The ingredient encyclopedia

Butylphenyl MethylpropionalAVOID

Banned outright from all EU and UK cosmetics since March 2022 as a presumed reproductive toxicant (CMR 1B), still fully legal in the United States.

Hydrofluorocarbon 152aCAUTION

Banned from personal-care aerosols in the EU, but for environmental (greenhouse-gas) reasons, not consumer-safety ones. At normal use the direct health risk is low; we won’t pretend otherwise.

Fragrance (Parfum)CAUTION

Not a hazard in itself, but a legal black box. “Fragrance” can shield ingredients (including EU-banned ones) that you are never told are there.

LimoneneCAUTION

Harmless fresh, but it oxidizes in air and on skin into potent contact allergens. Real, measurable sensitization; not a cancer scare.

LinaloolCAUTION

Same story as limonene: weak on its own, a real sensitizer once oxidized. Common cause of fragrance contact allergy.

CoumarinCAUTION

A recognized fragrance allergen present in most deodorants. Sensitization is real but bounded; no credible cancer signal at cosmetic exposure.

CitralCAUTION

Among the most frequently reported fragrance allergens; a sensitizer, not a systemic toxin.

CitronellolCAUTION

Recognized fragrance contact allergen (EU H317); cross-reacts with geraniol.

GeraniolCAUTION

One of the most frequently reported fragrance contact allergens in EU clinics.

Alcohol Denat.ACTUALLY FINE

Fearmongered as “toxic alcohol,” but at cosmetic use it is well-tolerated and evaporates within seconds. We clear it.

Zinc NeodecanoateACTUALLY FINE

Reviewed safe at cosmetic use levels. The only honest caveat is the aerosol particulate it shares with everything else in the can.

Aluminum Zirconium Tetrachlorohydrex GlyACTUALLY FINE

The most fearmongered ingredient in your bathroom, and the EU's own scientists found no reliable link to breast cancer or Alzheimer's. We clear it.

CyclopentasiloxaneCAUTION

Being phased out across the EU by 2027, but for the planet, not your body. The SCCS judged it safe for human health; the restriction is environmental.

BHTCAUTION

A synthetic antioxidant the EU flagged for possible endocrine effects and the UK restricted in 2024, safe at low levels, watched closely abroad, unrestricted here.

Propylene GlycolACTUALLY FINE

Fine on its own, the one honest caveat is that it's a penetration enhancer, so it helps everything else in the formula sink in deeper.

PPG-14 Butyl EtherACTUALLY FINE

An emollient carrier with a clean CIR safety review and no EU or US restriction. Boring, and that's the point, not everything on a label is a villain.

Pyrithione ZincAVOID

Head & Shoulders cannot legally be sold as a cosmetic anywhere in the EU, its active ingredient was banned in 2022 as a presumed reproductive toxicant. It's still the #1 dandruff shampoo here.

Sodium Laureth SulfateCAUTION

The sulfate itself just cleans, the real issue is 1,4-dioxane, a probable carcinogen created when it's made, that never appears on the label.

Sodium Lauryl SulfateCAUTION

It does NOT cause cancer, that viral claim is a myth. What it actually does is strip and irritate skin, which matters if yours is reactive.

Cocamidopropyl BetaineCAUTION

Named Allergen of the Year in 2004, but the molecule isn't the culprit. A manufacturing impurity (DMAPA) is what sensitizes people.

MethylisothiazolinoneCAUTION

A preservative the EU banned from all leave-on products after it triggered an allergy epidemic across Europe. Capped hard in rinse-off there; uncapped here.

HomosalateAVOID

The EU's own science panel found it unsafe above 0.5%, every sunscreen here uses it at 9–15%, up to 30× that level. The FDA still allows it.

OctocryleneCAUTION

Degrades inside the bottle into benzophenone, a carcinogen with zero allowed level in food and no safe harbor under Prop 65. The longer it sits, the more forms.

OxybenzoneAVOID

Banned in Hawaii and Key West, absorbs into your blood at 250× the FDA's own safety threshold. Good news: the sunscreens we tore down already dropped it, many others didn't.

AvobenzoneACTUALLY FINE

The workhorse UVA filter. It absorbs into skin like the others, but carries no specific harm finding, and it's what's actually protecting you from deep UVA.

OctisalateACTUALLY FINE

A mild, low-scrutiny UVB filter that also stabilizes avobenzone. Nothing in the evidence flags it. Cleared.

Sodium Coco-SulfateACTUALLY FINE

The ingredient is fine. The problem is the front of the bottle: Native says 'Sulfate Free' while this sulfate sits second on the label. The lie is the story, not the chemistry.

Sodium Lauroyl IsethionateACTUALLY FINE

A genuinely mild, sulfate-free cleanser with a clean safety record. One of the good ones.

Iodopropynyl ButylcarbamateCAUTION

An iodine-releasing preservative the EU restricts by product type and flags for thyroid concern, pregnant women and under-3s are told to avoid it abroad. No such limit here.

PhenoxyethanolCAUTION

The default paraben replacement, cleared by the EU at up to 1%, but France moved to keep it off babies' skin. Fine for most; watch it around infants.

Cocamide MEACAUTION

Not the same as Cocamide DEA (a listed carcinogen), but it can carry trace DEA from manufacturing. The distinction is real, and worth knowing.

Tetrasodium EDTAACTUALLY FINE

A chelator that keeps formulas stable. It barely penetrates skin and carries no hazard finding. Cleared, though it does nudge other ingredients in slightly.

MethylparabenACTUALLY FINE

The paraben the breast-cancer scare was built on, and that 2004 study found parabens present, never proven they caused anything. Short-chain parabens like this are well-tolerated. Cleared.

ButylparabenCAUTION

The paraben that actually earns scrutiny, the EU caps it at 0.14% and bans it from baby products over weak estrogen activity. Not all parabens are equal.

Quaternium-15AVOID

Releases formaldehyde, a known human carcinogen, right at your eye. Already banned in Washington State, with a US federal ban proposed for 2027. The EU forces a warning label; here it's silent.

Diethyl PhthalateCAUTION

An endocrine-disrupting plasticizer hidden inside the word 'Fragrance', found at up to 40,000 ppm in body sprays by the FDA's own survey, disclosed to you nowhere.

OctinoxateCAUTION

An estrogen-active UV filter banned from Hawaii's reefs, and oddly sprayed onto skin and inhaled in a fragrance mist that makes no sunscreen claim at all.

Benzyl AlcoholCAUTION

A dual-use preservative and fragrance allergen, the EU makes brands name it on the label; here it can hide inside 'Fragrance.'

Hexyl CinnamalCAUTION

A jasmine-scented fragrance allergen on the EU's named-disclosure list, a documented sensitizer that US labels can bury under 'Fragrance.'

Alpha-Isomethyl IononeCAUTION

A violet-scented fragrance allergen the EU requires named on-label. Real sensitizer, routinely undisclosed here.

Benzyl SalicylateCAUTION

A fragrance allergen and weak UV absorber on the EU disclosure list, flagged abroad, hidden in 'Fragrance' here.

Titanium DioxideAVOID

Banned as a food additive across the EU in 2022 over genotoxicity its own scientists couldn’t rule out, and it’s a pure whitening pigment you partly swallow with every brush. Still legal here.

Sodium Fluoride / Stannous Fluoride / Sodium MonofluorophosphateCAUTION

Not the conspiracy some claim, topical fluoride genuinely prevents cavities. The real caveat is dose: small children swallow a third of the paste, which is why there’s a warning on the tube. Spit, don’t swallow.

TriclosanAVOID

An endocrine-disrupting antibacterial the FDA banned from soaps and the EU restricted, and the active in Colgate Total until they quietly reformulated it out around 2019. Worth knowing what was in the tube you trusted for years.

Sodium SaccharinACTUALLY FINE

The artificial sweetener at the center of a 1970s cancer panic, and delisted as a carcinogen decades ago when the rat-bladder mechanism turned out not to apply to humans. Cleared.

Hydrated SilicaACTUALLY FINE

The abrasive that scrubs your teeth, essentially refined sand. Inert, not absorbed, no hazard finding. Cleared.

Sodium BorateCAUTION

The EU classifies it a reproductive toxicant and restricts it in consumer products, yet it’s in Tide and Gain here. The honest part: that classification comes from high doses; what rinses out of your laundry is low. The story is the regulatory gap, not poison in your wash.

1,4-DioxaneCAUTION

A probable carcinogen that’s never on the label because it’s a manufacturing contaminant, not an ingredient, found in these detergents above New York’s legal limit before 2024 reformulation. The only US rule that touches it is one state’s.

BenzisothiazolinoneCAUTION

A preservative the EU classifies a skin sensitizer and restricts, printed by name on US Gain and Febreze labels, with no US limit. A genuine allergen, disclosed here only because the EU forced the science.

Optical BrightenersCAUTION

Chemicals that don’t clean anything, they coat your clothes to trick your eye into seeing ‘whiter,’ stay on the fabric against your skin, and are persistent in waterways. A cosmetic illusion you wear all day.

PetrolatumACTUALLY FINE

The ‘petroleum on your skin’ scare, and at cosmetic grade it’s one of the most inert, well-tolerated occlusives there is. The EU’s one real requirement is full refinement to strip impurities, which reputable brands meet. Cleared.

DMDM HydantoinCAUTION

A preservative that works by slowly releasing formaldehyde, a known human carcinogen. The EU forces a ‘releases formaldehyde’ warning on the label; the US requires nothing. Lower exposure than a leave-on near the eye, but you’re rubbing it over your whole body daily.

Paraffin WaxCAUTION

A petroleum wax whose combustion releases soot and trace VOCs. An occasional candle in a ventilated room is low-risk; a plug-in or candle burning continuously in a closed room is where the emissions add up. Ventilation is the whole game.

PTFECAUTION

Stable and inert at normal cooking heat, the real risks are specific: an empty pan overheated past 500°F releases fumes that sicken people (and kill birds), and a scratched coating sheds particles. Don’t preheat empty, don’t use metal utensils, replace it when it’s scratched.

PFOAAVOID

Upgraded to a Group 1 human carcinogen in 2023 and phased out of US nonstick production around 2015, but it’s a ‘forever chemical’ that’s still in older pans, your blood, and the water. If your nonstick pan predates 2015, it’s the one to retire.

PFAS ReplacementsAVOID

The ‘safer’ chemicals that replaced PFOA, and the EPA links them to the same liver, kidney, immune and developmental harms. A textbook regrettable substitution. The EU is moving to restrict the entire PFAS class; the US has a patchwork of state cookware bans and no federal rule.

Lead & Cadmium in Cookware GlazesAVOID

Cheap imported glazed and aluminum-alloy cookware can leach lead and cadmium, both potent toxic metals, straight into your food, and the FDA issued fresh enforcement alerts on leaded imports in 2025. There is no safe level of lead. Avoid unbranded imported metal/glazed cookware.

Aluminum (bare / anodized cookware)CAUTION

Bare aluminum leaches small amounts into acidic foods like tomato sauce; the amounts are low and the dietary-aluminum-causes-Alzheimer’s link is not supported. Anodized aluminum is sealed and a non-issue. A minor point, not a panic.

Ceramic Nonstick CoatingACTUALLY FINE

The PFAS-free nonstick alternative, a silica-based coating with no forever chemicals. The honest catch is durability, not toxicity: it wears out faster than PTFE. Pair it with cast iron or stainless and you’ve sidestepped the whole cookware problem.