Potassium Sorbate
The question

Is Potassium Sorbate safe in natural cosmetics?

CautionNatural cosmetics

Common preservative derived from sorbic acid. One of the safer synthetic preservatives, but can cause skin sensitization — especially in leave-on products at higher concentrations.

What the research flags

  • Skin sensitization and allergic contact dermatitis in susceptible individuals
  • May form genotoxic compounds in combination with ascorbic acid under some conditions [inference]
  • EU limits concentration in cosmetics

Other natural cosmetics ingredients on file

Sources & references

  1. [1]
    DatabaseIngredient database — 705289-POTASSIUM_SORBATE
  2. [2]
    Peer-reviewedPubMed / NCBI — pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov · ref 17085434
  3. [3]
    RegulatoryInternational regulator — efsa.europa.eu · ref 4144

Research disclaimer: Ratings reflect peer-reviewed research and regulatory assessments available at the time of publication, not the dose or formulation of any specific natural cosmetics product. This is not medical advice.