# A Survey of Preservatives Used in Cosmetic Products
## 2 Results
Interestingly, out of 325 products, 15 (4.6%) did not contain a preservative listed in Annex V of Regulation (EC) No. 1223/2009 of the European Parliament and of the Council. In these cases, the preservatives were replaced by plant substances with antimicrobial properties, for example, roscenary extract and essential oil, lavender, grapefruit seeds, grapevine, and green tea leaves. Polyhydroxyl compounds, i.e., polyols such as pentylene glycol, butylene glycol, and caprylyl glycol, also frequently appeared, which can protect cosmetic products against microbial contamination at higher concentrations. \begin{table}
\begin{tabular}{c c c c c c} \hline \hline  & **Preservative** & **Body Lotions** & **Face Creams** & **Rinse-off Products** & **Mascaras** & **Total** \\  & **(n = 100)** & **(n = 100)** & **(n = 100)** & **(n = 25)** & **(n = 325)** \\ \hline
17 & Cetrimonium Bromide & 0 & 0 & 4 & 0 & 4 \\ \hline
18 & Benzethonium Chloride & 0 & 0 & 3 & 0 & 3 \\ \hline
19 & Cetrimonium Chloride & 0 & 0 & 2 & 1 & 3 \\ \hline
20 & Behentrimonium Chloride & 0 & 0 & 2 & 0 & 2 \\ \hline
21 & Chlorhexidine Digluconate & 0 & 2 & 0 & 0 & 2 \\ \hline
22 & Sodium Metabisulfite & 1 & 1 & 0 & 0 & 2 \\ \hline
23 & Chlorosylenol & 0 & 0 & 1 & 1 & 2 \\ \hline
24 & Benzalkonium Chloride & 0 & 0 & 1 & 0 & 1 \\ \hline
25 & lodopropyl & 0 & 0 & 1 & 0 & 1 \\  & Butylcarbamate & & & & & \\ \hline
26 & Diazolidinyl Urea & 1 & 0 & 0 & 0 & 1 \\ \hline
27 & Sodium Bisulfite & 0 & 1 & 0 & 0 & 1 \\ \hline
28 & O-cymen-5-ol & 0 & 1 & 0 & 0 & 1 \\ \hline
29 & Imidazolidinyl Urea & 0 & 0 & 0 & 1 & 1 \\ \hline \hline \end{tabular}
\end{table} 
Table 1: _Cont._The most frequently used preservative in single-preservative products was phenoxyethanol (68.6%), followed by sodium benzoate (21.7%). Benzoic acid was present as a single preservative in only 3.6% of products, while methylparaben, sodium metabisulfite, benzalkonium chloride, cetrimonium bromide, and sorbic acid were each present in 1.2% of products (Figure 6). The frequency of individual preservatives in two-preservative products is shown in Figure 7. Again, the highest rated was phenoxyethanol, which appeared in 50.4% of two-preservative cosmetics. Sodium benzoate (42.5%) and potassium sorbate (40.7%) were ranked second and third and were most commonly used together. These were followed by benzyl alcohol (29.2%), sorbic acid (6.2%), benzoic acid, and sodium dehydroacetate (4.4% each), and then dehydroroacetic acid and DMDM hydantoin (3.5% each). The remaining preservatives were present in 2.7% to 0.9% of products. \begin{table}
\begin{tabular}{c c c c c c} \hline \hline  & \multicolumn{4}{c}{**Percentage of Preparations with a Specific Number of Preservatives**} \\ \hline \begin{tabular}{c} **Number of** \\ **Preservatives per** \\ **Single Product** \\ \end{tabular} & \begin{tabular}{c} **Body Lotions** \\ **(n = 100)** \\ \end{tabular} & \begin{tabular}{c} **Face Creams** \\ **(n = 100)** \\ \end{tabular} & \begin{tabular}{c} **Rinse-off Products** \\ **(n = 100)** \\ \end{tabular} & \
\begin{tabular}{c} **Mascaras (n = 25)** \\ \end{tabular} &
\begin{tabular}{c} **Total (n = 325)** \\ \end{tabular} \\ \hline
0 & 4 & 10 & - & 4 &. \\ \hline
**1** & **21** & **31** & **27** & **16** & **25.5** \\ \hline
**2** & **41** & **25** & **38** & **36** & **34.8** \\ \hline
**3** & **17** & **16** & **23** & **28** & **19.4** \\ \hline
4 & 12 & 11 & 5 & 4 & 8.9 \\ \hline
5 & 2 & 3 & 5 & 8 & 3.7 \\ \hline
6 & - & 2 & 2 & - & 1.2 \\ \hline
7 & 1 & 1 & - & 4 & 0.9 \\ \hline
8 & 2 & 1 & - & - & 0.9 \\ \hline \hline \end{tabular}
\end{table} 
Table 2: Number of preservatives per single product, given as total amounts and according to product category. Figure 6: Frequency of use of preservatives in single-preservative products (n = 83). Finally, the frequencies of the five most common preservatives in the investigated cosmetics, viz. phenoxyethanol, sodium benzoate, potassium sorbate, benzyl alcohol, and methylparaben, were analyzed according to individual cosmetic brand and product category.