Dimethylol Urea ●
TL;DR. This ingredient functions mainly as a formaldehyde-releasing preservative, helping control bacteria and fungi in water-based formulas. It may also contribute minor film-forming or resin-like effects in some product formats.
What does Dimethylol Urea do in a cosmetic formula?
This ingredient functions mainly as a formaldehyde-releasing preservative, helping control bacteria and fungi in water-based formulas. It may also contribute minor film-forming or resin-like effects in some product formats.
Is Dimethylol Urea clean?
Clean-beauty frameworks generally flag it because it can release formaldehyde, a recognized sensitizer with strict concentration and disclosure rules. It has significant restricted-list friction, especially for leave-on products and sensitive-skin positioning.
Is Dimethylol Urea sustainable?
This material is synthetic and typically made from commodity petrochemical-derived feedstocks rather than renewable sources. It is water-soluble and not expected to bioaccumulate, but its release chemistry and preservative profile are a weak fit for low-impact formulation goals.
Is Dimethylol Urea COSMOS-approved?
It is not permitted under COSMOS-natural or COSMOS-organic as a preservative system. From a Green Chemistry lens, it has poor alignment because it relies on nonrenewable feedstocks and a reactive release mechanism rather than readily benign, biodegradable preservation chemistry.
How does Dimethylol Urea work chemically?
The molecule is a methylolated it condensate with hydroxymethyl groups that can equilibrate or hydrolyze in water, releasing small amounts of formaldehyde over time. When used, levels are typically in low preservative ranges, often around tenths of a percent, with performance and release behavior influenced by pH, temperature, amines, and other nucleophilic ingredients.
Last updated 2026-05-13