Ingredient file · Banned

Is methylene glycol banned in cosmetics?

Q: What does EWG Skin Deep say about methylene glycol?

EWG Skin Deep had no exact-name page for methylene glycol when read on 23 October 2026.

Yes, in the EU: Annex II lists methylene glycol as a prohibited substance (entry 1579). California, the EU and FDA's named list, read 23 October 2026, with EWG Skin Deep's score.

SlipperSkin finding

Read on 23 October 2026, methylene glycol is prohibited in the EU (Annex II) and banned in California; EWG Skin Deep has no exact-name page for it.

From the California statute, the EU Cosmetics Regulation as consolidated on 1 May 2026, FDA’s page and EWG Skin Deep, read 23 October 2026. We report what each says; we do not rate the ingredient.

Is methylene glycol banned in cosmetics?

Yes, in the EU: Annex II lists methylene glycol as a prohibited substance (entry 1579). California bans it from 1 January 2025 (list (a)(5)). FDA's named list does not include it. EWG Skin Deep has no exact-name page for it.

Methylene glycol: where it standsread 23 October 2026

Filled red marks a ban, blue a restriction, pale an ingredient that list does not name. FDA's page names 11 entries and none is methylene glycol. The EWG row marks its score; a bar shows a range.

What does the EU list say about methylene glycol?

Annex II is the EU's list of prohibited substances. The entries for methylene glycol are in the table below, as printed in the regulation consolidated on 1 May 2026.

Methylene glycol in the EU Cosmetics Regulation, found by CAS number 463-57-0
Where	Annex	Cap, threshold and product type	Condition
Annex II, entry 1579 as printed: Methanediol; methylene glycol	Prohibited substances	prohibited all cosmetic products	No condition printed in the entry.

Is methylene glycol on California's banned list?

Yes. California's Health and Safety Code section 108980 bans methylene glycol from 1 January 2025 (list (a)(5)), when intentionally added.

What does EWG Skin Deep say about methylene glycol?

EWG Skin Deep's search returned no exact-name page for methylene glycol on 23 October 2026, so we show none rather than guess. That is not a statement that it is absent from EWG.

Where is this read from?

More ingredient files: Hexachlorophene · Formaldehyde · Isobutylparaben · all 66 ingredient files

Method: California's section 108980 and the EU's annexes were read in Chrome on 23 October 2026; EU lookups are by CAS number (463-57-0) across Annexes II, III, V and VI; EWG's page was kept only if its name matched exactly; the PubChem link is the compound the CAS number resolves to. Statutes change and EWG revises pages, nothing here is a safety verdict, and an ingredient that is not on a list is not endorsed.