Find products and ingredients Learn how Skin Deep® works Meet our experts Discover EWG VERIFIED®

Data: Limited

Levulinic Acid

IMAGE SOURCE: PubChem

SEARCH PRODUCTS

Other Concerns


SYNONYMS

● 3-ACETYLPROPIONIC ACID
● 4-KETOVALERIC ACID
● 4-OXO PENTANOIC ACID
● 4-OXOPENTANOIC ACID
● 4-OXOVALERIC ACID
● LEVULINIC ACID
● PENTANOIC ACID, 4-OXO
● PENTANOIC ACID, 4OXO

Restricted

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


Levulinic Acid is an organic acid.

Common concerns

See how this product scores for common concerns.

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

Ingredient concerns

  • CONCERNS
  • DATA SOURCES

Products with this Ingredient

Expand content Collapse content
moisturizer40 products
exfoliant/scrub22 products
facial moisturizer/treatment19 products
body wash/cleanser12 products
facial cleanser11 products
facial cleansing wipes10 products
hand cream10 products
conditioner9 products
shampoo8 products
serums & essences8 products
makeup remover7 products
mask7 products
toners/astringents7 products
baby lotion6 products
antiperspirant/deodorant5 products
mascara5 products
liquid hand soap4 products
recreational sunscreen4 products
hair treatment/serum3 products
foundation3 products
baby sunscreen3 products
baby wipes3 products
baby toothpaste2 products
hand sanitizer2 products
after sun product2 products
around-eye cream2 products
baby shampoo2 products
baby soap2 products
skin fading/lightener1 products
antiperspirant/deodorant (men's)1 products
styling gel/lotion1 products
eye makeup remover1 products
sunless tanning1 products
makeup primer1 products
toothpaste1 products
makeup removing wipes1 products
hair styling aide1 products
diaper cream1 products

Cancer

Expand content Collapse content
CONCERN REFERENCE
Not likely to be carcinogenic in humansEPA Water Disinfection By-Products Carcinogenicity

Ecotoxicology

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

Multiple, additive exposure sources

Expand content Collapse content
CONCERN REFERENCE
Designated as safe for general or specific, limited use in foodFDA Everything Added to Food

Organ system toxicity (non-reproductive)

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

Persistence and bioaccumulation

Expand content Collapse content
CONCERN REFERENCE
Not suspected to be persistentEnvironment Canada Domestic Substance List
Not suspected to be bioaccumulativeEnvironment Canada Domestic Substance List

Data gaps

Expand content Collapse content
CONCERN REFERENCE
589 studies in PubMed science library may include information on the toxicity of this chemicalNLM PubMed

Informational

Expand content Collapse content
CONCERN REFERENCE
Industry or government recommendations for safe use: restrictions on concentration, impurities, product types, or manufacturing methods - anyOpen scientific literature
  • EPA (U.S. Environmental Protection Agency). 2006. EPA Water Disinfection By-Products with Carcinogenicity Estimates. Last updated: 10 April 2006.
  • EC (Environment Canada). 2008. Domestic Substances List Categorization. Canadian Environmental Protection Act (CEPA) Environmental Registry.
  • 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.
  • NLM (National Library of Medicine). 2012. PubMed online scientific bibliography data. http://www.pubmed.gov.
  • Open scientific/peer reviewed literature

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

Can’t find your product?

Enter the ingredients in EWG’s Build Your Own Report tool to get an approximate score for that product.

BUILD YOUR OWN REPORT
Skindeep Healthy Living App

EWG research
on the go

Find personal care, cleaning, and food products on the EWG Healthy Living app.

DOWNLOAD THE APP