2-PHENOXYETHANOL

📋 Quick facts

Description: 2-PHENOXYETHANOL — fragrance.

All Functions: fragrance

Quick Facts:

• Category: fragrance

Proven Benefits At A Glance:

• 2-phenoxyethanol is a preservative and fragrance ingredient used in cosmetics, pharmaceuticals, and personal care products
• It’s an aromatic glycol ether that can be absorbed through both skin and digestion
• When absorbed, your body breaks it down (metabolizes) into other compounds and eliminates them primarily through urine
• Dermal (skin) absorption is lower than oral absorption—about 45% of a topically applied dose enters the bloodstream
• Absorption through skin happens relatively quickly, with peak blood levels around 3 hours after application
• Your body efficiently eliminates the compound and its metabolites, mostly within 48 hours

⚗️ Chemical Overview

Ethylene glycol phenyl ether is a colorless liquid with a pleasant odor. Density 1.02 g / cm3. An irritant. 2-phenoxyethanol is an aromatic ether that is phenol substituted on oxygen by a 2-hydroxyethyl group. It has a role as an antiinfective agent and a central nervous system depressant. It is a primary alcohol, a glycol ether and an aromatic ether. It is functionally related to a phenol. Phenoxyethanol is a colorless liquid with a pleasant odor. It is a glycol ether used as a perfume fixative, insect repellent, antiseptic, solvent, preservative, and also as an anesthetic in fish aquaculture. Phenoxyethanol is an ether alcohol with aromatic properties. It is both naturally found and manufactured synthetically. Demonstrating antimicrobial ability, phenoxyethanol acts as an effective preservative in pharmaceuticals, cosmetics and lubricants. Phenoxyethanol (EU), or PE, is the most commonly used globally-approved preservative in personal care formulations. It is very easy to use in various types of formulations and is chemically stable. Phenoxyethanol is a colorless, clear, oily liquid with a faint aromatic odor at room temperature and a low water solubility and evaporation rate. It is produced by reacting phenol (EU) and ethylene oxide (EU) at a high temperature and pressure. This substance occurs naturally in green tea (EU). According to the European Union Cosmetics Regulation (EC) n.1223/2009, phenoxyethanol is authorized as a preservative in cosmetic formulations at a maximum concentration of 1.0%. Phenoxyethanol has been classified as an antimicrobial and preservative by Health Canada. It has also been used in vaccines and shown to inactivate bacteria, and several types of yeast.

Source(s): ChEBI, DrugBank, CAMEO Chemicals, via PubChem

📊 Comedogenicity

🛡️ Safety rating

Safety tier is a starting heuristic from regulatory status and comedogenic rating, not a dermatological verdict — see our Terms for the full disclaimer. Research confidence reflects how many real cited studies back this ingredient, not the strength of their findings.

🌍 Regulatory Status

💧 Skin Type Compatibility

⚠️ Don’t Combine With

📚 Research & Evidence

🔬 The Science

2-Phenoxyethanol (often abbreviated as PE or PhE) is classified as a primary alcohol within a chemical family called Aryl Alkyl Alcohols, which are fragrance ingredients defined by having an alcohol group bonded to a benzene ring structure (Food Chem Toxicol, 2012). Beyond fragrance, it functions as a preservative in baby wipes, cosmetics, pharmaceuticals, and disinfectants, where it works as a broad-spectrum biocide (Arch Toxicol, 2024 and 2025). #1: **Skin absorption is measurable but limited.** When applied to skin in typical product formulations, 2-phenoxyethanol does permeate the skin barrier. Studies using Confocal Raman Spectroscopy and tape stripping (which removes successive layers of dead skin cells) detected the compound in skin following topical application (Eur J Pharm Sci, 2024).

However, dermal absorption is modest—a human volunteer study found that when 0.4 mg/kg body weight was applied non-occlusively (not covered) to skin, approximately 45% was absorbed systemically, meaning roughly 55% remained on or in the outer skin or evaporated (Arch Toxicol, 2025). #2: **Absorption and metabolism are rapid.** In human volunteers given oral doses, 2-phenoxyethanol reached peak blood levels within about 1 hour; when applied dermally, peak levels occurred around 3 hours (Arch Toxicol, 2024 and 2025). Once absorbed, the body does not simply eliminate the parent compound unchanged. Instead, extensive metabolism occurs—the liver and other tissues convert 2-phenoxyethanol into other chemical forms, primarily phenoxyacetic acid (PhAA) and 4-hydroxyphenoxyacetic acid (4-OH-PhAA), which together account for over 99% of what the body excretes (Arch Toxicol, 2024 and 2025).

#3: **Elimination is efficient.** Following both oral and dermal exposure in human studies, the compound and its metabolites were rapidly eliminated via urine. After oral dosing, an average of 77% of the applied dose was excreted as PhAA and 12% as 4-OH-PhAA within 48 hours (Arch Toxicol, 2024). The dermal exposure study showed a similar metabolic pattern and rapid elimination timeline (Arch Toxicol, 2025). This efficient clearance suggests the body does not accumulate the compound over time with typical exposure. #4: **Formulation ingredients may influence skin penetration.** When 2-phenoxyethanol was tested in baby wipe formulations containing cetylpyridinium chloride (CPC), a surfactant with antimicrobial properties, permeation through human skin increased significantly compared to formulations without CPC (Int J Pharm, 2023).

However, in a separate in vivo human study using the same ingredient combination, this difference was not statistically significant (Eur J Pharm Sci, 2024). This inconsistency suggests that formulation effects on skin absorption may be more complex or context-dependent than initially apparent. #5: **Safety assessment requires comprehensive review.** The Food and Chemical Toxicology review (2012) evaluated available toxicology and dermatology data including acute toxicity, skin irritation, eye irritation, skin sensitization, phototoxicity, photoallergy, and reproductive toxicity. However, this abstract does not detail the conclusions or safety determinations, referring readers to a companion safety assessment document (Belsito et al., 2012) for the overall safety conclusion regarding 2-phenoxyethanol and related compounds in fragrances.

📄 Related Research

Matched by search — not necessarily verified support for every statement above.

• Scognamiglio J et al. (2012). Fragrance material review on 2-phenoxyethanol. Food Chem Toxicol.
• Rahma A et al. (2024). In vivo permeation of 2-phenoxyethanol in human skin. Eur J Pharm Sci.
• Eckert E et al. (2024). Biotransformation and toxicokinetics of 2-phenoxyethanol after oral exposure in humans: a volunteer study. Arch Toxicol.
• Eckert E et al. (2025). Dermal penetration of 2-phenoxyethanol in humans: in vivo metabolism and toxicokinetics. Arch Toxicol.
• Rahma A et al. (2023). A comparative study of the in vitro permeation of 2-phenoxyethanol in the skin PAMPA model and mammalian skin. Int J Pharm.

🧴 Products Containing 2-PHENOXYETHANOL

• LOTUS HERBALS WHITEGLOW
• FLORUCCI Makeup removers cleaning cloths
• Manix Gel lubrifiant naturel