It is known due its record about its safety, and also because it is very often mentioned as "Phenoxyethanol-free"… This wording is then a selling point … but knows why? A look at this ingredient, criticized, but still widely used.
Phenoxyehanol is an antibacterial preservative from the large glycol ethers family, comprising somewhat 80 substances, with different characteristics and toxicological properties.
The cosmetic industry uses two "branches":
• Ethylene Glycol derivatives (so-called Type E ethers)
• Propylene Glycol derivatives (so-called Type P ethers)
In hygiene and care products, only four are used, all from the E series.
Non volatile and without any fragrance, glycol ethers are mainly used as solvents, especially in hair coloring products.
Phenoxyethanol, on the other hand, is used mainly as a preservative in any kind of cosmetics.
Many of the glycol ethers are toxic, and their effects, especially on people professionally exposed to them, may be dramatic. Exposure to these substances has been linked to sterility, abnormality of the length or the frequency of period, troubles to become pregnant, miscarriages, toxicity for the fetus, congenital malformations …
Further, their harmfulness is enhanced as they are very easily absorbed by skin, especially when they are liquid (as often in cosmetics).
Complaints and trials brought the debate about glycol ethers toxicity into the open, and the Safety Authorities could only jump on the bandwagon.
In March 2005, a message issued by the French Minister of Health said that "it …
