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 recordsTail gas (petroleum), thermal cracked hydrocarbon fractionation stabilizer, petroleum coking, if it contains > 0.1% w/w Butadiene
Source reference: Annex II, entry 594 · 15/10/2010
Gases (petroleum), light steam-cracked, butadiene conc., if they contain > 0.1% w/w Butadiene
Source reference: Annex II, entry 595 · 15/10/2010
Gases (petroleum), sponge absorber off, fluidized catalytic cracker and gas oil desulfurizer overhead fractionation, if they contain > 0.1% w/w Butadiene
Source reference: Annex II, entry 596 · 15/10/2010
Gases (petroleum), straight-run naphtha catalytic reformer stabilizer overhead, if they contain > 0.1% w/w Butadiene
Source reference: Annex II, entry 597 · 15/10/2010
Gases (petroleum), crude distn. and catalytic cracking, if they contain > 0.1 % w/w Butadiene
Source reference: Annex II, entry 598 · 15/10/2010
Hydrocarbons, C4, if they contain > 0.1% w/w Butadiene
Source reference: Annex II, entry 599 · 24/11/2016
Benzilonium bromide (INN)
Source reference: Annex II, entry 60 · 17/10/2010
Alkanes, C1-4, C3-rich, if they contain > 0.1% w/w Butadiene
Source reference: Annex II, entry 600 · 15/10/2010
Gases (petroleum), gas oil diethanolamine scrubber off, if they contain > 0.1% w/w Butadiene
Source reference: Annex II, entry 601 · 15/10/2010
Gases (petroleum), gas oil hydrodesulfurization effluent, if they contain > 0.1 % w/w Butadiene
Source reference: Annex II, entry 602 · 15/10/2010
Gases (petroleum), gas oil hydrodesulfurization purge, if they contain > 0.1% w/w Butadiene
Source reference: Annex II, entry 603 · 15/10/2010
Gases (petroleum), hydrogenator effluent flash drum off, if they contain > 0.1% w/w Butadiene
Source reference: Annex II, entry 604 · 15/10/2010
Gases (petroleum), naphtha steam cracking high-pressure residual, if they contain > 0.1% w/w Butadiene
Source reference: Annex II, entry 605 · 15/10/2010
Gases (petroleum), residue visbaking off, if they contain > 0.1% w/w Butadiene
Source reference: Annex II, entry 606 · 15/10/2010
Gases (petroleum), steam-cracker C3-rich, if they contain > 0.1% w/w Butadiene
Source reference: Annex II, entry 607 · 15/10/2010
Hydrocarbons, C4, steam-cracker distillate, if they contain > 0.1 % w/w Butadiene
Source reference: Annex II, entry 608 · 15/10/2010
Petroleum gases, liquefied, sweetened, C4 fraction, if they contain > 0.1% w/w Butadiene
Source reference: Annex II, entry 609 · 15/10/2010
Tetrylammonium bromide (INN)
Source reference: Annex II, entry 61 · 15/10/2010
Hydrocarbons, C4, 1,3-butadiene- and isobutene-free, if they contain > 0.1% w/w Butadiene
Source reference: Annex II, entry 610 · 15/10/2010
Raffinates (petroleum), steam-cracked C4 fraction cuprous ammonium acetate extn., C3-5 and C3-5 unsatd., butadiene-free, if they contain > 0.1% w/w Butadiene
Source reference: Annex II, entry 611 · 15/10/2010
Benzo[def]chrysene; (benzo[a]pyrene)
Source reference: Annex II, entry 612 · 23/11/2023
Pitch, coal tar-petroleum, if it contains > 0.005 % w/w benzo[a]pyrene
Source reference: Annex II, entry 613 · 15/10/2010
Distillates (coal-petroleum), condensed-ring arom., if they contain > 0.005 % w/w benzo[a]pyrene
Source reference: Annex II, entry 614 · 15/10/2010
Creosote oil, acenaphthene fraction, acenaphthene-free, if it contains > 0.005 % w/w benzo[a]pyrene
Source reference: Annex II, entry 617 · 15/10/2010
Pitch, coal tar, low-temp., if it contains > 0.005 % w/w benzo[a]pyrene
Source reference: Annex II, entry 618 · 15/10/2010
Pitch, coal tar, low-temp., heat-treated, if it contains > 0.005 % w/w benzo[a]pyrene
Source reference: Annex II, entry 619 · 15/10/2010
Pitch, coal tar, low-temp., oxidized, if it contains > 0.005 % w/w benzo[a]pyrene
Source reference: Annex II, entry 620 · 15/10/2010
Extract residues (coal), brown, if they contain > 0.005 % w/w benzo[a]pyrene
Source reference: Annex II, entry 621 · 15/10/2010
Paraffin waxes (coal), brown-coal high-temp. tar, if they contain > 0.005 % w/w benzo[a]pyrene
Source reference: Annex II, entry 622 · 15/10/2010
Paraffin waxes (coal), brown-coal high-temp. tar, hydrotreated, if they contain > 0.005 % w/w benzo[a]pyrene
Source reference: Annex II, entry 623 · 15/10/2010
Waste solids, coal-tar pitch coking, if they contain > 0.005 % w/w benzo[a]pyrene
Source reference: Annex II, entry 624 · 15/10/2010
Pitch, coal tar, high-temp., secondary, if it contains > 0.005 % w/w benzo[a]pyrene
Source reference: Annex II, entry 625 · 15/10/2010
Residues (coal), liq. solvent extn., if they contain > 0.005 % w/w benzo[a]pyrene
Source reference: Annex II, entry 626 · 15/10/2010
Coal liquids, liq. solvent extn. soln., if they contain > 0,005 % w/w benzo[a]pyrene
Source reference: Annex II, entry 627 · 15/10/2010
Coal liquids, liq. solvent extn., if they contain > 0.005 % w/w benzo[a]pyrene
Source reference: Annex II, entry 628 · 15/10/2010
Paraffin waxes (coal), brown-coal high-temp. tar, carbon-treated, if they contain > 0.005 % w/w benzo[a]pyrene
Source reference: Annex II, entry 629 · 15/10/2010
Tetracaine (INN) and its salts
Source reference: Annex II, entry 63 · 17/10/2010
Paraffin waxes (coal), brown-coal high-temp tar, clay-treated, if they contain > 0.005 % w/w benzo[a]pyrene
Source reference: Annex II, entry 630 · 15/10/2010
Paraffin waxes (coal), brown-coal high-temp tar, silicic acid-treated, if they contain > 0.005 % w/w benzo[a]pyrene
Source reference: Annex II, entry 631 · 12/08/2019
Absorption oils, bicyclo arom. and heterocylic hydrocarbon fraction, if they contain > 0.005 % w/w benzo[a]pyrene
Source reference: Annex II, entry 632 · 15/10/2010
Aromatic hydrocarbons, C20-28, polycyclic, mixed coal-tar pitch-polyethylene polypropylene pyrolysis-derived, if they contain > 0.005 % w/w benzo[a]pyrene
Source reference: Annex II, entry 633 · 15/10/2010
Aromatic hydrocarbons, C20-28, polycyclic, mixed coal-tar pitch-polyethylene pyrolysis-derived, if they contain > 0.005 % w/w benzo[a]pyrene
Source reference: Annex II, entry 634 · 15/10/2010
Aromatic hydrocarbons, C20-28, polycyclic, mixed coal-tar pitch-polystyrene pyrolysis-derived, if they contain > 0.005 % w/w benzo[a]pyrene
Source reference: Annex II, entry 635 · 15/10/2010
Pitch, coal tar, high-temp., heat-treated, if it contains > 0.005% w/w benzo[a]pyrene
Source reference: Annex II, entry 636 · 15/10/2010
Dibenz[a,h]anthracene
Source reference: Annex II, entry 637 · 29/10/2010
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.
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.