EWG Skin Deep® | What is BEESWAX

HOW WE DETERMINE SCORES Learn more About EWG VERIFIED®

Data: Limited

Beeswax

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Other Concerns

Irritation (skin, eyes, or lungs) (low)

SYNONYMS

● BEESWAX

● BEESWAX ABSOLUTE

● BEESWAX CONCRETE

● BEESWAX, WHITE (APIS MELLIFERA L.)

● BEESWAX; BEESWAX ABSOLUTE; BEESWAX, ABSOLUTE; BEESWAX OIL, ABSOLUTE; BEESWAX WHITE; BEESWAX (WHITE); BEESWAX YELLOW; YELLOW BEESWAX

● BLEACHED BEESWAX

● CERA ALBA

● WHITE (APIS MELLIFERA L.) BEESWAX

● WHITE BEESWAX

● WHITE WAX

● YELLOW WAX

Restricted

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

Beeswax is the purified wax from the honeycomb of the bee, Apis mellifera. This ingredient is listed in the PETA's Caring Consumer guide as a substance of animal origin.

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

lip balm	741 products
lipstick	532 products
mascara	298 products
moisturizer	243 products
recreational sunscreen	236 products
concealer	191 products
lip gloss	177 products
foundation	161 products
brow liner	137 products
hair styling aide	137 products
facial moisturizer/treatment	116 products
blush	109 products
eye liner	106 products
antiperspirant/deodorant	95 products
lip liner	84 products
lip balm with SPF	63 products
diaper cream	56 products
hand cream	53 products
bronzer/highlighter	52 products
beard care	49 products
eye shadow	46 products
daily use with SPF	45 products
baby lotion	42 products
baby sunscreen	39 products
mask	37 products
exfoliant/scrub	36 products
styling gel/lotion	35 products
around-eye cream	32 products
fragrance for women	28 products
makeup primer	23 products
bar soap	22 products
facial cleanser	22 products
damaged skin treatment	22 products
hair treatment/serum	22 products
hair color and bleaching	19 products
foot moisturizer	15 products
conditioner	15 products
antiperspirant/deodorant (men's)	12 products
BB cream	10 products
hair removal waxes	9 products
muscle/joint soreness	9 products
cuticle treatment	9 products
depilatory	9 products
anti-aging	8 products
serums & essences	8 products
	7 products
makeup remover	6 products
nail treatment	5 products
body wash/cleanser	5 products
hair spray	5 products
body oil	5 products
shaving cream (men's)	5 products
baby soap	5 products
after sun product	4 products
lip plumper	3 products
facial powder	3 products
skin fading/lightener	3 products
after shave	3 products
shaving cream	3 products
body firming lotion	2 products
beard oil	2 products
shampoo	2 products
eye makeup remover	1 products
sunless tanning	1 products
other eye makeup	1 products
toners/astringents	1 products
foot odor control	1 products
liquid hand soap	1 products
baby powder	1 products
detangler	1 products
tanning oil	1 products

Irritation (skin, eyes, or lungs)

CONCERN	REFERENCE
Limited evidence of any irritation	Open scientific literature

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
598 studies in PubMed science library may include information on the toxicity of this chemical	NLM PubMed

Multiple, additive exposure sources

CONCERN	REFERENCE
Designated as safe for general or specific, limited use in food	FDA Everything Added to Food
Designated as safe for general or specific, limited use in food	FDA Food Additive Status

Informational

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

Ecotoxicology

CONCERN	REFERENCE
Not suspected to be an environmental toxin	Environment Canada Domestic Substance List

Organ system toxicity (non-reproductive)

CONCERN	REFERENCE
Classified as not expected to be potentially toxic or harmful	Environment Canada Domestic Substance List

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.
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.
EC (Environment Canada). 2008. Domestic Substances List Categorization. Canadian Environmental Protection Act (CEPA) Environmental Registry.

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