Caredermis

Coal Tar

Severity 9/10

anti-dandruff · anti-psoriasis

Is Coal Tar safe?

Coal Tar is prohibited in cosmetic products in the EU (CosIng Annex II), with documented concerns: cancer concern, irritation.

In plain language

A proven but crude treatment for psoriasis and dandruff that is a known human carcinogen — banned from EU cosmetics while remaining in some US therapeutic shampoos.

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

9/10

IARC Group 1 human carcinogen; banned in EU cosmetics, allowed in US OTC dandruff shampoos.

Irritation

Editorial4/10

Photosensitizing and irritating.

Official regulatory status

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

CIR: data insufficientEU cosmetics: Prohibited

EU SCCS safety opinions

  • · Opinion on Wood Tars and Wood Tar Preparations
  • · Opinion on Refined Coal Tar by Bidistillation
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 skinNo specific concern
  • Oily & acne-proneNo specific concern
  • Dry skinNo specific concern
  • PregnancyBest avoided
  • Babies & kidsBest avoided
  • Eczema-proneNo specific concern

Sources

Each authority below is shown only because our ingested copy of its data lists Coal Tar — 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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