EWG Skin Deep® | What is ALUMINA

HOW WE DETERMINE SCORES Learn more About EWG VERIFIED™

Data: Good

Alumina

IMAGE SOURCE: PubChem

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Other Concerns

Enhanced skin absorption, Persistence and bioaccumulation (moderate), and Non-reproductive organ system toxicity (moderate)

SYNONYMS

ACTIVATED ALUMINA, ALUMINA, ALUMINA, ACTIVATED, ALUMINA, CALCINED, ALUMINA, TABULAR, ALUMINIUM OXIDE, ALUMINUM OXIDE, ALUMINUM OXIDE (AL2O3), ALUMINUM OXIDE; ALUMINUM OXIDE; DELTA ALUMINA; THETA ALUMINA, ALUMINUM SESQUIOXIDE, ALUMINUM TRIOXIDE, CALCINED ALUMINA, and TABULAR ALUMINA

Alumina is the name used for inorganic compound aluminium oxide.

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

lipstick	365 products
concealer	231 products
foundation	216 products
nail polish	210 products
lip gloss	143 products
eye shadow	109 products
daily use with SPF	96 products
blush	94 products
bronzer/highlighter	93 products
recreational sunscreen	87 products
eye liner	82 products
lip balm	57 products
facial powder	27 products
BB cream	26 products
around-eye cream	21 products
baby sunscreen	21 products
	21 products
lip liner	20 products
makeup primer	19 products
lip balm with SPF	12 products
lip plumper	9 products
CC cream	8 products
brow liner	8 products
exfoliant/scrub	7 products
facial cleanser	6 products
body oil	6 products
body powder	5 products
facial moisturizer/treatment	5 products
bar soap	3 products
hair color and bleaching	3 products
setting powder/spray	3 products
mask	3 products
bath oil/salts/soak	2 products
skin fading/lightener	1 products
tanning oil	1 products
moisturizer	1 products
hair spray	1 products
makeup remover	1 products
toothpaste	1 products
body wash/cleanser	1 products
anti-aging	1 products

Enhanced skin absorption

CONCERN	REFERENCE
Suspected nano-scale ingredients with potential to absorb into the skin	Nanomaterial Database

Persistence and bioaccumulation

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

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
Limited evidence of any toxicity	Scorecard.org Toxicity Information
One or more animal studies show classified as toxic effects at moderate doses (low dose studies may be unavailable for this ingredient)	EPA Toxic Release Inventory PBTs

Cancer

CONCERN	REFERENCE
Cancer - limited evidence	Open scientific literature
One or more animal studies show tumor formation at high doses	Open scientific literature
Not likely to be carcinogenic in humans	Open scientific literature

Ecotoxicology

CONCERN	REFERENCE
Suspected to be an environmental toxin	Environment Canada Domestic Substance List

Informational

CONCERN	REFERENCE
Industry or government recommendations for safe use: restrictions on concentration, impurities, product types, or manufacturing methods - any	Cosmetic Ingredient Review Assessments

Data gaps

CONCERN	REFERENCE
26589 studies in PubMed science library may include information on the toxicity of this chemical	NLM PubMed

NanoWerk. 2007. Nanomaterial Database. Available online: http://www.nanowerk.com/phpscripts/n_dbsearch.php
EC (Environment Canada). 2008. Domestic Substances List Categorization. Canadian Environmental Protection Act (CEPA) Environmental Registry.
ED (Environmental Defense). 2006. Scorecard _ The Pollution Information Site. http://www.scorecard.org.
EPA (U.S. Environmental Protection Agency). 1999. Toxics Release Inventory Program. PBT Chemical Rule.
Open scientific/peer reviewed literature
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.

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.

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