EWG Skin Deep® | What is BHA

HOW WE DETERMINE SCORES Learn more About EWG VERIFIED™

Data: Robust

Bha

This ingredient’s score is higher if used in products intended for use on lips due to increased risk of ingestion and absorption.

IMAGE SOURCE: PubChem

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Other Concerns

Endocrine disruption (moderate), Persistence and bioaccumulation (moderate), Non-reproductive organ system toxicity (moderate), and Ecotoxicology (low)

SYNONYMS

● BUTYLHYDROXYANISOL

● (1,1-DIMETHYLETHYL)-4-METHOXY- PHENOL

● (1,1-DIMETHYLETHYL)-4-METHOXYPHENOL

● 1,1-DIMETHYLETHYL-4-METHOXYPHENOL

● BHA

● BUTYLATED HYDROXYANISOLE

● BUTYLATED HYDROXYANISOLE; BHA

● BUTYLHYDROXYANISOL

● PHENOL, (1,1-DIMETHYLETHYL)-4-METHOXY-

● PHENOL, (1,1DIMETHYLETHYL)4METHOXY

● TERT-BUTYL-4-METHOXYPHENOL

Unacceptable

Unacceptable: EWG VERIFIED products cannot contain this ingredient

BHA (butylated hydroxyanisole) is a preservative and stabilizer; U.S. National Toxicology Program, a part of the National Institutes of Health, has classified BHA as "reasonably anticipated to be a human carcinogen" based on evidence of carcinogenicity in experimental animals.

Common concerns

See how this product scores for common concerns.

MODERATE

Cancer
MODERATE

Allergies & Immunotoxicity
LOW

Developmental and Reproductive Toxicity
LOW

Use Restrictions

Ingredient concerns

CONCERNS
DATA SOURCES

Products with this Ingredient

eye liner	21 products
eye shadow	20 products
lipstick	16 products
nail glue	16 products
serums & essences	7 products
hair treatment/serum	4 products
shaving cream	3 products
body oil	3 products
moisturizer	3 products
facial moisturizer/treatment	2 products
diaper cream	2 products
bronzer/highlighter	2 products
around-eye cream	2 products
hand cream	2 products
shampoo	2 products
nail polish	2 products
facial cleanser	2 products
makeup remover	1 products
lip balm	1 products
daily use with SPF	1 products
mask	1 products

Cancer

CONCERN	REFERENCE
Possible human carcinogen	NTP Report on Carcinogens, 11th Edition
Possible human carcinogen	California EPA Proposition 65
Limited evidence of carcinogenicity	Int'l Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) - Carcinogens

Endocrine disruption

CONCERN	REFERENCE
Human endocrine disruptor - strong evidence	European Commission on Endocrine Disruption
One or more studies show significant wildlife and the environment disruption	European Commission on Endocrine Disruption
endocrine - weight of evidence unknown/unassessed/unreview: published lit review or major tox study	Our Stolen Future Endocrine Disruptors
endocrine - weight of evidence unknown/unassessed/unreview: published lit review or major tox study	Illinois EPA Chemicals Associated with Endocrine System

Organ system toxicity (non-reproductive)

CONCERN	REFERENCE
Classified as a high human health priority	Environment Canada Domestic Substance List
Classified as not expected to be potentially toxic or harmful	Environment Canada Domestic Substance List

Persistence and bioaccumulation

CONCERN	REFERENCE
Persistent, bioaccumulative in wildlife	OSPAR PBTs - Substances of Possible Concern
Not suspected to be bioaccumulative	Environment Canada Domestic Substance List
Not suspected to be persistent	Environment Canada Domestic Substance List

Allergies/immunotoxicity

CONCERN	REFERENCE
One or more human case studies show significant any or allergenic effects	National Library of Medicine HazMap

Ecotoxicology

CONCERN	REFERENCE
Wildlife and environmental toxicity	Illinois EPA Chemicals Associated with Endocrine System
Not suspected to be an environmental toxin	Environment Canada Domestic Substance List

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
2332 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

NTP (National Toxicology Program). 2005. Report on Carcinogens, Eleventh Edition; U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Public Health Service, National Toxicology Program.
California EPA (California Environmental Protection Agency). 9/2008. Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment. Safe Drinking Water and Toxic Enforcement Act of 1986. Chemicals known to the State to cause cancer or reproductive toxicity.
IARC (International Agency for Research on Cancer). 2008. Overall Evaluations of Carcinogenicity to Humans, as evaluated in IARC Monographs Volumes 1-99 (a total of 935 agents, mixtures and exposures).
EU (European Union)- Strategy for Endocrine Disrupters 2007. Commision on endocrin disruption requested by the European Parliament in 1998.
Colborn T, D Dumanoski, JP Myers. 2006. Widespread Pollutants with Endocrine-disrupting Effects. Updated from original listing in "Our Stolen Future" (1996).
Illinois EPA (Illinois Environmental Protection Agency). 2000. Preliminary list of chemicals associated with endocrine system effects in animals and humans (*) or in vitro (+). In EPA (U.S. Environmental Protection Agency) 2000. Handbook for Non-Cancer Health Effects Valuation, Appendix C.
EC (Environment Canada). 2008. Domestic Substances List Categorization. Canadian Environmental Protection Act (CEPA) Environmental Registry.
OSPAR (Oslo-Paris). 2002. OSPAR List of Substances of Possible Concern. Secondary OSPAR List of Substances of Possible Concern. Secondary OSPAR. Place Published, OSPAR Convention for the Protection of the Marine Environement of North-East Atlanic.
NLM (National Library of Medicine). 2006. HazMap — Occupational Exposure to Hazardous Agents.
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.

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