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 records2,3,7,8-Tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (TCDD)
Source reference: Annex II, entry 367 · 20/10/2010
2,6-Dimethyl-1,3-dioxan-4-yl acetate (Dimethoxane)
Source reference: Annex II, entry 368 · 03/03/2011
Pyrithione sodium (INNM) (2)
Source reference: Annex II, entry 369 · 20/10/2010
Substances with androgenic effect
Source reference: Annex II, entry 37 · 15/10/2010
captan (ISO); 1,2,3,6-tetrahydro-N-(trichloromethylthio)phthalimide
Source reference: Annex II, entry 370 · 24/11/2016
2,2'-Dihydroxy-3,3',5,5',6,6'-hexachlorodiphenylmethane (Hexachlorophene (INN))
Source reference: Annex II, entry 371 · 20/10/2010
6-(Piperidinyl)-2,4-pyrimidinediamine-3-oxide (Minoxidil (INN)) and its salts
Source reference: Annex II, entry 372 · 22/11/2024
3,4',5-Tribromosalicylanilide (Tribromsalan (INN))
Source reference: Annex II, entry 373 · 20/10/2010
Phytolacca spp. and their preparations
Source reference: Annex II, entry 374 · 20/10/2010
Tretinoin (INN) (retinoic acid and its salts)
Source reference: Annex II, entry 375 · 20/10/2010
1-Methoxy-2,4-diaminobenzene (2,4-Diaminoanisole - CI 76050) and its salts
Source reference: Annex II, entry 376 · 20/10/2010
1-Methoxy-2,5-diaminobenzene (2,5-Diaminoanisole) and its salts
Source reference: Annex II, entry 377 · 20/10/2010
Colouring agent CI 12140
Source reference: Annex II, entry 378 · 15/10/2010
Colouring agent CI 26105 (Solvent Red 24)
Source reference: Annex II, entry 379 · 20/10/2010
Distillates (coal tar), pitch, pyrene fraction
Source reference: Annex II, entry 38 · 04/10/2016
Distillates (coal tar), pitch
Source reference: Annex II, entry 38 · 04/10/2016
4-[[4,4'-bis(dimethylamino)benzhydrylidene]cyclohexa-2,5-dien-1-ylidene]dimethylammonium chloride [1]; tris[4-(dimethylamino) phenyl]methanol [2]
Source reference: Annex II, entry 380 · 24/11/2016
Amyl 4-dimethylaminobenzoate, mixed isomers (Padimate A (INN))
Source reference: Annex II, entry 381 · 15/10/2010
2-Amino-4-nitrophenol
Source reference: Annex II, entry 383 · 20/10/2010
2-Amino-5-nitrophenol
Source reference: Annex II, entry 384 · 20/10/2010
11-alpha-Hydroxypregn-4-ene-3,20-dione and its esters
Source reference: Annex II, entry 385 · 20/10/2010
Colouring agent CI 42640 ([4-[[4-(Dimethylamino)phenyl][4-[ethyl(3-sulphonatobenzyl)amino]phenyl]methylene]cyclohexa-2,5-dien-1-ylidene](ethyl)(3-sulphonatobenzyl)ammonium, sodium salt)
Source reference: Annex II, entry 386 · 20/10/2010
Colouring agent CI 13065
Source reference: Annex II, entry 387 · 20/10/2010
Colouring agent CI 42535 (Basic Violet 1)
Source reference: Annex II, entry 388 · 20/10/2010
Colouring agent CI 61554 (Solvent Blue 35)
Source reference: Annex II, entry 389 · 20/10/2010
Anti-androgens of steroidal structure
Source reference: Annex II, entry 390 · 15/10/2010
Zirconium and its compounds, with the exception of the substances listed under reference number 50 in Annex III, and the zirconium lakes, pigments or salts of the colouring agents when listed Annex IV
Source reference: Annex II, entry 391 · 20/10/2010
Tetrahydrozoline (Tetryzoline (INN)) and its salts
Source reference: Annex II, entry 394 · 20/10/2010
Hydroxy-8-quinoline and its sulphate bis(8-hydroxyquinolinium) sulphate, except for the uses of the sulphate provided for in entry 51 of Annex III
Source reference: Annex II, entry 395 · 31/07/2020
Dithio-2,2'-bispyridine-dioxide-1,1' (additive with trihydrated magnesium sulphate) - (pyrithione disulphide + magnesium sulphate)
Source reference: Annex II, entry 396 · 15/10/2010
Colouring agent CI 12075 (Pigment Orange 5) and its lakes, pigments and salts
Source reference: Annex II, entry 397 · 20/10/2010
Colouring agent CI 45170, Colouring agent CI 45170:1 (Basic Violet 10)
Source reference: Annex II, entry 398 · 20/10/2010
Antimony and its compound
Source reference: Annex II, entry 40 · 17/10/2010
Colouring agent CI 15585
Source reference: Annex II, entry 401 · 09/06/2015
Strontium polycarboxylate
Source reference: Annex II, entry 404 · 15/10/2010
4-Ethoxy-m-phenylenediamine and its salts
Source reference: Annex II, entry 406 · 15/10/2010
2,4-Diaminophenylethanol and its salts
Source reference: Annex II, entry 407 · 20/10/2010
Pyrocatechol (Catechol)
Source reference: Annex II, entry 408 · 20/10/2010
Apocynum cannabium L. and its preparations
Source reference: Annex II, entry 41 · 15/10/2010
Nitrosamines e.g. Dimethylnitrosoamine; Nitrosodipropylamine; 2,2'-(Nitrosoimino)bisethanol
Source reference: Annex II, entry 410 · 07/01/2011
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.
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.