EWG Skin Deep® | What is AMMONIUM LAURYL SULFATE

HOW WE DETERMINE SCORES Learn more About EWG VERIFIED®

Data: Limited

Ammonium Lauryl Sulfate

IMAGE SOURCE: PubChem

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Other Concerns

Use restrictions (low), Non-reproductive organ system toxicity (moderate), and Irritation (skin, eyes, or lungs) (moderate)

SYNONYMS

● AMMONIUM DODECYL SULPHATE

● AMMONIUM LAURYL SULFATE

● AMMONIUM SALT SULFURIC ACID, MONODODECYL ESTER

● DODECYL AMMONIUM SULFATE

● MONODODECYL ESTER AMMONIUM SALT SULFURIC ACID

● NEOPON LAM

● SULFURIC ACID, MONODODECYL ESTER, AMMONIUM SALT

Restricted

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

This surfactant ingredient is an ammonium salt of lauryl sulfate

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

shampoo	49 products
liquid hand soap	46 products
facial cleanser	17 products
body wash/cleanser	15 products
conditioner	5 products
exfoliant/scrub	3 products
styling mousse/foam	2 products
moisturizer	1 products
hair relaxer	1 products
glitter	1 products
hair spray	1 products
bath oil/salts/soak	1 products

Irritation (skin, eyes, or lungs)

CONCERN	REFERENCE
Human any irritant - strong evidence	Open scientific literature

Organ system toxicity (non-reproductive)

CONCERN	REFERENCE
Classified as medium human health priority	Open scientific literature
Classified as expected to be toxic or harmful	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

Data gaps

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 product	Cosmetic Ingredient Review Assessments
158 studies in PubMed science library may include information on the toxicity of this chemical	NLM PubMed

Persistence and bioaccumulation

CONCERN	REFERENCE
Not suspected to be bioaccumulative	Open scientific literature
Not suspected to be persistent	Open scientific literature

Ecotoxicology

CONCERN	REFERENCE
Not suspected to be an environmental toxin	Open scientific literature

Open scientific/peer reviewed literature
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.

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