Triclosan

Is Triclosan safe for your skin?

Regulators in the US and EU have restricted triclosan for human-use reasons. The FDA took it out of consumer antibacterial hand and body washes because the data did not show it was safe for daily long-term use or better than plain soap. The EU allows it only in a short list of cosmetic products at up to 0.3%, and tightened that list in 2024. The FDA action rests on missing safety and benefit data, not on a finding that ordinary use harms people.

• FDA: a final rule published 6 September 2016 (81 FR 61106) found that triclosan and 18 other ingredients are not generally recognized as safe and effective for consumer antiseptic washes. It took effect 6 September 2017, and products with these ingredients need a new drug approval or reformulation.
• FDA reasoning: the agency said available data were insufficient to establish the safety of long-term daily use, and insufficient to show any added benefit over nonantibacterial soap and water. It also cited animal data suggesting changes in thyroid, reproductive and developmental systems.
• FDA scope: the rule covers only consumer hand and body washes, not other antiseptic categories.
• EU 2014: Regulation 358/2014 replaced the old blanket 0.3% limit. Triclosan stayed allowed at 0.3% in toothpaste, hand soaps, body soaps and shower gels, non-spray deodorants, face powders and blemish concealers, and nail-cleaning products, and at 0.2% in mouthwash. Compliant products only from 30 October 2014 (placed on market) and 30 July 2015 (made available).
• EU 2022 advice: the SCCS (SCCS/1643/22, October 2022) judged triclosan safe as a preservative at the Annex V levels in dermally applied cosmetics except body lotions. It found toothpaste at 0.3% safe on its own but not in combination for children under 3, and mouthwash not safe for children even on its own.
• EU 2024: Regulation 2024/996 (3 April 2024) kept the 0.3% limit for the listed product types, removed mouthwash, barred triclosan in toothpaste for children under 3, and added labelling. Non-compliant products could be placed on the market until 31 December 2024 and sold through until 31 October 2025.
• EU biocides: in 2016 the Commission declined to approve triclosan for human-hygiene biocidal products, citing environmental risk rather than human health.

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

Why it’s regulated

The European Commission decided on 27 January 2016 not to approve triclosan as a biocide for human-hygiene products after the assessed scenarios showed unacceptable environmental risks. Its human-health restrictions in the US and EU are covered under humanSafety.

What the reef research says

A 2024 study in the Journal of Hazardous Materials exposed the coral Porites lutea to triclosan for 96 hours. It found no bleaching even at 100 µg/L, but the density of the symbiotic algae (zooxanthellae) was 19-52% lower than in controls, their chlorophyll a was 19.9-45.6% lower, and the coral's antioxidant enzyme activity dropped. Gene-expression changes (942 genes at 0.5 µg/L, 1,077 at 100 µg/L) touched immune and reproductive pathways. This is one species in a short lab exposure, so how it plays out on real reefs is not established. The authors conclude that environmentally relevant levels can affect the coral. A 2024 survey of Sanya, China found triclosan in over 80% of 40 coral polyp, algae and sediment samples, and a 2011 review describes triclosan as highly toxic to algae.

Related ingredients: Triclocarban, Methylparaben, Phenoxyethanol

Last reviewed October 14, 2026.