EWG Skin Deep® | What is BUTYL ALCOHOL

HOW WE DETERMINE SCORES Learn more About EWG VERIFIED™

Data: Fair

Butyl Alcohol

This ingredient’s score is higher if used in products that are inhalable (e.g., sprays, powders) because of respiratory concerns.
Products with this ingredient are allowed for use in EWG VERIFIED but must meet use restrictions and warnings based on EWG review of company data.
This ingredient’s score is higher if used in products intended for use around the eyes due to increased risk of absorption.
Products with the EWG VERIFIED mark have met use restrictions and warnings based on EWG review of company data.

IMAGE SOURCE: PubChem

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Other Concerns

Use restrictions (moderate), Non-reproductive organ system toxicity (moderate), Irritation (skin, eyes, or lungs) (moderate), and Occupational hazards (high)

SYNONYMS

● 1-BUTANOL

● 1BUTANOL

● BUTAN-1-OL

● BUTANOL

● BUTYL ALCOHOL

● BUTYL HYDROXIDE

● N-BUTANOL

● N-BUTYL ALCOHOL

● PROPYL CARBINOL

Restricted

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

n-Butyl Alcohol is an aliphatic alcohol.

Common concerns

See how this product scores for common concerns.

LOW

Cancer
LOW

Allergies & Immunotoxicity
LOW

Developmental and Reproductive Toxicity
MODERATE

Use Restrictions

Ingredient concerns

CONCERNS
DATA SOURCES

Products with this Ingredient

nail polish	273 products
lip gloss	29 products
nail treatment	8 products
hair spray	2 products
setting powder/spray	1 products
lipstick	1 products
nail glue	1 products
eye shadow	1 products

Organ system toxicity (non-reproductive)

CONCERN	REFERENCE
Known human lung and skin toxicant	CPS&Q - Classification & Labelling
Classified as expected to be toxic or harmful	Environment Canada Domestic Substance List
Limited evidence of sense organ toxicity	Scorecard.org Toxicity Information
One or more animal studies show classified as toxic effects at moderate doses (low dose studies may be unavailable for this ingredient)	EPA Toxic Release Inventory PBTs

Irritation (skin, eyes, or lungs)

CONCERN	REFERENCE
Classified as lung and skin 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
Recommended restricted in cosmetics - use, concentration, or manufacturing restrictions - Product type restrictions or differences noted in safety assessment by industry panel	Cosmetic Ingredient Review Assessments

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
Insufficient data to determine safety	EPA Integrated Risk Information System (IRIS)
8745 studies in PubMed science library may include information on the toxicity of this chemical	NLM PubMed

Miscellaneous

CONCERN	REFERENCE
Occupational hazards related to handling	CPS&Q - Classification & Labelling

Informational

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

Multiple, additive exposure sources

CONCERN	REFERENCE
Designated as safe for general or specific, limited use in food	Cosmetic Ingredient Review Assessments
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

Neurotoxicity

CONCERN	REFERENCE
nervous system - weight of evidence unknown/unassessed/unreview: published lit review or major tox study	National Library of Medicine HazMap

Cancer

CONCERN	REFERENCE
Limited or incomplete evidence of cancer according to safety/hazard data – government assessment cannot classify as human carcinogen due to data gaps	EPA Integrated Risk Information System (IRIS)

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.
EC (Environment Canada). 2008. Domestic Substances List Categorization. Canadian Environmental Protection Act (CEPA) Environmental Registry.
ED (Environmental Defense). 2006. Scorecard _ The Pollution Information Site. http://www.scorecard.org.
EPA (U.S. Environmental Protection Agency). 1999. Toxics Release Inventory Program. PBT Chemical Rule.
CIR (Cosmetic Ingredient Review). 2006. CIR Compendium, containing abstracts, discussions, and conclusions of CIR cosmetic ingredient safety assessments. Washington DC.
EPA (U.S. Environmental Protection Agency). 2008. Integrated Risk Information System (IRIS). Evidence for human carcinogenicity based on 1986-2005 guidelines.
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.
NLM (National Library of Medicine). 2006. HazMap — Occupational Exposure to Hazardous Agents.

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