Phenoxyethanol
Preservative used to help protect a water-containing formula from microbial growth. The assessment supports a defined maximum concentration and use context. It does not establish the concentration or total exposure from this finished product.
- Ingredient family
- Preservative
- Research state
- Ingredient-specific sources
- Source labels checked
- July 21, 2026
- Found in
- 1 researched product
Read it through four separate lenses.
Formula job
PreservativePreservative used to help protect a water-containing formula from microbial growth.
How we classify formula rolesBeard hair + skin
Supported rolePreservation is important in a water-based cosmetic, though the complete system matters.
See the skin + hair evidenceEnvironmental evidence
Assessed use; lower aquatic concernHuman cosmetic use has a defined assessed ceiling, while compiled fate data indicate low bioconcentration and relatively low acute fish toxicity.
See the environmental limitsSensitivity + confidence
Safe up to assessed levelSCCS concluded that 2-phenoxyethanol is safe as a preservative up to 1.0% under assessed conditions; the product concentration is not disclosed.
Moderate confidenceA useful formula role is not proof of beard growth, treatment of a skin condition, lower environmental impact, or suitability for every person. Finished-product behavior depends on concentration, processing, the rest of the formula, use pattern, and individual response.
Compare preservation questions
A water-containing product needs a complete preservation strategy. One preservative name cannot prove adequacy or predict tolerance.
Open the comparisonHuman + environmental evidence
What deserves attention—and why.
Hazard is not the same as real-world risk. Exposure, dose, formula, wastewater treatment, farming location, and supplier controls can change the conclusion.
Human cosmetic use has a defined assessed ceiling, while compiled fate data indicate low bioconcentration and relatively low acute fish toxicity.
SCCS concluded that 2-phenoxyethanol is safe as a preservative up to 1.0% under assessed conditions; the product concentration is not disclosed.
The compiled 96-hour fathead-minnow effect concentration is 344 mg/L, above EPA's 100 mg/L low-acute-toxicity screen; a product release calculation is still absent.
The record predicts high soil mobility but does not provide a finished-product plant or terrestrial-wildlife assessment.
Compiled data report substantial 20-day biological oxygen demand and an estimated fish BCF of 1.5, indicating low bioaccumulation potential.
The label does not identify feedstock, process energy, impurities, or supplier environmental controls.
Preservative hazard must be weighed against the human-health risk of microbial contamination in a water-based product.
What to ask the supplier for.
Use only as much as needed for verified preservation, with supplier purity, emissions, biodegradation, and wastewater data. Do not replace an effective preservative without a finished-product microbial challenge test.
Product occurrence ledger
Where we found it.
List position is a location clue only. It is not a concentration estimate, and formulas can change after our source check.
Human clinical results
What controlled tests add to this record.
An ingredient study is not a trial of every product containing that ingredient.
No qualifying clinical result is assigned.
The current record may still include regulatory, cosmetic-function, or safety-assessment evidence. Those sources are useful for their stated purpose but are not clinical proof of skin, hair, or finished-product performance.
What remains unknown.
Exact level is not disclosed on the product labels we recorded.
Grade, refining, solvents, and other processing details are usually absent.
Residuals and contaminants are not specified by an ordinary INCI list.
Synergy or antagonism with other ingredients is a finished-formula question.
Manufacturing, transport, packaging, dose, and disposal remain outside an ingredient-only profile.
Evidence ledger
Open the source behind the summary.
A source supports only the claim named beside it. Database inclusion is not a blanket approval, and an assessed ingredient does not rate every finished product.
- 01European Commission Scientific Committee on Consumer Safety
Final opinion on phenoxyethanol
The SCCS assessment concluded that 2-phenoxyethanol is safe as a cosmetic preservative up to 1.0% under the conditions it assessed. A product label does not disclose the concentration.
Last checked July 13, 2026 - 02Cosmetic Ingredient Review
Phenoxyethanol ingredient record
A traceable ingredient record. The linked page does not supply enough assessment detail for Beard Insider to assign a low-concern rating.
Last checked July 13, 2026 - 03European Commission
CosIng cosmetic ingredient database
Standard ingredient names and cosmetic functions. Database inclusion is not, by itself, a safety approval.
Last checked July 13, 2026 - 04Cosmetic Ingredient Review
How CIR safety assessments work
Why an assessment is tied to cosmetic uses and concentrations and why insufficient data is not a safe-or-unsafe verdict.
Last checked July 13, 2026 - 05National Library of Medicine
PubChem: 2-phenoxyethanol environmental fate and ecotoxicity
The compiled record reports a 96-hour fathead-minnow effect concentration of 344 mg/L, substantial biological oxygen demand over 20 days, and low estimated fish bioconcentration. Those endpoints support lower aquatic screening concern, not zero impact.
Last checked July 14, 2026 - 06U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Safer Choice master criteria for safer chemical ingredients
The screening framework used here: human toxicity, aquatic toxicity, persistence, and bioaccumulation are separate endpoints and must be judged within a chemical's functional class.
Last checked July 14, 2026