Ingredient file · Restricted

Is toluene banned or restricted in cosmetics?

Q: What does EWG Skin Deep say about toluene?

EWG Skin Deep scores toluene 9 out of 10 with robust data, and lists use restrictions as high. Read 23 October 2026.

Restricted, not banned: the EU permits toluene within limits (Annex III, entry 185), the lowest cap printed being 25% and the highest 25%, depending on the product. 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, toluene is restricted by the EU (Annex III) and not listed in California; EWG Skin Deep scores it 9 out of 10.

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

Is toluene banned in cosmetics?

Restricted, not banned: the EU permits toluene within limits (Annex III, entry 185), the lowest cap printed being 25% and the highest 25%, depending on the product. California does not list it. FDA's named list does not include it. EWG Skin Deep scores it 9 out of 10 (data: robust).

Toluene: 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 toluene. The EWG row marks its score; a bar shows a range.

What are the EU limits for toluene?

The EU does not ban toluene; it caps it by product type. The caps below are the annex cells as printed on the EUR-Lex consolidated text of 1 May 2026, with the decimal comma written as a point.

Toluene: EU capspercent; consolidated 1 May 2026

Each bar is one figure printed in an annex entry (#321 means entry 321); where an entry prints several, the table below shows which product type each applies to.

Toluene in the EU Cosmetics Regulation, found by CAS number 108-88-3
Where	Annex	Cap, threshold and product type	Condition
Annex III, entry 185 as printed: Benzene, methyl-	Restricted substances	25 % Nail products	Keep out of reach of children To be used by adults only

Is toluene on California's banned list?

No. It is on neither list (a), in force since 1 January 2025, nor list (b), in force from 1 January 2027, of California's Health and Safety Code section 108980.

What does EWG Skin Deep say about toluene?

EWG’s page gives toluene a hazard score of 9 out of 10 with robust data. Its concerns line reads, in part: Use restrictions (high), Persistence and bioaccumulation (moderate), Non-reproductive organ system toxicity (high), Ecotoxicology (low), Irritation (skin, eyes, or lungs) (high), Occupational hazards (moderate), and Contamination concerns (. The use-restrictions concern is high. The score is a hazard score on EWG's own scale; it is not a regulatory status.

Where is this read from?

More ingredient files: Sorbic acid · BHT (butylated hydroxytoluene) · Hydrogen peroxide · 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 (108-88-3) 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.