Caredermis

Quaternium-15

Severity 7/10Editorial

preservative

Is Quaternium-15 safe?

Quaternium-15 is prohibited in cosmetic products in the EU (CosIng Annex II), with documented concerns: cancer concern, allergy risk.

In plain language

A formaldehyde-releasing preservative banned in the EU since 2019 (Omnibus Regulation 2019/831). It is one of the preservatives most frequently confirmed as an allergen in dermatology patch tests.

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

Concerns marked Editorialare Caredermis' own dermatological review; the rest are drawn from official data — see the cited sources ↓

Cancer concern

Editorial7/10

Formaldehyde releaser; formaldehyde is IARC Group 1.

Allergy risk

Editorial7/10

Among the most allergenic formaldehyde releasers in patch testing.

Official regulatory status

Pulled directly from official regulatory datasets and expert reviews — not our own judgement.

CIR: safe as used (with qualifications)EU cosmetics: Prohibited

EU SCCS safety opinions

  • · Opinion on the new classification of substances as carcinogenic, mutagenic or toxic to reproduction according to the Commission Regulation 790/2009
  • · Opinion on Quaternium-15
Read SCCS opinions ↗

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 skinBest avoided
  • Oily & acne-proneNo specific concern
  • Dry skinNo specific concern
  • PregnancyUse with caution
  • Babies & kidsBest avoided
  • Eczema-proneBest avoided

Sources

Each authority below is shown only because our ingested copy of its data lists Quaternium-15 — 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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