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

Data: Fair

Stearic Acid

IMAGE SOURCE: PubChem

SEARCH PRODUCTS

Other Concerns

Multiple, additive exposure sources (low)

SYNONYMS

● N-OCTADECANOIC ACID
● OCTADECANOIC ACID
● STEARIC ACID

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


Stearic acid is a naturally occurring fatty acid. It is listed in the PETA's Caring Consumer guide as a substance of animal origin, since stearic acid is primarily derived from rendered fat of farm and domestic animals.

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
moisturizer755 products
foundation442 products
facial moisturizer/treatment418 products
mascara415 products
hand cream234 products
brow liner231 products
body wash/cleanser195 products
bar soap166 products
facial cleanser142 products
hair color and bleaching137 products
exfoliant/scrub119 products
daily use with SPF117 products
mask114 products
shaving cream111 products
recreational sunscreen106 products
around-eye cream87 products
shaving cream (men's)70 products
blush64 products
body firming lotion56 products
lip balm55 products
concealer51 products
baby lotion47 products
shampoo47 products
antiperspirant/deodorant46 products
lipstick43 products
serums & essences42 products
liquid hand soap39 products
eye liner36 products
hair styling aide35 products
anti-aging34 products
conditioner34 products
BB cream34 products
hair treatment/serum33 products
makeup primer29 products
sunless tanning24 products
foot moisturizer23 products
setting powder/spray22 products
after shave18 products
eye shadow18 products
antiperspirant/deodorant (men's)16 products
lip gloss15 products
styling gel/lotion14 products
bronzer/highlighter14 products
lip balm with SPF13 products
baby soap11 products
after sun product10 products
muscle/joint soreness10 products
baby shampoo10 products
hand sanitizer10 products
baby sunscreen9 products
lip liner8 products
lip plumper7 products
damaged skin treatment7 products
beard care7 products
6 products
bath oil/salts/soak5 products
cuticle treatment4 products
skin fading/lightener4 products
CC cream4 products
foot odor control4 products
bubble bath4 products
foot cleansing3 products
diaper cream3 products
makeup remover3 products
body oil3 products
nail treatment2 products
tanning oil2 products
toners/astringents2 products
other eye makeup2 products
facial powder2 products
detangler2 products
body spray2 products
toothpaste2 products
mouthwash2 products
nail glue2 products
depilatory1 products
baby bubble bath1 products
glitter1 products
eye makeup remover1 products
tooth whitening1 products
beard oil1 products
beard cleanser1 products
other men's products1 products
baby oil1 products

Multiple, additive exposure sources

Expand content Collapse content
CONCERN REFERENCE
Used in food or as an additive with limited or no toxicity information availableOpen scientific literature
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

Ecotoxicology

Expand content Collapse content
CONCERN REFERENCE
Suspected to be an environmental toxinEnvironment Canada Domestic Substance List

Data gaps

Expand content Collapse content
CONCERN REFERENCE
Risk assessment method deficiencies and data gaps - Maximum reported "as used" concentration is basis of safety assessment by industry safety panel (Cosmetic Ingredient Review, CIR) - implicit safe concentration limit in productCosmetic Ingredient Review Assessments
4584 studies in PubMed science library may include information on the toxicity of this chemicalNLM PubMed

Cancer

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

Informational

Expand content Collapse content
CONCERN REFERENCE
Industry or government recommendations for safe use: restrictions on concentration, impurities, product types, or manufacturing methods - anyCosmetic Ingredient Review Assessments

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
Classified as a low human health priorityEnvironment 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
  • Open scientific/peer reviewed literature
  • 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.
  • EC (Environment Canada). 2008. Domestic Substances List Categorization. Canadian Environmental Protection Act (CEPA) Environmental Registry.
  • CIR (Cosmetic Ingredient Review). 2006. CIR Compendium, containing abstracts, discussions, and conclusions of CIR cosmetic ingredient safety assessments. Washington DC.
  • NLM (National Library of Medicine). 2012. PubMed online scientific bibliography data. http://www.pubmed.gov.
  • EPA (U.S. Environmental Protection Agency). 2006. EPA Water Disinfection By-Products with Carcinogenicity Estimates. Last updated: 10 April 2006.

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