What it is and what it does
The EU's CosIng database describes petrolatum as a complex combination of hydrocarbons obtained as a semi-solid from dewaxing paraffinic residual oil, mostly saturated crystalline and liquid hydrocarbons with more than 25 carbon atoms. It lists two functions: skin conditioning - emollient and antistatic.1
Its best-known property is not on that list. A dermatology review describes moisturisers as built on occlusive substances, such as petrolatum and dimethicone, and humectants such as glycerin2; CosIng defines an occlusive as an ingredient that slows the evaporation of water from the skin surface.3 A 1992 study in volunteers found that petrolatum does not simply sit on top as a sealed film. It spread through the spaces between cells at every level of the stratum corneum, the skin's outer layer, and skin whose barrier had been disrupted with acetone recovered faster where it was applied, not slower.4
In the US, petrolatum and white petrolatum are both among the active ingredients allowed in over-the-counter skin protectant drugs, at 30 to 100 percent.5
The EU rule: refining history, not a blanket ban
Petrolatum is entry 904 of Annex II, the list of substances prohibited in cosmetic products. The entry reads in full: "Petrolatum, except if the full refining history is known and it can be shown that the substance from which it is produced is not a carcinogen" (CAS 8009-03-8). Six related petrolatum substances, from oxidised to clay-treated, follow as entries 905 to 910 with the same exception.6 The prohibition therefore applies to petrolatum that cannot meet that condition, not to every petrolatum.
The wording mirrors EU chemicals law. Under Regulation (EC) No 1272/2008, petrolatum (Annex VI, index number 649-254-00-X) is classified as a category 1B carcinogen, hazard statement H350, with Note N: that classification applies unless the full refining history is known and it can be shown that the substance from which it is produced is not a carcinogen.7 The cosmetics regulation prohibits substances classified as category 1A or 1B carcinogens, mutagens or reproductive toxicants, except under conditions set out in its Article 15.6 The classification is listed further down this page among the official statements; it describes the pure substance as supplied, not a finished product.
What a label cannot show
The EU glossary of label names has a single name, Petrolatum8, so a list reads the same whatever the grade and says nothing about refining. The regulation puts that information elsewhere: the safety report every cosmetic needs must cover the purity of its substances (Annex I, Part A, point 4), and the company responsible keeps the product information file containing it for ten years after the last batch is placed on the market (Article 11).6
A 2019 review by Germany's Federal Institute for Risk Assessment (BfR) found no indication at present of carcinogenic effects in animals exposed through the skin or by mouth to highly refined mineral oils and waxes.9 The mineral oil page explains the two fractions that review distinguishes.
How it appears on a label
- Petrolatum is the EU label name; Petroleum Jelly is a common name for it, and this site's checker reads it as Petrolatum.
- On this site it belongs to the Mineral oil group, with Paraffinum Liquidum, Paraffin and Ceresin: oils and waxes refined from petroleum, which some people prefer to avoid.
- Ingredient checkers can treat petrolatum very differently, partly because the EU rule turns on a condition no label shows. Why ingredient checkers disagree explains how that happens.
- Check a whole list with the skincare ingredient checker to see the other occlusives and emollients in it.
The EU entry is a condition on the raw material, which an ingredient list cannot show. Nothing on this page says whether a particular product suits your skin.