Six chemicals banned in Europe, U.K. and Australia remain allowed in U.S. cosmetics

Six chemicals that regulators in the European Union, the United Kingdom and Australia have restricted or banned remain permitted for use in U.S. cosmetics and personal care products, public health experts and campaigners say.

The divergence in rules has drawn renewed attention after the EU this month moved to ban trimethylbenzoyl diphenylphosphine oxide, or TPO, a photoinitiator used in gel nail polish, citing animal studies that suggested risks to fertility and reproductive health. The action illustrates a broader precautionary approach in many other countries, where regulators have removed or limited hundreds to thousands of ingredients considered potentially harmful.

By contrast, the United States has prohibited relatively few chemicals from cosmetics. The Environmental Working Group and consumer advocates note that the EU has banned more than 1,600 chemicals from personal care products while the U.S. has blacklisted fewer than a dozen. "A lot of countries have much stricter rules around what’s allowed in food," said Dr. Neha Pathak, MD, a member of WebMD’s medical team. She said the U.S. approach tends to treat ingredients as "innocent until proven guilty," whereas regulators in the EU and other jurisdictions take a more precautionary stance when evidence of harm emerges.

Formaldehyde and formaldehyde-releasing preservatives remain among the most contentious ingredients. The EU and the U.K. ban formaldehyde and its releasers in personal care products, and Australia caps formaldehyde at 0.2 percent in cosmetics. In the U.S., formaldehyde and formaldehyde releasers are still used in hair-smoothing treatments, nail hardeners, shampoos, lotions, body soaps and eyelash adhesives, often in products marketed to Black women. "Repeated exposures like these can add up and cause serious harm," said Dr. Robin Dodson, an exposure scientist at Silent Spring Institute, who led a study on formaldehyde in personal care products. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration proposed a national ban on formaldehyde and formaldehyde releasers in hair straighteners in 2023, but that proposal has not been finalized.

Triclosan, an antibacterial ingredient once widespread in soaps and hand sanitizers, has been banned from over-the-counter antibacterial soaps by the FDA since 2016 after animal studies showed hormonal disruption and concerns about antibiotic resistance. The compound remains allowable in certain products in other formulations, notably some toothpastes, and is restricted or banned in the EU, the U.K. and Australia. A 2019 study cited by advocates found an association between triclosan exposure and an increased risk of osteoarthritis in women, a finding that has raised additional concern among researchers and consumers.

Phthalates, including dibutyl phthalate (DBP), are commonly used to stabilize fragrances and extend the life of nail polish. DBP is banned in the EU, the U.K. and Australia as a reproductive toxicant, and multiple studies have linked phthalate exposure to endocrine disruption and to adverse outcomes including infertility, reduced sperm quality, miscarriage, obesity and metabolic disorders. In the U.S., there is no comprehensive federal law barring DBP in cosmetics, and manufacturers sometimes list phthalates under the umbrella term "fragrance," a designation that can obscure their presence. "Phthalates are endocrine disruptors that can interfere with hormonal and cellular function within the reproductive system," said Dr. Lora Shahine, a reproductive endocrinologist in Seattle.

Butylphenyl methylpropional, commonly known as Lilial, is a synthetic fragrance ingredient that the EU and the U.K. banned in 2022 after regulators concluded it posed a risk to reproduction and could act as an endocrine disruptor. Lilial remains unregulated in the U.S., and public health experts advise consumers to limit exposure to added fragrances. "I recommend avoiding added fragrances altogether — in perfumes, scented lotions and shampoos, even scented detergents and antiperspirants," Andrea Gore, a pharmacology and toxicology professor at the University of Texas at Austin, told the Washington Post.

Zinc pyrithione (ZPT), an antifungal and anti-dandruff active ingredient, was restricted in the EU and the U.K. in 2022 over concerns about potential neurotoxicity and harm to aquatic environments. Studies have also linked ZPT to skin irritation and photosensitivity in some users. In the U.S., ZPT remains an FDA-approved active ingredient in many dandruff shampoos.

Selenium sulfide, another medicinal anti-dandruff and antifungal agent, has been classified as potentially carcinogenic by regulators in several countries and is banned in the EU, the U.K. and Japan. The FDA permits selenium sulfide in over-the-counter shampoos at a 1 percent concentration and allows higher concentrations in prescription products. Australia permits higher concentrations under restricted labeling and regulatory controls.

Public health advocates say cumulative exposure across multiple products complicates the risk profile, especially for women, who on average use more personal care products daily. "The average woman uses 12 beauty products a day, plus chemical exposure from laundry detergent, cleaning products, and more — no company is tracking the accumulation of exposure over time and the risk to the individual," Shahine said. Janette Robinson Flint, executive director of Black Women for Wellness, said consumers should not have to be chemists to identify potentially hazardous ingredients and urged greater government oversight.

Consumer organizations and some companies have responded by providing searchable ingredient databases and reformulating products. Websites run by the Environmental Working Group and the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics offer searchable tools that rate product ingredients for potential health concerns. Timca Pruijt, founder of Laser Hair Removalo, said reading labels is worthwhile and noted that global brands sometimes reformulate worldwide when the EU bans an ingredient rather than maintain separate formulas for different markets. When the EU moved to ban Lilial and later zinc pyrithione, some brands sold in the U.S. adjusted their formulations to comply globally, she said.

Regulatory change in the U.S. has been incremental and product-specific. The FDA retains authority to regulate safety in cosmetics but does not preapprove ingredients for most products the way it does for drugs, and several researchers and advocates have called for stronger federal oversight of chemical use in personal care products. For consumers seeking to limit exposure, experts recommend reading ingredient lists carefully, avoiding products with unspecified "fragrance" when possible, and consulting independent databases for product-by-product information.

Industry and regulatory policy discussions are likely to continue as scientific studies, consumer pressure and international regulatory decisions shape manufacturer practices. In some cases, global market forces have already prompted companies to remove or reduce controversial ingredients in U.S. formulations even before federal mandates take effect. Until regulatory alignment is achieved, public health groups say consumers and clinicians should remain informed about ingredients linked to cancer, reproductive harm and neurotoxicity and consider safer alternatives where they exist.