European Union cosmetic ingredient regulations
EU Cosmetics Regulation 1223/2009 annexes and the CosIng discovery database.
- Regulator
- European Commission
- Source language
- English and EU languages
- Coverage version
- Regulation (EC) 1223/2009 consolidated to 1 May 2026
What this list is
The EU list is not one list. Regulation 1223/2009 splits substances across five annexes that answer different questions, and reading the wrong one is the most common way to get an EU answer wrong.
- Annex II prohibits 1,739 substances outright.
- Annex III permits 373 substances only within stated limits, product types and warnings.
- Annexes IV, V and VI are positive lists: 154 colourants, 54 preservatives, 33 UV filters.
- For those three categories, absence from the annex means not permitted — the opposite of Annex II's logic.
- CosIng is a discovery database, not the law; the annexes as published are.
Most markets on this site publish one list. The EU publishes five, and they do not work the same way. Annex II names substances that may not be used at all. Annex III names substances that may be used, but only within a concentration limit, for stated product types, and often with a warning that must appear on the label. Annexes IV, V and VI are positive lists for colourants, preservatives and UV filters.
That last distinction reverses the logic and catches people out. For a substance in general, absence from Annex II is not permission — nothing has been decided about it. For a preservative, absence from Annex V is a decision: it may not be used as a preservative in a cosmetic product. The same silence means opposite things depending on which annex you are reading.
CosIng is worth naming separately, because it is what most searches land on. It is the Commission's database for finding ingredients and their annex references, and it is genuinely useful for that. It is not the legal text. When CosIng and the published annex disagree — usually because an amendment has come into force and the database has not caught up — the annex governs.
An Annex III entry is also more than a number. The limit, the product-type condition and the warning text travel together, and quoting the concentration without the condition it applies to produces an answer that is right about the figure and wrong about the product.
Checked against
Official ingredient records
2353 matching recordsAlloclamide (INN) and its salts
Source reference: Annex II, entry 19 · 17/10/2010
Hydrofluoric acid, its normal salts, its complexes and hydrofluorides with exception of those given in Annex III
Source reference: Annex II, entry 191 · 15/10/2010
Furfuryltrimethyl ammonium salts, e.g. furtrethonium iodide (INN)
Source reference: Annex II, entry 192 · 20/10/2010
1,2,3,4,5,6-Hexachlorocyclohexane (BHC-ISO)
Source reference: Annex II, entry 195 · 21/10/2010
(1R,4S,5R,8S)-1,2,3,4,10,10-Hexachloro-6,7-epoxy-1,4,4a,5,6,7,8,8a-octahydro-1,4:5,8-dimethanonaphthalene (endrin - ISO)
Source reference: Annex II, entry 196 · 15/10/2010
(1R,4S,5R,8S)-1,2,3,4,10,10-Hexachloro-1,4,4a,5,8,8a-hexahydro-1,4:5,8-dimethanonaphthalene (Isodrin-ISO)
Source reference: Annex II, entry 198 · 15/10/2010
Hydrastine, hydrastinine and their salts
Source reference: Annex II, entry 199 · 15/10/2010
(2-Acetoxyethyl)trimethylammonium hydroxide (Acetylcholine) and its salts
Source reference: Annex II, entry 2 · 17/10/2010
Nalorphine (INN), its salts and ethers
Source reference: Annex II, entry 20 · 17/10/2010
Hydrazides and their salts e.g. Isoniazid (INN)
Source reference: Annex II, entry 200 · 20/10/2010
Hydrazine, its derivatives and their salts
Source reference: Annex II, entry 201 · 10/11/2010
Octamoxin (INN) and its salts
Source reference: Annex II, entry 202 · 15/10/2010
Warfarin (INN) and its salts
Source reference: Annex II, entry 203 · 20/10/2010
Ethyl bis(4-hydroxy-2-oxo-1-benzopyran-3-yl)acetate and salts of the acid
Source reference: Annex II, entry 204 · 20/10/2010
Propatylnitrate (INN)
Source reference: Annex II, entry 206 · 15/10/2010
4,4'-Dihydroxy-3,3'-(3-methylthiopropylidene) dicoumarin
Source reference: Annex II, entry 207 · 20/10/2010
Nitroxoline (INN) and its salts
Source reference: Annex II, entry 209 · 15/10/2010
Sympathicomimetic amines acting on the central nervous system: any substance contained in the first list of medicaments which are subject to medical prescription and referred to in Resolution AP (69) 2 of the Council of Europe
Source reference: Annex II, entry 21 · 09/03/2011
Hyoscyamine, its salts and derivatives
Source reference: Annex II, entry 210 · 15/10/2010
Hyoscyamus niger L. (leaves, seeds, powder and galenical preparations)
Source reference: Annex II, entry 211 · 15/10/2010
Pemoline (INN) and its salts
Source reference: Annex II, entry 212 · 15/10/2010
Decamethylenebis(trimethylammonium) salts, e.g. decamethonium bromide (INN)
Source reference: Annex II, entry 214 · 20/10/2010
Ipecacuanha (Cephaelis ipecacuanha Brot. and related species) (roots, powder and galenical preparations)
Source reference: Annex II, entry 215 · 15/10/2010
(2-Isopropylpent-4-enoyl)urea (apronalide)
Source reference: Annex II, entry 216 · 15/10/2010
alpha-Santonin [(3S,5aR,9bS)-3,3a,4,5,5a,9b-hexahydro-3,5a,9-trimethylnaphto[1,2-b]furan-2,8-dione]
Source reference: Annex II, entry 217 · 15/10/2010
Lobelia inflata L. and its galenical preparations
Source reference: Annex II, entry 218 · 15/10/2010
Lobeline (INN) and its salts
Source reference: Annex II, entry 219 · 15/10/2010
Aniline, its salts and its halogenated and sulphonated derivatives
Source reference: Annex II, entry 22 · 09/07/2019
Mercury and its compounds, except those special cases included in Annex V
Source reference: Annex II, entry 221 · 07/01/2011
3,4,5-Trimethoxyphenethylamine (Mescaline) and its salts
Source reference: Annex II, entry 222 · 20/10/2010
2-(4-Allyl-2-methoxyphenoxy)-N,N-diethylacetamide and its salts
Source reference: Annex II, entry 224 · 15/10/2010
Dextromethorphan (INN) and its salts
Source reference: Annex II, entry 226 · 15/10/2010
2-Methylheptylamine and its salts
Source reference: Annex II, entry 227 · 20/10/2010
Isometheptene (INN) and its salts
Source reference: Annex II, entry 228 · 15/10/2010
Betoxycaine (INN) and its salts
Source reference: Annex II, entry 23 · 17/10/2010
Market coverage contract
Complete annex dataset- Included scope
- Annexes II–VI: prohibited and restricted substances, colourants, preservatives and UV filters.
- If no match is found
- No annex match only means that these five annexes did not return a match; CosIng identity data and other EU obligations still need review.
Complete verification checklist
- Confirm the exact INCI/CAS/EC identity.
- Review every matching Annex II–VI row and its conditions.
- Check SCCS opinions, CMR/nanomaterial rules and later amendments.
- Verify product classification, claims, labelling and responsible-person duties.
How European Union differs from other markets
Comparing this market's imported rules against every other market's for the same substance. A market with no imported rule for a substance is left out of that comparison rather than treated as permitting it.
A formula cleared elsewhere can fail here.
and 22 more — see the full comparison
Permitted here under conditions and prohibited, or more tightly held, elsewhere — so a formula built for this market may not travel.
and 103 more — see the full comparison
Official sources and legal role
PubChem PUG-View annotations
Attributed physical-property, hazard, environmental, use and literature annotations for uniquely matched PubChem compounds
Legal meaning: Scientific context aggregated by PubChem; individual values retain their named depositor or publication source
EMBL-EBI ChEBI 2.0
Curated definitions, chemical classes, roles, names, relationships and cross-references
Legal meaning: Curated scientific ontology; not a cosmetics permission or prohibition list
FDA Global Substance Registration System
UNII identifiers, preferred names, substance types, codes and public substance relationships
Legal meaning: Identity registry only; UNII availability does not imply FDA review or approval
Cosmetic Ingredient Review safety assessments
Expert Panel conclusions, assessed ingredient groups, use conditions, dates and report documents
Legal meaning: Independent expert review considered by FDA; not a government approval or binding market rule
EU Safety Gate cosmetic product alerts
Published cosmetic product alerts, notifying country, risk, product identifiers and corrective measures
Legal meaning: Official market-surveillance alerts; not proof that a named ingredient caused an incident
Available language: English and EU languages
What this market page can answer
Source and authority
Identify the official material and the regulator responsible for it: European Commission.
Language and scope
See whether usable English or bilingual material exists and what the mapped source actually covers. Current source language: English and EU languages.
Evidence status
Browse ingredient-level records imported from official sources. Each row states whether it passed deterministic source checks or human editorial review.
How to verify an ingredient for this market
- Search the ingredient by INCI name, CAS number or EC number and record the exact identity.
- Open each official source above and check the current version, product scope, concentration limits and required warnings.
- Confirm effective dates and whether an English text is official, reviewed or only contextual.
- Treat a missing local match as unknown, never as permission or a safety conclusion.