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HOW WE DETERMINE SCORES Learn more About EWG VERIFIED™

Data: Limited

Ceteareth 20

  • 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

● CETEARETH-20
● PEG-20 CETOSTEARYL ALCOHOL
● PEG-20 CETYL/STEARYL ETHER
● POLYETHYLENE GLYCOL 1000 CETYL/STEARYL ETHER
● POLYOXYETHYLENE (20) CETYL/STEARYL ETHER

Restricted

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

Ceteareth-20 is the polyethylene glycol ether of cetearyl alcohol; may contain potentially toxic impurities such as 1,4-dioxane.

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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moisturizer210 products
facial moisturizer/treatment99 products
hair color and bleaching92 products
hair styling aide85 products
conditioner67 products
mask53 products
hair treatment/serum42 products
styling gel/lotion39 products
facial cleanser33 products
exfoliant/scrub29 products
body firming lotion26 products
sunless tanning22 products
hand cream21 products
makeup remover21 products
recreational sunscreen20 products
daily use with SPF19 products
depilatory13 products
serums & essences13 products
around-eye cream10 products
lipstick9 products
lip gloss8 products
anti-aging7 products
baby lotion7 products
bar soap7 products
skin fading/lightener7 products
beard care7 products
muscle/joint soreness6 products
body wash/cleanser6 products
foot moisturizer5 products
mascara5 products
shampoo5 products
hair spray4 products
detangler4 products
makeup primer3 products
bronzer/highlighter3 products
hair relaxer3 products
styling mousse/foam3 products
shaving cream3 products
nail treatment3 products
foundation3 products
BB cream2 products
hand sanitizer2 products
concealer2 products
2 products
toners/astringents2 products
baby wipes2 products
damaged skin treatment2 products
baby sunscreen2 products
baby oil1 products
brow liner1 products
lip balm1 products
after shave1 products
beard cleanser1 products
body spray1 products
setting powder/spray1 products
makeup removing wipes1 products
hair removal waxes1 products
shaving cream (men's)1 products
eye makeup remover1 products
foot cleansing1 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

Irritation (skin, eyes, or lungs)

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

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

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
3 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?

Enter the ingredients in EWG’s Build Your Own Report tool to get an approximate score for that product.

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