Bha
- This ingredient’s score is higher if used in products intended for use on lips due to increased risk of ingestion and absorption.
Other Concerns
Endocrine disruption (moderate), Persistence and bioaccumulation (moderate), Non-reproductive organ system toxicity (moderate), and Ecotoxicology (low)SYNONYMS
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.
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MODERATECancer
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MODERATEAllergies & Immunotoxicity
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LOWDevelopmental and Reproductive Toxicity
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LOWUse Restrictions
Ingredient concerns
- CONCERNS
- DATA SOURCES
Products with this Ingredient
nail glue | 25 products |
eye liner | 21 products |
eye shadow | 20 products |
lipstick | 16 products |
hair color and bleaching | 10 products |
serums & essences | 7 products |
hair treatment/serum | 6 products |
moisturizer | 4 products |
facial moisturizer/treatment | 3 products |
body oil | 3 products |
shaving cream | 2 products |
conditioner | 2 products |
bronzer/highlighter | 2 products |
around-eye cream | 2 products |
hand cream | 2 products |
shampoo | 2 products |
diaper cream | 2 products |
facial cleanser | 2 products |
makeup remover | 1 products |
lip balm | 1 products |
nail polish | 1 products |
daily use with SPF | 1 products |
mask | 1 products |
styling gel/lotion | 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 |
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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 |
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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 |
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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 |
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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 |
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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 |
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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 |
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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 SCORESHazard 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.