Chapter 6: Preservatives
Phenoxyethanol
- Made from a hazardous chemical
- Contaminant risk
The worst fact: it's officially a hazardous air pollutant in the US, which is part of why the US EPA gives it only a yellow triangle on its safer list. Australia's Poisons Standard lists it, but cosmetics with 1% or less and other products with 15% or less are exempt, and we found none above those levels.
Why brands use it: it works against a wide range of microbes and rarely causes allergy.
Take care if: you get it in your eyes. The raw chemical causes serious eye damage.
Comes from: phenol and ethylene oxide, both made from petroleum. Australia classes ethylene oxide as "May cause cancer" and phenol as "Suspected of causing genetic defects". That doesn't mean they're in the product (see contaminants for the traces allowed), but they're not a great starting point for something you clean with.
Myth check: "it's natural, it's in green tea": what's in your bottle is made in a factory, and we found no good source for the green tea claim.
Contaminants: phenol and ethylene oxide. The EU safety committee's file lists them as potential impurities at under 10 parts per million phenol and under 2 parts per million ethylene oxide. They're unlikely to matter, but they can be there.
Fair to say: the EU's safety committee says it's safe at up to 1%, for all ages.
Correct as of November 2026. What the badges mean
Sources
- Australian Government. Poisons Standard October 2026 (SUSMP), F2026L01327. Entries: methylisothiazolinone, methylchloroisothiazolinone, 2-phenoxyethanol, benzalkonium chloride. legislation.gov.au
- Safe Work Australia. Hazardous Chemical Information System (HCIS): classifications for each chemical and for benzene, ethylene oxide, toluene, phenol and benzyl chloride. hcis.safeworkaustralia.gov.au
- Scientific Committee on Consumer Safety (SCCS). Opinions on methylisothiazolinone (SCCS/1557/15), benzisothiazolinone (SCCS/1482/12) and phenoxyethanol (SCCS/1575/16). health.ec.europa.eu
- US EPA. Safer Chemical Ingredients List. epa.gov/saferchoice
The full source list is at the end of Chapter 6.