Know Your Environment. Protect Your Health.
EWG Home EWG’s Guide to Healthy Cleaning EWG’s Food Scores Healthy Living App Open menu

EWG's Skin Deep®
Find products and ingredients Learn how Skin Deep® works Meet our experts Discover EWG VERIFIED™
GET UPDATES DONATE
Score legend
HOW WE DETERMINE SCORES Learn more About EWG VERIFIED™

Data: Limited

Ascorbyl Palmitate (Vitamin C Palmitate)

IMAGE SOURCE: PubChem

SEARCH PRODUCTS

Other Concerns

Biochemical or cellular level changes (high)

SYNONYMS

● 6-HEXADECANOATE L-ASCORBIC ACID
● 6-O-PALMITOYLASCORBIC ACID
● ASCORBIC ACID PALMITATE
● ASCORBIC PALMITATE
● ASCORBYL 6-PALMITATE
● ASCORBYL PALMITATE
● ASCORBYL PALMITATE (VITAMIN C PALMITATE)
● ASCORBYLAPALMITIC ACID
● L-ASCORBIC ACID, 6-HEXADECANOATE
● LASCORBIC ACID, 6HEXADECANOATE
● PALMITOYL L-ASCORBIC ACID

Restricted

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

Ascorbyl Palmitate is a compound composed of of Ascorbic Acid (Vitamin C) and palmitic acid, a naturally occurring fatty acid.

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
lipstick440 products
foundation301 products
eye liner222 products
lip liner220 products
concealer160 products
facial moisturizer/treatment120 products
brow liner115 products
eye shadow107 products
mascara99 products
moisturizer90 products
lip gloss76 products
blush70 products
daily use with SPF65 products
bronzer/highlighter61 products
recreational sunscreen56 products
lip balm51 products
serums & essences39 products
facial cleanser38 products
CC cream35 products
shampoo34 products
facial powder32 products
around-eye cream30 products
lip balm with SPF30 products
mask27 products
hand cream24 products
body wash/cleanser24 products
setting powder/spray22 products
conditioner19 products
exfoliant/scrub18 products
makeup primer15 products
shaving cream13 products
body oil11 products
hand sanitizer11 products
sunless tanning11 products
hair treatment/serum10 products
BB cream8 products
body firming lotion8 products
shaving cream (men's)7 products
toners/astringents6 products
5 products
lip plumper5 products
anti-aging5 products
after shave5 products
tanning oil4 products
skin fading/lightener4 products
liquid hand soap4 products
baby sunscreen4 products
hair removal waxes4 products
muscle/joint soreness3 products
after sun product3 products
baby lotion3 products
baby shampoo3 products
nail treatment2 products
baby soap2 products
nail polish2 products
depilatory1 products
baby oil1 products
cuticle treatment1 products
eyelash glue1 products
body powder1 products
baby bubble bath1 products
depilatory (men's)1 products
oil controller1 products
hair-loss treatment1 products
beard cleanser1 products
diaper cream1 products

Biochemical or cellular level changes

Expand content Collapse content
CONCERN REFERENCE
Produces excess reactive oxygen species that can interfere with cellular signaling, cause mutations, lead to cell death and may be implicated in cardiovascular disease.Open scientific literature

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
219 studies in PubMed science library may include information on the toxicity of this chemicalNLM PubMed

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

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

Multiple, additive exposure sources

Expand content Collapse content
CONCERN REFERENCE
Designated as safe for general or specific, limited use in foodFDA Everything Added to Food
Designated as safe for general or specific, limited use in foodFDA Food Additive Status
  • 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.
  • 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.
  • 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.

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
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.

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

News & updates

Big Market for Black Cosmetics, but Less-Hazardous Choices Limited
RESEARCH
Big Market for Black Cosmetics, but Less-Hazardous Choices Limited
K-Beauty Trends: Serums, Essences and EWG’s Best Bets
RESEARCH
K-Beauty Trends: Serums, Essences and EWG’s Best Bets
FDA Asks Women To Protect Themselves From Products The Agency Refused To Ban
NEWS RELEASE
FDA Asks Women To Protect Themselves From Products The Agency Refused To Ban
Study Highlights Importance of Cosmetics Ingredient Safety Tests
NEWS RELEASE
Study Highlights Importance of Cosmetics Ingredient Safety Tests
READ ALL ARTICLES
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