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 recordsCI 51319 / PIGMENT VIOLET 23
Source reference: Annex IV, entry 85 · 14/08/2020
CI 58000 / PIGMENT RED 83
Source reference: Annex IV, entry 86 · 14/08/2020
CI 60725 / SOLVENT VIOLET 13 / VIOLET 2
Source reference: Annex IV, entry 89 · 14/08/2020
BENZOIC ACID; SODIUM BENZOATE
a) Rinse-off products, except oral care products b) Oral care products c) Leave-on products
Source reference: Annex V, entry 1 · 25/10/2010
CHLOROBUTANOL
Not to be used in aerosol dispensers (sprays)
Source reference: Annex V, entry 11 · 16/10/2010
4-HYDROXYBENZOIC ACID / METHYLPARABEN /POTASSIUM ETHYLPARABEN /POTASSIUM PARABEN /SODIUM METHYLPARABEN /SODIUM ETHYLPARABEN /ETHYLPARABEN /SODIUM PARABEN / POTASSIUM METHYLPARABEN / CALCIUM PARABEN
Source reference: Annex V, entry 12 · 11/08/2020
BUTYLPARABEN/PROPYLPARABEN/SODIUM PROPOYLPARABEN/SODIUM BUTYLPARABEN/POTASSIUM BUTYLPARABEN/POTASSIUM PROPYLPARABEN
Not to be used in leave-on products designed for application on the nappy area of children under three years of age.
Source reference: Annex V, entry 12 a · 02/08/2021
Dehydroacetic acid / SODIUM DEHYDROACETATE
Not to be used in aerosol dispensers (sprays)
Source reference: Annex V, entry 13 · 16/10/2010
FORMIC ACID / SODIUM FORMATE
Source reference: Annex V, entry 14 · 16/10/2010
Dibromohexamidine isethionate
Source reference: Annex V, entry 15 · 16/10/2010
PHENYL MERCURIC ACETATE / PHENYL MERCURIC BENZOATE
Eye products
Source reference: Annex V, entry 17 · 16/10/2010
UNDECYLENIC ACID / POTASSIUM UNDECYLENATE / SODIUM UNDECYLENATE / CALCIUM UNDECYLENATE / MEA-UNDECYLENATE / TEA-UNDECYLENATE
Source reference: Annex V, entry 18 · 16/10/2010
AMMONIUM BENZOATE / BUTYL BENZOATE / CALCIUM BENZOATE / ETHYL BENZOATE / ISOBUTYL BENZOATE / ISOPROPYL BENZOATE / MAGNESIUM BENZOATE / MEA-BENZOATE / METHYL BENZOATE / PHENYL BENZOATE / POTASSIUM BENZOATE / PROPYL BENZOATE
Source reference: Annex V, entry 1a · 16/10/2010
PROPIONIC ACID / AMMONIUM PROPIONATE / CALCIUM PROPIONATE / MAGNESIUM PROPIONATE / POTASSIUM PROPIONATE / SODIUM PROPIONATE
Source reference: Annex V, entry 2 · 16/10/2010
5-BROMO-5-NITRO-1,3-DIOXANE
Avoid formation of nitrosamines
Source reference: Annex V, entry 20 · 02/08/2021
2-BROMO-2-NITROPROPANE-1,3-DIOL
Avoid formation of nitrosamines
Source reference: Annex V, entry 21 · 02/08/2021
Triclocarban
Purity criteria: 3,3',4,4'-Tetrachloroazobenzene ≤ 1 ppm 3,3',4,4'-Tetrachloroazoxybenzene ≤ 1 ppm Not to be used in toothpaste intended for children under 6 years of age. Cosmetic products containing that substance that do not comply with the conditions ma…
Source reference: Annex V, entry 23 · 04/04/2024
P-CHLORO-M-CRESOL
Not to be used in products applied on mucous membranes
Source reference: Annex V, entry 24 · 25/10/2010
Triclosan
Not to be used in toothpaste intended for children under 3 years of age. Cosmetic products containing that substance that do not comply with the conditions may, provided that they comply with the conditions applicable on 23 April 2024, be placed on the Union…
Source reference: Annex V, entry 25 · 04/04/2024
POLYAMINOPROPYL BIGUANIDE
Not to be used in applications that may lead to exposure of the end-user's lungs by inhalation
Source reference: Annex V, entry 28 · 28/07/2020
SALICYLIC ACID, CALCIUM SALICYLATE, MAGNESIUM SALICYLATE, MEA- SALICYLATE, SODIUM SALICYLATE, POTASSIUM SALICYLATE, TEA- SALICYLATE
Salicylic acid: Not to be used in products for children under 3 years of age. Not to be used in oral products. Not to be used in applications that may lead to exposure of the end-user’s lungs by inhalation. Salicylic acid salts: Not to be used in products …
Source reference: Annex V, entry 3 · 27/07/2020
CLIMBAZOLE
(a) Hair lotions (b) Face creams (c) Foot care products (d) Rinse-off shampoo
Source reference: Annex V, entry 32 · 28/07/2020
1-Hydroxy-4-methyl-6-(2,4,4-trimethylpentyl)-2 pyridon, piroctone olamine
a) Rinse-off products b) Other products
Source reference: Annex V, entry 35 · 16/10/2010
METHYLCHLOROISOTHIAZOLINONE AND METHYLISOTHIAZOLINONE
Rinse-off
Source reference: Annex V, entry 39 · 28/09/2022
SORBIC ACID / CALCIUM SORBATE / SODIUM SORBATE / POTASSIUM SORBATE
Source reference: Annex V, entry 4 · 16/10/2010
CHLORHEXIDINE / CHLORHEXIDINE DIACETATE / CHLORHEXIDINE DIGLUCONATE / CHLORHEXIDINE DIHYDROCHLORIDE
Source reference: Annex V, entry 42 · 16/10/2010
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.