Phenoxyethanol
What it is
Phenoxyethanol is a widely used synthetic preservative found in wipes, lotions, and some diaper liners, valued because it's effective against a broad range of bacteria and fungi at low concentrations and works as an alternative to formaldehyde-releasing preservatives, which carry their own, generally more serious, concerns.
Why it's flagged
At the concentrations used in cosmetics and personal care (generally under 1%), major regulatory reviews have not found it to be a significant hazard for the general population — but the regulatory history here is a genuine, unresolved disagreement rather than a settled consensus, and the sequence matters. France's medicines safety agency (ANSM) acted first: based on its own 2012 risk assessment, it issued a non-binding recommendation against phenoxyethanol in leave-on products on the diaper area of children under three. The EU's Scientific Committee on Consumer Safety then reviewed the evidence independently and reached the opposite conclusion in 2016, finding phenoxyethanol safe at up to 1% for all ages, using a smaller required safety margin than ANSM had applied. France did not back down: a December 2017 expert committee (the CSST) recommended keeping the diaper-area restriction and extending it to all cleansing wipes, and on March 13, 2019, ANSM issued a legally binding decision — not just guidance — requiring leave-on cosmetics containing phenoxyethanol to carry a label warning against use on the diaper area of children three and under (with narrow exclusions for deodorants, styling products, and makeup). That decision remains in force. The EU and France still disagree; ANSM did not defer to the later EU opinion.
How concerned to be
Use with caution specifically in leave-on products applied to an infant's diaper area — wipes, barrier creams, and similar — where France's binding labeling requirement is most directly relevant, and where it's been in force since 2019, not a lapsed or superseded rule. The EU's own scientific committee disagrees and considers phenoxyethanol safe at up to 1% for all ages, so this isn't an "avoid everywhere" ingredient; it's a "check the product type, and know the regulators disagree" ingredient. A rinse-off product (shampoo, wash) is a different exposure than a leave-on wipe or cream used at every diaper change, and phenoxyethanol-free alternatives in both categories typically cost about the same.
What it's called on a label
Look for any of these on an ingredient list: 2-Phenoxyethanol, Ethylene glycol monophenyl ether, Phenoxethol, PhE, Phenoxyethanol.
Sources
- Opinion on Phenoxyethanol (SCCS/1575/16), EU Scientific Committee on Consumer Safety (2016)
- Point d'information: Phénoxyéthanol dans les produits cosmétiques (2012 risk assessment and recommendation), Agence nationale de sécurité du médicament et des produits de santé (ANSM) (2012)
- Comité Scientifique Spécialisé Temporaire (CSST) — Utilisation du Phénoxyéthanol dans les produits cosmétiques, ANSM (2017)
- Décision du 13 mars 2019 relative aux conditions d'utilisation de la substance phénoxyéthanol dans les produits cosmétiques (binding safeguard decision, published 20 March 2019), ANSM (2019)