EWG Skin Deep® | What is CALCIUM HYDROXIDE

HOW WE DETERMINE SCORES Learn more About EWG VERIFIED™

Data: Fair

Calcium Hydroxide

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.
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 (high) and Irritation (skin, eyes, or lungs) (high)

SYNONYMS

● CALCIUM DIHYDROXIDE

● CALCIUM DIHYRDROXIDE

● CALCIUM HYDRATE

● CALCIUM HYDROXIDE

● CALCIUM HYDROXIDE (CA(OH)2)

● HYDRATED LIME

● LIME WATER

Restricted

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

Calcium Hydroxide is an inorganic base.

Common concerns

See how this product scores for common concerns.

LOW

Cancer
LOW

Allergies & Immunotoxicity
LOW

Developmental and Reproductive Toxicity
HIGH

Use Restrictions

Ingredient concerns

CONCERNS
DATA SOURCES

Products with this Ingredient

depilatory	16 products
shaving cream	4 products
diaper cream	3 products
hair treatment/serum	2 products
baby soap	2 products
hair relaxer	2 products
hair removal waxes	1 products
shaving cream (men's)	1 products
mask	1 products
facial moisturizer/treatment	1 products
moisturizer	1 products
baby lotion	1 products
shampoo	1 products
styling gel/lotion	1 products

Irritation (skin, eyes, or lungs)

CONCERN	REFERENCE
Classified as eye, skin, lung irritant	Open scientific literature
Limited evidence of any irritation	Open scientific literature
any irritation - weight of evidence unknown/unassessed	Open scientific literature

Use restrictions

CONCERN	REFERENCE
Violation of government restrictions - Restricted in cosmetics; use, concentration, or manufacturing restrictions - any	Open scientific literature
Violation of industry recommendations - Restricted in cosmetics; use, concentration, or manufacturing restrictions - Avoid or minimize skin exposure: recommendation from industry safety panel (Cosmetic Ingredient Review, CIR)	Cosmetic Ingredient Review Assessments
Recommended restricted in cosmetics - use, concentration, or manufacturing restrictions - any	Open scientific literature
Restricted in cosmetics (recommendations or requirements) - use, concentration, or manufacturing restrictions - skin	Open scientific literature
Restricted in cosmetics (recommendations or requirements) - use, concentration, or manufacturing restrictions - any	CosIng
Determined safe for use in cosmetics, subject to concentration or use limitations - Safe for use in cosmetics with some qualifications	Cosmetic Ingredient Review Assessments

Occupational hazards

CONCERN	REFERENCE
Single case study detailing occupational hazards	National Library of Medicine HazMap

Informational

CONCERN	REFERENCE
Industry or government recommendations for safe use: restrictions on concentration, impurities, product types, or manufacturing methods - Avoid or minimize skin exposure: recommendation from industry safety panel (Cosmetic Ingredient Review, CIR)	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

Data gaps

CONCERN	REFERENCE
4364 studies in PubMed science library may include information on the toxicity of this chemical	NLM PubMed

Ecotoxicology

CONCERN	REFERENCE
Not suspected to be an environmental toxin	Environment Canada Domestic Substance List

Organ system toxicity (non-reproductive)

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

Persistence and bioaccumulation

CONCERN	REFERENCE
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.
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/ .
NLM (National Library of Medicine). 2006. HazMap — Occupational Exposure to Hazardous Agents.
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.
NLM (National Library of Medicine). 2012. PubMed online scientific bibliography data. http://www.pubmed.gov.
EC (Environment Canada). 2008. Domestic Substances List Categorization. Canadian Environmental Protection Act (CEPA) Environmental Registry.

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