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Beauty ingredient · Skin lightener

Hydroquinone

CAS
123-31-9

A skin-lightening agent. It is not legally sold in over-the-counter skin products in the US and is not allowed for skin use in EU or Canadian cosmetics.

  • Skin-lightening agent
  • Expert review pending
High concern Level 3 of 4 How concern levels work

A regulatory warning or restriction somewhere, or strong evidence of harm at typical intake. The concern level sets how many points hydroquinone costs on a product’s receipt.

What the evidence says

  • Skin-lightening risksRegulatory

    The FDA says there are no FDA-approved or legally marketed OTC skin-lightening products; in EU and Canadian cosmetics hydroquinone is allowed only in hair dye and nail products. [1][2][3]

Evidence tiers say how sure the evidence is, separately from how much it matters. About evidence tiers.

Rules around the world

WhereStatusDetailsDateSource
United States Banned No FDA-approved or legally marketed OTC skin-lightening products; hydroquinone skin products need a prescription. — [1]
European Union Restricted Only as an oxidizing hair-dye agent or in professional artificial nail systems (Annex III); not for skin. — [2]
Canada Restricted Only in hair dyes (0.3%), nail products and eyelash adhesives (0.1%). — [3]

“Banned” means explicitly prohibited or withdrawn after review; “not permitted” means never authorized there. We use each regulator’s own words.

Names GoodSwap recognizes on labels (4)
  • quinol
  • hydroquinol
  • hydroquinone
  • 1 4 dihydroxybenzene

Sources

  1. FDA Warns Consumers of Skin Products Containing Mercury and/or Hydroquinone

    U.S. Food and Drug Administration · Aug 24, 2026 · Regulator

    “There are no FDA-approved or legally marketed OTC skin lightening products.”

    fda.gov

  2. Regulation (EC) No 1223/2009 of 30 November 2009 on cosmetic products

    European Union (Official Journal) · Nov 30, 2009 · Law

    “cosmetic products shall not contain any of the following: (a) prohibited substances — prohibited substances listed in Annex II”

    eur-lex.europa.eu

  3. Cosmetic Ingredient Hotlist: prohibited and restricted ingredients

    Health Canada · Aug 13, 2025 · Regulator

    “The following ingredients are only permitted in cosmetic products under the conditions of use specified below:”

    canada.ca