Caredermis

Imidazolidinyl Urea

Severity 6/10

preservative · also known as germall 115

Is Imidazolidinyl Urea safe?

Imidazolidinyl Urea carries moderate concerns worth knowing about (cancer concern, allergy risk).

In plain language

A widely used formaldehyde-releasing preservative. Releases less formaldehyde than DMDM hydantoin but still triggers allergy in formaldehyde-sensitized people.

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

6/10

Releases small amounts of formaldehyde (IARC Group 1).

Allergy risk

Editorial5/10

Recognized contact allergen, often cross-reacting with other releasers.

Official regulatory status

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

EU-permitted preservative (max 0.6%)CIR: reviewed safe

EU SCCS safety opinions

  • · Opinion concerning Restrictions on Materials listed in annex VI of Directive 76/768/EEC on Cosmetic Products
  • · Opinion on The Determination of certain Formaldehyde Releasers in Cosmetic Products
  • · SCIENTIFIC ADVICE ON the threshold for the warning 'contains formaldehyde' in Annex V, preamble point 2 for formaldehyde-releasing substances
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 skinHigh caution
  • Oily & acne-proneNo specific concern
  • Dry skinNo specific concern
  • PregnancyUse with caution
  • Babies & kidsUse with caution
  • Eczema-proneBest avoided

Sources

Each authority below is shown only because our ingested copy of its data lists Imidazolidinyl Urea — 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.

Products in our library containing Imidazolidinyl Urea

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