EWG Skin Deep® | What is BEHENTRIMONIUM CHLORIDE

HOW WE DETERMINE SCORES Learn more About EWG VERIFIED®

Data: Limited

Behentrimonium Chloride

IMAGE SOURCE: PubChem

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Other Concerns

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

SYNONYMS

● 1-DOCOSANAMINIUM, N,N,N-TRIMETHYL-, CHLORIDE

● BEHENTRIMONIUM CHLORIDE

● CHLORIDE 1-DOCOSANAMINIUM, N,N,N-TRIMETHYL-

● DOCOSYLTRIMETHYLAMMONIUM CHLORIDE

● N,N,N-TRIMETHYL- CHLORIDE 1-DOCOSANAMINIUM

● N,N,N-TRIMETHYL-1-DOCOSANAMINIUM CHLORIDE

Unacceptable

Unacceptable: EWG VERIFIED products cannot contain this ingredient

Behentrimonium chloride is a quaternary ammonium salt used as a preservative.

Common concerns

See how this product scores for common concerns.

LOW

Cancer
HIGH

Allergies & Immunotoxicity
LOW

Developmental and Reproductive Toxicity
HIGH

Use Restrictions

Ingredient concerns

CONCERNS
DATA SOURCES

Products with this Ingredient

conditioner	1047 products
hair treatment/serum	265 products
mask	83 products
hair styling aide	80 products
hair color and bleaching	63 products
shampoo	58 products
styling gel/lotion	37 products
detangler	28 products
moisturizer	8 products
hair spray	8 products
body wash/cleanser	7 products
exfoliant/scrub	7 products
beard care	6 products
facial moisturizer/treatment	6 products
styling mousse/foam	4 products
beard cleanser	4 products
after shave	3 products
	3 products
toners/astringents	3 products
hair-loss treatment	3 products
serums & essences	2 products
hand sanitizer	2 products
hand cream	2 products
after sun product	1 products
brow liner	1 products
anti-aging	1 products
body oil	1 products
CC cream	1 products
baby lotion	1 products
mascara	1 products
daily use with SPF	1 products
facial cleanser	1 products
shaving cream (men's)	1 products
shaving cream	1 products
around-eye cream	1 products
hair relaxer	1 products
concealer	1 products

Allergies/immunotoxicity

CONCERN	REFERENCE
Known human any toxicant or allergen	Open scientific literature
Possible human any toxicant or allergen	Open scientific literature
Human any toxicant or allergen - strong evidence	Open scientific literature

Use restrictions

CONCERN	REFERENCE
Violation of government restrictions - Restricted in cosmetics; use, concentration, or manufacturing restrictions - any	Open scientific literature
Determined safe for use in cosmetics, subject to concentration or use limitations - Safe for use in cosmetics with some qualifications	Cosmetic Ingredient Review Assessments

Organ system toxicity (non-reproductive)

CONCERN	REFERENCE
Possible human any toxicant	Open scientific literature
Classified as not expected to be potentially toxic or harmful	Environment Canada Domestic Substance List

Irritation (skin, eyes, or lungs)

CONCERN	REFERENCE
any irritation - weight of evidence unknown/unassessed	Open scientific literature

Developmental/reproductive toxicity

CONCERN	REFERENCE
One or more animal studies show any effects at moderate doses	Open scientific literature

Neurotoxicity

CONCERN	REFERENCE
One or more in vitro tests on mammalian cells demonstrate neurotoxicity	Open scientific literature

Endocrine disruption

CONCERN	REFERENCE
Associated with endocrine disruption	Open scientific literature

Ecotoxicology

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

Data gaps

CONCERN	REFERENCE
0 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 persistent	Environment Canada Domestic Substance List
Not suspected to be bioaccumulative	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.
EC (Environment Canada). 2008. Domestic Substances List Categorization. Canadian Environmental Protection Act (CEPA) Environmental Registry.
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