TT No. 431: Palm Oil-based Preservative in Cosmetic and Personal Care Products

Phenonip is included in the EU Cosmatic Directives Annex VI list of permitted preservatives. Phenonip is also permitted for use in the USA and Japan. It is biodegradable at low concentrations and is non-volatile; thus, there is no loss of this preservative even with toxicological profile and it is non-irritant to the skin, eyes and mucous membranes when used under normal concentrations. However, when used at high concentration it will cause irritancy and skin allergies, and there has been some reports that it may cause breast cancer (Darbre et al., 2004). However, these reports have yet to be confirmed. Phenonip is normally used at 0.75% concentration in cosmatic formulations and is effective at pH ranging from 3 to 8.

Main Research: Suriati Hashim