- What it can be used for
- Adds scent, dissolves other ingredients and thickens or thins (the functions the EU ingredient database, CosIng, lists for it; a product may use it for any of them)
- CAS number
- 111-76-2
Why it’s flagged
Allowed in EU cosmetics only with limits.
- Annex III entry 188; products: a) Solvent in oxidative hair dye products; b) Solvent in non-oxidative hair dye products; max a) 4.0%; b) 2.0%; (a) (b) No use in aerosol dispensers (sprays). Source: EU Cosmetics Regulation, Annex III (restricted)
Annex III (restricted substances) or Annex V (preservatives) of the EU Cosmetics Regulation sets maximum amounts, allowed product types or required warnings.
What the research says
- Take used paper towels, sponges and mop water out of the room right after cleaning, ventilate during and after, and choose cleaners without 2-butoxyethanol (ethylene glycol monobutyl ether / butyl cellosolve on the label or SDS); avoid running ozone generators with terpene-scented products. Moderate evidence. Singer 2006, Indoor Air
- Wiping a small kitchen table with a few grams of an ordinary spray cleaner put 270-2,300 ug/m3 of the solvent 2-butoxyethanol into the air of a room-sized test chamber for the next hour; four of five cleaners tested contained it. Moderate evidence. Singer 2006, Indoor Air
Each finding shows its evidence grade. See every graded fact or how we grade.
What this page can’t tell you
These lists describe what a substance can do, its hazard. The risk from one product depends on how much is in it and how you use it, and the label doesn’t say how much.
Not being on a list doesn’t make an ingredient safe. It may never have been assessed.
Check your products
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“Products that list it” opens Open Beauty Facts, a free database anyone can edit.
Flagged the same way
Official lists checked September 2026. Spotted a mistake? Tell us.