- Type
- Formaldehyde-releasing preservative
- How serious
- Moderate severity
- Evidence
- Strong evidence
Why it is flagged
The formaldehyde it releases is a leading cause of contact allergy, and with amines it can form carcinogenic nitrosamines: Health Canada's Hotlist restricts it to 0.1% and bars it from cosmetics that contain amines or amides, and the EU permits it at 0.1% on condition that nitrosamine formation is avoided, behind the "releases formaldehyde" warning required since 2022 above 0.001%.
Health topics it bears on
Sources
- Cosmetic Ingredient Hotlist: Prohibited and restricted ingredients Health Canada, 2025
- Regulation (EC) No 1223/2009 on cosmetic products (consolidated text of 1 May 2026) European Union (Official Journal of the European Union), 2026
- Commission Regulation (EU) 2022/1181 amending the preamble of Annex V to Regulation (EC) No 1223/2009 on cosmetic products European Union (Official Journal of the European Union), 2022
- Scientific advice on the threshold for the warning 'contains formaldehyde' in Annex V, preamble point 2 for formaldehyde-releasing substances (SCCS/1632/21) Scientific Committee on Consumer Safety, 2021
Also listed as
2-bromo-2-nitropropane-1,3-diol, 2-bromo-2-nitro-1,3-propanediol, bronopolum, bnpd