Other Concerns
Use restrictions (moderate), Non-reproductive organ system toxicity (low), Irritation (skin, eyes, or lungs) (high), and Occupational hazards (high)SYNONYMS
2-BUTOXY- ETHANOL, 2-BUTOXYETHANOL, BUTOXYETHANOL, BUTYL GLYCOL, ETHANOL, 2-BUTOXY-, ETHANOL, 2BUTOXY, ETHYLENE GLYCOL MONOBUTYL ETHER, GLYCOL MONOBUTYL ETHER, and MONOBUTYL ETHYLENE GLYCOL ETHERButoxyethanol is an ether alcohol.
Common concerns
See how this product scores for common concerns.
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MODERATECancer
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LOWAllergies & Immunotoxicity
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MODERATEDevelopmental and Reingredientive Toxicity
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MODERATEUse Restrictions
Ingredient concerns
- CONCERNS
- DATA SOURCES
Products with this Ingredient
Irritation (skin, eyes, or lungs)
CONCERN | REFERENCE |
---|---|
Classified as irritant | CPS&Q - Classification & Labelling |
Human any irritant - strong evidence | Cosmetic Ingredient Review Assessments |
Occupational hazards
CONCERN | REFERENCE |
---|---|
Allowed workplace exposures restricted to low doses | CPS&Q - Classification & Labelling |
Use restrictions
CONCERN | REFERENCE |
---|---|
Restricted in cosmetics (recommendations or requirements) - use, concentration, or manufacturing restrictions - any | CosIng |
Restricted in cosmetics (recommendations or requirements) - use, concentration, or manufacturing restrictions - Use is restricted in Canadian cosmetics | Canada - Prohibited and Restricted Cosmetics Ingredients |
Determined safe for use in cosmetics, subject to concentration or use limitations - Safe for use in cosmetics with some qualifications | Cosmetic Ingredient Review Assessments |
Cancer
CONCERN | REFERENCE |
---|---|
Limited evidence of carcinogenicity | EPA Integrated Risk Information System (IRIS) |
Limited evidence of carcinogenicity | Amer Conf of Gov't Industrial Hygienists - Carcinogens |
Not likely to be carcinogenic in humans | Open scientific literature |
Limited or incomplete evidence of cancer according to safety/hazard data – government assessment cannot classify as human carcinogen due to data gaps | Int'l Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) - Carcinogens |
Developmental/reproductive toxicity
CONCERN | REFERENCE |
---|---|
Limited evidence of reproductive toxicity | National Library of Medicine HazMap |
Organ system toxicity (non-reproductive)
CONCERN | REFERENCE |
---|---|
Classified as toxic or harmful | CPS&Q - Classification & Labelling |
Limited evidence of gastrointestinal or liver toxicity | National Library of Medicine HazMap |
Limited evidence of respiratory toxicity | Scorecard.org Toxicity Information |
One or more animal studies show any effects at moderate doses (low dose studies may be unavailable for this ingredient) | EPA Categorized List of Inert Pesticide Ingredients |
Classified as a low human health priority | Environment Canada Domestic Substance List |
Classified as not expected to be potentially toxic or harmful | Environment Canada Domestic Substance List |
reproductive - weight of evidence unknown/unassessed/unreview: published lit review or major tox study | National Library of Medicine HazMap |
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 |
311 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 |
Ecotoxicology
CONCERN | REFERENCE |
---|---|
Not suspected to be an environmental toxin | Environment Canada Domestic Substance List |
Neurotoxicity
CONCERN | REFERENCE |
---|---|
nervous system - weight of evidence unknown/unassessed/unreview: published lit review or major tox study | National Library of Medicine HazMap |
Informational
CONCERN | REFERENCE |
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Industry or government recommendations for safe use: restrictions on concentration, impurities, product types, or manufacturing methods - Determined safe for use in cosmetics up to a specified concentration limit | Cosmetic Ingredient Review Assessments |
Multiple, additive exposure sources
CONCERN | REFERENCE |
---|---|
Designated as safe for general or specific, limited use in food | FDA Food Additive Status |
Designated as safe for general or specific, limited use in food | FDA Everything Added to Food |
- CPS&Q (Consumer Products Safety & Quality) formely known as ECB (European Chemicals Bureau). 2008. Classification and Labelling: Chemicals: Annex VI of Directive 67/548/EEC through the 31st ATP.
- CIR (Cosmetic Ingredient Review). 2006. CIR Compendium, containing abstracts, discussions, and conclusions of CIR cosmetic ingredient safety assessments. Washington DC.
- European Commission. 2013. Cosing, the European Commission database with information on cosmetic substances and ingredients. Accessed on March 1, 2013 at http://ec.europa.eu/consumers/cosmetics/cosing/ .
- Health Canada. 2007. List of Prohibited and Restricted Cosmetic Ingredients. Canada's Cosmetic Ingredient Hotlist. March 2007.
- EPA (U.S. Environmental Protection Agency). 2008. Integrated Risk Information System (IRIS). Evidence for human carcinogenicity based on 1986-2005 guidelines.
- ACGIH (American Conference of Governmental Industrial Hygienists) 2008. ACGIH cancer classification system. www.acgih.org.
- Open scientific/peer reviewed literature
- 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).
- NLM (National Library of Medicine). 2006. HazMap — Occupational Exposure to Hazardous Agents.
- ED (Environmental Defense). 2006. Scorecard _ The Pollution Information Site. http://www.scorecard.org.
- EPA (U.S. Environmental Protection Agency). 1987 & 2005. Office of Pesticide Programs. Inert (other) Pesticide Ingredients in Pesticide Products - Categorized List of Inert (other) Pesticide Ingredients.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
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.