Health Concerns of the Ingredient:
Overall Hazard
Developmental &
reproductive toxicity
Allergies & immunotoxicity
About SODIUM LAURYL SULFATE: Sodium lauryl sulfate is the sodium salt of lauryl sulfate.
Function(s): Denaturant; Surfactant - Cleansing Agent; EMULSIFYING; FOAMING
Synonym(s): MONODODECYL ESTER SODIUM SALT SULFURIC ACID; SODIUM DODECYL SULFATE; SODIUM DODECYL SULPHATE; SODIUM LAURYL SULFATE SODIUM LAURYL SULFATE; SODIUM SALT SULFURIC ACID, MONODODECYL ESTER; SULFURIC ACID MONODODECYL ESTER SODIUM SALT; SULFURIC ACID, MONODODECYL ESTER, SODIUM SALT; AI3-00356; AKYPOSAL SDS; AQUAREX ME; AQUAREX METHYL
Organ system toxicity (non-reproductive)
| Concern |
Reference |
| Classified as expected to be toxic or harmful | Environment Canada Domestic Substance List |
| Classified as medium human health priority | Environment Canada Domestic Substance List |
Use restrictions
| Concern |
Reference |
| Determined safe for use in cosmetics, subject to concentration or use limitations - Safe for use in cosmetics with some qualifications | Cosmetic Ingredient Review Assessments |
Irritation (skin, eyes, or lungs)
| Concern |
Reference |
| Human irritant - strong evidence (only for products for use around the eyes, on the skin, or may be aerosolized (airborne)) | Cosmetic Ingredient Review Assessments |
Ecotoxicology
| Concern |
Reference |
| Suspected to be an environmental toxin | Environment Canada Domestic Substance List |
Data gaps
| Concern |
Reference |
| 90,333 studies in PubMed science library may include information on the toxicity of this chemical see search results -> | NLM PubMed |
Multiple, additive exposure sources
| Concern |
Reference |
| Designated as safe for general or specific, limited use in food | FDA Food Additive Status |
| Designated as safe for general or specific, limited use in food | FDA Everything Added to Food |
Persistence and bioaccumulation
| Concern |
Reference |
| Not suspected to be persistent | Environment Canada Domestic Substance List |
| Not suspected to be bioaccumulative | Environment Canada Domestic Substance List |
Data Sources
| 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. |
| 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. |
| NLM (National Library of Medicine). 2012. PubMed online scientific bibliography data. http://www.pubmed.gov. |
Products Containing the Ingredient
About the Skin Deep® ratings
EWG provides information on personal care product ingredients from the published scientific literature, to supplement incomplete data available from companies and the government. The ratings below indicate the relative level of concern posed by exposure to the ingredients in this product - not the product itself - compared to other product formulations. The ratings reflect potential health hazards but do not account for the level of exposure or individual susceptibility, factors which determine actual health risks, if any.
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