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HOW WE DETERMINE SCORES Learn more About EWG VERIFIED™

Data: Good

Alumina

IMAGE SOURCE: PubChem

SEARCH PRODUCTS

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 Reingredientive Toxicity
  • LOW
    Use Restrictions

Ingredient concerns

  • CONCERNS
  • DATA SOURCES

Products with this Ingredient

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lipstick546 products
foundation308 products
concealer284 products
nail polish261 products
lip gloss175 products
eye shadow123 products
blush115 products
eye liner113 products
bronzer/highlighter113 products
daily use with SPF93 products
lip balm91 products
recreational sunscreen84 products
lip liner47 products
facial powder32 products
BB cream25 products
makeup primer22 products
around-eye cream21 products
baby sunscreen21 products
21 products
CC cream14 products
lip balm with SPF12 products
brow liner8 products
lip plumper8 products
bar soap7 products
body oil6 products
exfoliant/scrub6 products
facial moisturizer/treatment6 products
facial cleanser5 products
body powder5 products
mascara3 products
setting powder/spray3 products
hair color and bleaching3 products
anti-aging3 products
mask3 products
other eye makeup3 products
bath oil/salts/soak2 products
hair spray2 products
moisturizer2 products
skin fading/lightener1 products
body wash/cleanser1 products
toothpaste1 products
serums & essences1 products
nail treatment1 products
hair treatment/serum1 products
makeup remover1 products
tanning oil1 products

Enhanced skin absorption

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

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 medium human health priorityEnvironment Canada Domestic Substance List
Limited evidence of any toxicityScorecard.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

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CONCERN REFERENCE
Cancer - limited evidenceOpen scientific literature
One or more animal studies show tumor formation at high dosesOpen scientific literature
Not likely to be carcinogenic in humansOpen scientific literature

Ecotoxicology

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

Informational

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

Data gaps

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

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WEIGHT-OF-EVIDENCE APPROACH

A product’s hazard score is not an average of the ingredients’ hazard scores. It is calculated using a weight-of-evidence approach that factors in all of the hazards or health impacts associated with the ingredients.

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
NONE

Ingredients have not been assessed.

LIMITED-FAIR

There is only a modest volume of research.

GOOD-ROBUST

Ingredients have been studied extensively.

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