EWG Skin Deep® | What is COPERNICIA CERIFERA (CARNAUBA) WAX

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Data: Limited

Copernicia Cerifera (Carnauba) Wax

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Other Concerns

SYNONYMS

● BRAZIL WAX

● CARNAUBA

● CARNAUBA WAX

● CARNAUBA WAXES

● COPERNICA CERIFERA WAXES

● COPERNICIA CEREFERA WAX

● COPERNICIA CERIFERA (CARNAUBA) WAX

● COPERNICIA CERIFERA WAX

● COPERNIIA CERIFERA WAX

● WAXES, CARNAUBA

● WAXES, COPERNICA CERIFERA

This ingredient is not currently on EWG's Skin Deep Restricted or Unacceptable Lists.

Carnauba wax is extracted from the leaves of the carnauba palm, Copernicia cerifera, a plant native to Brazil.

Common concerns

See how this product scores for common concerns.

LOW

Cancer
LOW

Allergies & Immunotoxicity
LOW

Developmental and Reproductive Toxicity
LOW

Use Restrictions

Ingredient concerns

CONCERNS
DATA SOURCES

Products with this Ingredient

lipstick	620 products
mascara	499 products
brow liner	332 products
eye liner	303 products
lip balm	279 products
lip gloss	212 products
foundation	196 products
eye shadow	180 products
concealer	106 products
blush	106 products
lip liner	91 products
bronzer/highlighter	84 products
hair styling aide	72 products
recreational sunscreen	57 products
lip balm with SPF	57 products
moisturizer	27 products
antiperspirant/deodorant	27 products
exfoliant/scrub	22 products
facial moisturizer/treatment	20 products
makeup primer	19 products
styling gel/lotion	18 products
baby sunscreen	13 products
mask	12 products
lip plumper	11 products
hair treatment/serum	9 products
baby lotion	9 products
daily use with SPF	8 products
around-eye cream	8 products
BB cream	8 products
serums & essences	8 products
beard care	8 products
	5 products
diaper cream	5 products
hand cream	4 products
damaged skin treatment	3 products
facial cleanser	3 products
conditioner	3 products
antiperspirant/deodorant (men's)	2 products
hair color and bleaching	2 products
facial powder	2 products
bath oil/salts/soak	2 products
vapor rubs	1 products
toothpaste	1 products
hair spray	1 products
anti-aging	1 products
eyelash glue	1 products
foot odor control	1 products
other eye makeup	1 products
body wash/cleanser	1 products
makeup remover	1 products
toners/astringents	1 products
cuticle treatment	1 products

Allergies/immunotoxicity

CONCERN	REFERENCE
One or more human case studies show equivocal any or allergenic effects	Open scientific literature

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
126 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 Food Additive Status
Designated as safe for general or specific, limited use in food	FDA Everything Added to Food

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

Informational

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

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.
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.
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