PreservativeReef research: Limited data

Phenoxyethanol

A very common paraben alternative. Named in Palau's reef-toxic chemical list, which catches many products that are otherwise mineral-only.

Banned in

Palau

Is Phenoxyethanol safe for your skin?

The EU's scientific committee on consumer safety (SCCS) judged phenoxyethanol safe as a cosmetic preservative at up to 1%, including for children. France's medicines agency (ANSM), which had earlier pushed for tighter limits for under-threes, now requires a label warning against using leave-on products containing it on the bottoms of children aged 3 or under.

EU limit: phenoxyethanol is allowed as a preservative in cosmetics at a maximum of 1%. The SCCS (2016) considered it safe at that level.
The SCCS put the margin of safety for children at about 50 and said this covers their possibly higher exposure. Its opinion looked only at cosmetics, not other sources of exposure.
France, 2012: after a risk assessment, ANSM recommended capping phenoxyethanol at 0.4% in cosmetics for children under three and not using it on the nappy area. The SCCS's 2016 opinion came to a different conclusion at 1%.
France, 2019: as a precaution, ANSM decided that leave-on cosmetics containing phenoxyethanol must carry a label saying they cannot be used on the bottoms of children aged 3 or under. For other products for that age group, the 1% limit applies.

Last reviewed October 14, 2026. This summarises what regulators and published studies found. It isn't medical advice.

Where it’s restricted

Named in the law or guidance

Location	Status	Since
Palau law text ↗	In force	January 1, 2020

What the reef research says

A 2021 Daphnia magna reproduction test found no effect on growth or reproduction at 46.9 mg/L, which the author describes as far above the levels measured in Japanese urban rivers. Kimura et al. (2014) measured up to 14,000 ng/L of phenoxyethanol at Japanese river sites.

Sources (4)