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HOW WE DETERMINE SCORES Learn more About EWG VERIFIED®

Data: Limited

Ceteareth 12

  • Products with the EWG VERIFIED mark have met the program’s impurity and use restrictions based on EWG's review of the company's data.

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Other Concerns

Enhanced skin absorption, Use restrictions (low), Irritation (skin, eyes, or lungs) (low), and Contamination concerns (high)

SYNONYMS

● ALCOHOLS, C1618, ETHOXYLATED
● ALIPHATIC (C16-C18)ALCOHOL, ETHOXYLATED; (C16-C18) ALKYL ALCOHOL ETHOXYLATE; (C16-C18) ALKYL ALCOHOL ETHOXYLATE; (C16-C18)ALKYL ALCOHOL ETHOXYLATE; (C16-C18)ALKYL ALCOHOL, ETHOXYLATE; (C16-C18) FATTY
● CETEARETH-12
● PEG-12 CETYL/STEARYL ETHER
● POLYETHYLENE GLYCOL 600 CETYL/STEARYL ETHER
● POLYOXYETHYLENE (12) CETYL/STEARYL ETHER

Restricted

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

Ceteareth-12 is a polyethylene glycol ether of Cetearyl Alcohol (q.v.).

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

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makeup remover18 products
facial cleanser5 products
makeup removing wipes5 products
mask4 products
facial moisturizer/treatment3 products
recreational sunscreen3 products
moisturizer2 products
body wash/cleanser2 products
hand sanitizer2 products
bar soap2 products
body cleansing wipes2 products
beard care1 products
daily use with SPF1 products
foundation1 products
setting powder/spray1 products
serums & essences1 products
body spray1 products
toners/astringents1 products
sunless tanning1 products
baby wipes1 products
eye makeup remover1 products
anti-aging1 products

Contamination concerns

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Chemical
ETHYLENE OXIDE
1,4-DIOXANE

Enhanced skin absorption

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CONCERN REFERENCE
Penetration enhancerCosmetic Ingredient Review Assessments

Use restrictions

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CONCERN REFERENCE
Determined safe for use in cosmetics, subject to concentration or use limitations - Safe for use in cosmetics with some qualificationsCosmetic Ingredient Review Assessments

Irritation (skin, eyes, or lungs)

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CONCERN REFERENCE
any irritation - weight of evidence unknown/unassessedOpen scientific literature

Ecotoxicology

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

Organ system toxicity (non-reproductive)

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CONCERN REFERENCE
Classified as not expected to be potentially toxic or harmfulEnvironment Canada Domestic Substance List

Persistence and bioaccumulation

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CONCERN REFERENCE
Not suspected to be persistentEnvironment Canada Domestic Substance List
Not suspected to be bioaccumulativeEnvironment Canada Domestic Substance List

Data gaps

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CONCERN REFERENCE
2 studies in PubMed science library may include information on the toxicity of this chemicalNLM PubMed
  • CIR (Cosmetic Ingredient Review). 2006. CIR Compendium, containing abstracts, discussions, and conclusions of CIR cosmetic ingredient safety assessments. Washington DC.
  • Open scientific/peer reviewed literature
  • 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.

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.

Score legend
WEIGHT-OF-EVIDENCE APPROACH

A product’s hazard score is not an average of the ingredients’ hazard scores. It is calculated using a weight-of-evidence approach that factors in all of the hazards or health impacts associated with the ingredients.

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
NONE

Ingredients have not been assessed.

LIMITED-FAIR

There is only a modest volume of research.

GOOD-ROBUST

Ingredients have been studied extensively.

Can’t find your product?

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