) SPF 50 · spray aerosol · Chemical/hybrid Allowed in 3 of 9 placesNot allowed: Maui County, Hawaiʻi County +4 ](https://reeflabel.com/products/banana-boat-kids-sport-sunscreen-lotion-spray-spf-50-plus-twin-pack/) [Search these products that list butylparaben →](https://reeflabel.com/products/?q=butylparaben) **Related ingredients:** [Propylparaben](https://reeflabel.com/ingredients/propylparaben/), [Methylparaben](https://reeflabel.com/ingredients/methylparaben/), [Benzylparaben](https://reeflabel.com/ingredients/benzylparaben/), [Isobutylparaben](https://reeflabel.com/ingredients/isobutylparaben/) Last reviewed October 14, 2026. ### Label names we match - butylparaben - butyl paraben ### Regulatory status **Wikidata:** [Q3302873](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q3302873) **US FDA:** Permitted. **EU:** Restricted, max 0.14%.