Phenoxyethanol

As mentioned in last week's review of parabens, it is becoming more and more popular to market products as being "paraben-free". In such products, phenoxyethanol is commonly used as a replacement for parabens in the formulation. Seeing as its popularity as a preservative is only bound to rise in the face of all the negative press regarding parabens, it is worth taking a closer look at phenoxyethanol.

Phenoxyethanol acts as a bactericide, by inhibiting synthesis of nucleic acids in bacteria, as well as acting on bacterial cell walls by causing them to become more permeable to potassium ions (see Gilbert et al., Microbios. 1977;19(75):17-26; Microbios. 1977;19(76):125-41.). It is effective against both gram-negative and gram-positive bacteria as well as yeast. It is also used as an antiseptic, tissue preservative, and organic solvent. It is naturally occurring in certain green teas.

Phenoxyethanol is present in concentrations of up to 5% in a skin care formulation, typically in concentrations of around 1%; in Europe, it is allowable in concentrations up to 1% with the provision that it may be included in higher concentrations if it is to be used for other purposes besides a preservative (see J. Am. Col. Toxicol. v. 9, no. 2, 1990; link)

The main selling point of phenoxyethanol is that is does not have the weak estrogen-mimicking activity of the parabens. From the formulator's point of view, although it is slightly more expensive than parabens, it has similar formulation characteristics to the parabens, making it a fairly straightforward replacement (I should mention here, the cost of raw ingredients for creating skin care products is a major factor when deciding what ingredients to include in a formulation).

It is accepted as a safe cosmetic preservative by government regulatory agencies in the U.S., Europe and Japan. However, it has not been entirely free of controversy. Like many other organic solvents, phenoxyethanol is known to be a depressant of the central nervous system and an irritant that may cause vomiting and diarrhea, if exposed at high enough concentrations. In 2008, the FDA published a warning against Mommy's Bliss Nipple Cream for use by nursing mothers, as it contained both phenoxyethanol and chlorphenesin, another preservative known to have harmful effects on the central nervous system (link: original FDA report). 

Many children's toiletry products that are marketed as paraben-free contain phenoxyethanol as the preservative. An example is the Treehouse body lotion I reviewed earlier (see here).

Treehouse Unscented Body Lotion by Nature Clean (see review here)

When deciding what skin care products to buy for yourself or your family, one has to balance risk versus benefit. As with the parabens, the precautionary principle applies. In the case of children's products like a nipple cream or a lip balm, something that is obviously going to be ingested by a young child, then it is definitely not worth the risk of exposure. (As mentioned in my review of the Treehouse lotion here, one has to be particularly vigilant about what chemicals children are exposed to.) However, for most other products that are going to be applied topically to either skin or hair, then the presence of phenoxyethanol is probably not a significant concern since the amount of phenoxyethanol absorbed through the skin is likely far too low to trigger the symptoms noted above. 

As always, I continue to look for safe alternatives and will report as I find them. I have an extensive review coming soon on a series of products that does not contain either parabens or phenoxyethanol - please stay tuned!