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Data: Fair

Melissa Officinalis (Lemon Balm)

Other Concerns

Use restrictions (high) and Multiple, additive exposure sources (low)

SYNONYMS

● MELISSA (MELISSA OFFICINALIS)
● MELISSA OFFICINALIS
● MELISSA OFFICINALIS (LEMON BALM)

This ingredient is not currently on EWG's Skin Deep Restricted or Unacceptable Lists.


Common concerns

See how this product scores for common concerns.

  • LOW
    Cancer
  • LOW
    Allergies & Immunotoxicity
  • LOW
    Developmental and Reproductive Toxicity
  • HIGH
    Use Restrictions

Ingredient concerns

  • CONCERNS
  • DATA SOURCES

Products with this Ingredient

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facial cleanser4 products
makeup primer4 products
moisturizer4 products
mask2 products
lip balm2 products
bath oil/salts/soak2 products
damaged skin treatment1 products
facial moisturizer/treatment1 products
body oil1 products
baby soap1 products
baby shampoo1 products
serums & essences1 products
makeup remover1 products
hair treatment/serum1 products

Use restrictions

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CONCERN REFERENCE
Violation of industry recommendations - Unsafe for use in cosmeticsInternational Fragrance Association Codes & Standards

Multiple, additive exposure sources

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CONCERN REFERENCE
Used in food or as an additive with limited or no toxicity information availableFDA Everything Added to Food
Designated as safe for general or specific, limited use in foodFDA Food Additive Status

Ecotoxicology

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CONCERN REFERENCE
Not suspected to be an environmental toxinEnvironment Canada Domestic Substance List

Organ system toxicity (non-reproductive)

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CONCERN REFERENCE
Classified as not expected to be potentially toxic or harmfulEnvironment Canada Domestic Substance List

Data gaps

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CONCERN REFERENCE
212 studies in PubMed science library may include information on the toxicity of this chemicalNLM PubMed
  • IFRA (International Fragrance Association). 2006. Codes and Standards.
  • FDA (U.S. Food and Drug Administration). 2008. EAFUS [Everything Added to Food]: A Food Additive Database. FDA Office of Food Safety and Applied Nutrition.
  • FDA (U.S. Food and Drug Administration) 2006. Food Additive Status List. Downloaded from http://www.cfsan.fda.gov/%7Edms/opa-appa.html, Oct 16, 2006.
  • EC (Environment Canada). 2008. Domestic Substances List Categorization. Canadian Environmental Protection Act (CEPA) Environmental Registry.
  • NLM (National Library of Medicine). 2012. PubMed online scientific bibliography data. http://www.pubmed.gov.

Understanding scores

Cosmetics and personal care products are not required to be tested for safety before being allowed on the market. The Skin Deep® scoring system was designed to help the public understand whether a product is safe to use or whether it contains ingredients of concern.

Every product and ingredient in Skin Deep gets a two-part score – one for hazard and one for data availability. The safest products score well by both measures, with a low hazard rating and a fair or better data availability rating.

HOW WE DETERMINE SCORES

Hazard score

The Skin Deep ingredient hazard score, from 1 to 10, reflects known and suspected hazards linked to the ingredients. The EWG VERIFIED® mark means a product meets EWG’s strictest criteria for transparency and health.

Score legend

Data availability

The Skin Deep data availability rating reflects the number of scientific studies about the product or ingredient in the published scientific literature.

NONE LIMITED FAIR GOOD ROBUST
Low Availability
Moderate Availability
High Availability

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