DMDM hydantoin is an

antimicrobial An antimicrobial is an agent that kills microorganisms (microbicide) or stops their growth (bacteriostatic agent). Antimicrobial medicines can be grouped according to the microorganisms they are used to treat. For example, antibiotics are used aga ...

preservative A preservative is a substance or a chemical that is added to products such as food products, beverages, pharmaceutical drugs, paints, biological samples, cosmetics, wood, and many other products to prevent decomposition by microbial growth or ...

with the trade name Glydant. DMDM hydantoin is an

organic compound Some chemical authorities define an organic compound as a chemical compound that contains a carbon–hydrogen or carbon–carbon bond; others consider an organic compound to be any chemical compound that contains carbon. For example, carbon-co ...

belonging to a class of compounds known as hydantoins. It is used in the

cosmetics Cosmetics are substances that are intended for application to the body for cleansing, beautifying, promoting attractiveness, or altering appearance. They are mixtures of chemical compounds derived from either Natural product, natural source ...

industry and found in products like shampoos,

hair conditioner Hair conditioner is a hair care cosmetic product used to improve the feel, texture, appearance and manageability of hair. Its main purpose is to reduce friction between strands of hair to allow smoother brushing or combing, which might otherwise ...

s, hair gels, and skin care products. DMDM hydantoin slowly releases

formaldehyde Formaldehyde ( , ) (systematic name methanal) is an organic compound with the chemical formula and structure , more precisely . The compound is a pungent, colourless gas that polymerises spontaneously into paraformaldehyde. It is stored as ...

and works as a preservative by making the environment less favorable to

microorganism A microorganism, or microbe, is an organism of microscopic scale, microscopic size, which may exist in its unicellular organism, single-celled form or as a Colony (biology)#Microbial colonies, colony of cells. The possible existence of unseen ...

Safety

patch test A patch test is a diagnostic method used to determine which specific substances cause allergic inflammation of a patient's skin. Patch testing helps identify which substances may be causing a delayed-type allergic reaction in a patient and ...

study found that "an increase in the use of DMDM hydantoin in cosmetic products will also inevitably increase the risk of cosmetic dermatitis in consumers allergic to formaldehyde." The safety of formaldehyde is a topic of ongoing concern, given the prevalence of formaldehyde and formaldehyde releasers in industrial uses. Formaldehyde is considered "an important metabolic product in plants and animals (including humans), where it occurs in low but measurable concentrations." However, long-term exposure to formaldehyde (particularly routine inhalation of its fumes) is thought to cause irritation of the eyes and mucous membranes, headaches, shortness of breath, and aggravation of asthma symptoms. It was declared a "toxic product" by the 1999 Canadian Environmental Protection Act, and the US National Toxicology Program officially classed formaldehyde as "known to be a human

carcinogen A carcinogen () is any agent that promotes the development of cancer. Carcinogens can include synthetic chemicals, naturally occurring substances, physical agents such as ionizing and non-ionizing radiation, and biologic agents such as viruse ...

in June 2011. In the EU, the maximum allowed concentration of formaldehyde in finished products is 0.2%, and any product that exceeds 0.05% has to include a warning that the product contains formaldehyde.

References

{{reflist Hydantoins Cosmetics chemicals Preservatives