Is SODIUM METABISULFITE Safe? — Ingredient Safety Profile · Greenveil
beauty / cleaning / food / industrial / pharma
SODIUM METABISULFITE
Inorganic sulfites and bisulfites (12) is restricted in cosmetic products under Annex III of the EU Cosmetics Regulation (EC) 1223/2009.
Research docs0Claims0Sources50Functionpreservative • anti-fogging agentsIdentifier7757-83-7
Concern score
70/100High concern based on regulatory listings.
Well researched
How we scored this
The concern value reflects this ingredient's chemical identity — its hazard profile from the published classifications and regulatory status below — not the safety of a product it appears in. A score near 40 is the baseline for ingredients with no specific signal (water scores 40 by design), so a mid-range value is not a safety verdict.
Concern score 70/100 (high) · high confidence.
Regional restrictions
EU — restricted · Annex III of EU Cosmetics Regulation (EC) 1223/2009: substances which cosmetic products must not contain except subject to the restrictions laid down. Product types: (a) Oxidative hair dye products (b) Hair straightening products (c) Self-tanning products for the face (d) Other self-tanning products Maximum concentration: (a) 0.67% (as free SO2) (b) 6.7% (as free SO2) (c) 0.45% (as free SO2) (d) 0.40% (as free SO2) Other conditions: For purposes other than inhibiting the development of micro-organisms in the product. This purpose has to be apparent from the presentation of the product
Where it appears
Prevalence of SODIUM METABISULFITE in our catalog (epa_cpdat).
Products
981
Brands
6
Laboratory suppliesSpecialty occupational productsBatteriesFood and drugIndustrial productsCleaning and safety
Context-specific fit derived from published classifications and the current ingredient evidence profile.
Food use
Food-use source coverage is present in the current record.
Good fit
The ingredient appears in food-oriented source coverage or allowed-use references, which makes food use easier to support than a context with no domain signal at all.
Fragrance avoidance
Not a strong fit for fragrance avoidance because it carries Fragrance.
Avoid
Allergen profile
Canonical allergen markers detected on this ingredient. Each row is derived from the ingredient’s name or synonyms matching a known allergen class — useful when scanning a label for a specific allergy context.
SulphitesContains · Oral (ingested)
Source: chemindex_name_match
Linked research
Primary documents currently linked to this ingredient record.
No linked research documents are attached to this ingredient yet.
Extracted claims
Structured claim signals pulled from linked ingredient research.
No extracted claims are attached to this ingredient yet.
Regulatory status
Published jurisdiction-level classifications and regulatory designations for this ingredient.
EU
EC
restricted
Annex III of EU Cosmetics Regulation (EC) 1223/2009: substances which cosmetic products must not contain except subject to the restrictions laid down. Product types: (a) Oxidative hair dye products (b) Hair straightening products (c) Self-tanning products for the face (d) Other self-tanning products Maximum concentration: (a) 0.67% (as free SO2) (b) 6.7% (as free SO2) (c) 0.45% (as free SO2) (d) 0.40% (as free SO2) Other conditions: For purposes other than inhibiting the development of micro-organisms in the product. This purpose has to be apparent from the presentation of the product
The ingredient itself is a fragrance-linked signal, so it is better treated as an avoid case when fragrance exposure is the main concern.
Evidence read
The published evidence profile currently shaping this ingredient record.
No evidence profiles are attached to this ingredient yet.
US
EPA
commercial use observed
EPA CPDat observed this chemical in 981 composition records across product categories including Laboratory supplies, Specialty occupational products, Batteries. EPA CPDat classifies this chemical for functional uses including Stabilizing agent, Preservative, Antioxidant.
