Butylated Hydroxyanisole
Severity 6/10antioxidant (preservative) · also known as bha (antioxidant)
Is Butylated Hydroxyanisole safe?
Butylated Hydroxyanisole carries moderate concerns worth knowing about (cancer concern).
In plain language
A preservative antioxidant classified as possibly carcinogenic and increasingly replaced by tocopherol; not to be confused with beta hydroxy acid (salicylic acid), which shares the 'BHA' abbreviation.
A Caredermis plain-language explanation to help you read the label — not a regulator statement. The sourced facts are the classifications and status shown on this page.
Documented concerns
Each concern below is drawn from official data — see the cited sources ↓
Cancer concern
6/10IARC Group 2B (possibly carcinogenic); Prop 65 listed.
Official regulatory status
Pulled directly from official regulatory datasets and expert reviews — not our own judgement.
Guidance by skin profile
Caredermis editorial guidance based on the concerns above — checked against the official records on every build, but not itself a regulator statement.
- Sensitive skinNo specific concern
- Oily & acne-proneNo specific concern
- Dry skinNo specific concern
- PregnancyUse with caution
- Babies & kidsUse with caution
- Eczema-proneNo specific concern
Sources
Each authority below is shown only because our ingested copy of its data lists Butylated Hydroxyanisole — not because we asserted it. Follow a link to verify the classification or regulation directly.
CIR conclusion from the Cosmetic Ingredient Review (CIR) Quick Reference Table — cir-safety.org (snapshot in data/sources/)(point-in-time snapshot; CIR's live record may have been updated since).
See our methodology for how these map to concern levels. Informational only — not medical advice.
Related ingredients
Ingredients with a similar role or shared type of concern — useful for comparing what's on your label.
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