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Data: Fair

Polyacrylamide

  • Products with the EWG VERIFIED mark have met the program’s impurity and use restrictions based on EWG's review of the company's data.

IMAGE SOURCE: PubChem

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Other Concerns

Use restrictions (high), Persistence and bioaccumulation (moderate), Non-reproductive organ system toxicity (moderate), Ecotoxicology (low), and Contamination concerns (high)

SYNONYMS

● 2-PROPENAMIDE, HOMOPOLYMER
● 2PROPENAMIDE, HOMOPOLYMER
● ACRYLAMIDE HOMOPOLYMER
● HOMOPOLYMER 2-PROPENAMIDE
● POLYACRYLAMIDE
● POLYACRYLAMIDE; POLYACRYLAMIDE

Restricted

Restricted: EWG VERIFIED products cannot contain this ingredient without adequate substantiation


Polyacrylamide is a synthetic polymer of acrylamide.

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

Expand content Collapse content
facial moisturizer/treatment110 products
brow liner47 products
eye shadow47 products
bronzer/highlighter33 products
serums & essences33 products
moisturizer30 products
hair styling aide30 products
around-eye cream28 products
hair treatment/serum26 products
daily use with SPF26 products
mask21 products
conditioner14 products
styling gel/lotion12 products
makeup primer12 products
anti-aging8 products
hand cream8 products
sunless tanning8 products
body firming lotion7 products
facial cleanser6 products
concealer4 products
after shave4 products
blush4 products
cuticle treatment3 products
BB cream3 products
facial powder3 products
foundation3 products
recreational sunscreen3 products
exfoliant/scrub3 products
body oil2 products
tanning oil2 products
2 products
makeup remover2 products
skin fading/lightener2 products
setting powder/spray1 products
hand sanitizer1 products
styling mousse/foam1 products
baby oil1 products
shampoo1 products
damaged skin treatment1 products
shaving cream1 products
foot moisturizer1 products
hair spray1 products
toners/astringents1 products

Contamination concerns

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Chemical
ACRYLAMIDE

Use restrictions

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CONCERN REFERENCE
Violation of government restrictions - Restricted in cosmetics; use, concentration, or manufacturing restrictions - anyOpen scientific literature
Restricted in cosmetics (recommendations or requirements) - use, concentration, or manufacturing restrictions - anyCosIng
Determined safe for use in cosmetics, subject to concentration or use limitations - Safe for use in cosmetics with some qualificationsCosmetic Ingredient Review Assessments
Recommendation to minimize use in cosmetics - anyOpen scientific literature

Persistence and bioaccumulation

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CONCERN REFERENCE
Persistent or bioaccumulative and moderate to high toxicity concern in humansEnvironment Canada Domestic Substance List
Not suspected to be bioaccumulativeEnvironment Canada Domestic Substance List

Organ system toxicity (non-reproductive)

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CONCERN REFERENCE
Classified as expected to be toxic or harmfulEnvironment Canada Domestic Substance List
Classified as a low human health priorityEnvironment Canada Domestic Substance List

Ecotoxicology

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CONCERN REFERENCE
Suspected to be an environmental toxin and be persistent or bioaccumulativeEnvironment Canada Domestic Substance List
Suspected to be an environmental toxinEnvironment Canada Domestic Substance List

Data gaps

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CONCERN REFERENCE
Considered safe based on assumption of low absorptionCosmetic Ingredient Review Assessments
164370 studies in PubMed science library may include information on the toxicity of this chemicalNLM PubMed

Multiple, additive exposure sources

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CONCERN REFERENCE
Designated as safe for general or specific, limited use in foodFDA Food Additive Status
Designated as safe for general or specific, limited use in foodFDA Everything Added to Food

Informational

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CONCERN REFERENCE
Industry or government recommendations for safe use: restrictions on concentration, impurities, product types, or manufacturing methods - Determined safe for use in cosmetics up to a specified concentration limitCosmetic Ingredient Review Assessments
  • Open scientific/peer reviewed literature
  • European Commission. 2013. Cosing, the European Commission database with information on cosmetic substances and ingredients. Accessed on March 1, 2013 at http://ec.europa.eu/consumers/cosmetics/cosing/ .
  • CIR (Cosmetic Ingredient Review). 2006. CIR Compendium, containing abstracts, discussions, and conclusions of CIR cosmetic ingredient safety assessments. Washington DC.
  • 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.
  • 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.
  • 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.

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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