- Type
- Formaldehyde-releasing preservative
- How serious
- High severity
- Evidence
- Moderate evidence
Why it is flagged
Prohibited in EU cosmetics since 2019 after the SCCS could not establish its safety; its cis isomer is a category 2 CMR substance. Health Canada's draft screening assessment proposes it may pose a risk to infants, toddlers and children in body moisturisers and sunscreen lotions, with testicular effects and fetal malformations the critical effects in animal studies. The formaldehyde it releases is a leading contact allergen.
Health topics it bears on
Sources
- Quaternium-15 Health Canada, 2021
- Draft screening assessment - Hexamethylenetetramines Group Environment and Climate Change Canada and Health Canada, 2021
- Commission Regulation (EU) 2019/831 amending Annexes II, III and V to Regulation (EC) No 1223/2009 on cosmetic products European Union (Official Journal of the European Union), 2019
- Opinion on Quaternium-15 (cis-isomer) (SCCS/1344/10) Scientific Committee on Consumer Safety, 2011
Also listed as
methenamine 3-chloroallylochloride, cis-ctac, cis/trans-ctac, 1-(3-chloroallyl)-3,5,7-triaza-1-azoniaadamantane chloride, cis-1-(3-chloroallyl)-3,5,7-triaza-1-azoniaadamantane chloride, n-(3-chloroallyl) hexaminium chloride, chloroallyl methenamine chloride, dowicil 200