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.
Other Concerns
Enhanced skin absorption, Use restrictions (low), and Contamination concerns (high)SYNONYMS
CETEARETH-20, PEG-20 CETOSTEARYL ALCOHOL, PEG-20 CETYL/STEARYL ETHER, POLYETHYLENE GLYCOL 1000 CETYL/STEARYL ETHER, and POLYOXYETHYLENE (20) CETYL/STEARYL ETHERCeteareth-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.
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LOWCancer
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LOWAllergies & Immunotoxicity
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LOWDevelopmental and Reingredientive Toxicity
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LOWUse Restrictions
Ingredient concerns
- CONCERNS
- DATA SOURCES
Products with this Ingredient
moisturizer | 193 products |
hair color and bleaching | 114 products |
hair styling aide | 66 products |
facial moisturizer/treatment | 65 products |
conditioner | 55 products |
mask | 49 products |
styling gel/lotion | 35 products |
exfoliant/scrub | 30 products |
hair treatment/serum | 30 products |
facial cleanser | 29 products |
daily use with SPF | 27 products |
makeup remover | 23 products |
sunless tanning | 22 products |
hand cream | 17 products |
recreational sunscreen | 14 products |
body firming lotion | 14 products |
beard care | 11 products |
depilatory | 11 products |
bronzer/highlighter | 9 products |
anti-aging | 8 products |
serums & essences | 8 products |
skin fading/lightener | 7 products |
baby lotion | 7 products |
foot moisturizer | 6 products |
muscle/joint soreness | 6 products |
mascara | 6 products |
lip gloss | 5 products |
body wash/cleanser | 5 products |
bar soap | 5 products |
makeup primer | 4 products |
detangler | 3 products |
lipstick | 3 products |
around-eye cream | 3 products |
baby wipes | 3 products |
after shave | 2 products |
styling mousse/foam | 2 products |
shaving cream | 2 products |
beard oil | 2 products |
shampoo | 2 products |
BB cream | 2 products |
2 products | |
hair relaxer | 2 products |
damaged skin treatment | 2 products |
setting powder/spray | 1 products |
nail treatment | 1 products |
toners/astringents | 1 products |
baby oil | 1 products |
antiperspirant/deodorant | 1 products |
brow liner | 1 products |
hand sanitizer | 1 products |
shaving cream (men's) | 1 products |
lip balm | 1 products |
beard cleanser | 1 products |
foot cleansing | 1 products |
eye makeup remover | 1 products |
body spray | 1 products |
foundation | 1 products |
Contamination concerns
Chemical |
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ETHYLENE OXIDE |
1,4-DIOXANE |
Enhanced skin absorption
CONCERN | REFERENCE |
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Penetration enhancer | Cosmetic Ingredient Review Assessments |
Use restrictions
CONCERN | REFERENCE |
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Determined safe for use in cosmetics, subject to concentration or use limitations - Safe for use in cosmetics with some qualifications | Cosmetic Ingredient Review Assessments |
Ecotoxicology
CONCERN | REFERENCE |
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Not suspected to be an environmental toxin | Environment Canada Domestic Substance List |
Organ system toxicity (non-reproductive)
CONCERN | REFERENCE |
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Classified as not expected to be potentially toxic or harmful | Environment Canada Domestic Substance List |
Persistence and bioaccumulation
CONCERN | REFERENCE |
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Not suspected to be persistent | Environment Canada Domestic Substance List |
Not suspected to be bioaccumulative | Environment Canada Domestic Substance List |
Data gaps
CONCERN | REFERENCE |
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3 studies in PubMed science library may include information on the toxicity of this chemical | NLM PubMed |
- CIR (Cosmetic Ingredient Review). 2006. CIR Compendium, containing abstracts, discussions, and conclusions of CIR cosmetic ingredient safety assessments. Washington DC.
- 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 SCORESHazard 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.