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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), 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 ETHER

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 Reingredientive Toxicity
  • LOW
    Use Restrictions

Ingredient concerns

  • CONCERNS
  • DATA SOURCES

Products with this Ingredient

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moisturizer193 products
hair color and bleaching114 products
hair styling aide66 products
facial moisturizer/treatment65 products
conditioner55 products
mask49 products
styling gel/lotion35 products
exfoliant/scrub30 products
hair treatment/serum30 products
facial cleanser29 products
daily use with SPF27 products
makeup remover23 products
sunless tanning22 products
hand cream17 products
recreational sunscreen14 products
body firming lotion14 products
beard care11 products
depilatory11 products
bronzer/highlighter9 products
anti-aging8 products
serums & essences8 products
skin fading/lightener7 products
baby lotion7 products
foot moisturizer6 products
muscle/joint soreness6 products
mascara6 products
lip gloss5 products
body wash/cleanser5 products
bar soap5 products
makeup primer4 products
detangler3 products
lipstick3 products
around-eye cream3 products
baby wipes3 products
after shave2 products
styling mousse/foam2 products
shaving cream2 products
beard oil2 products
shampoo2 products
BB cream2 products
2 products
hair relaxer2 products
damaged skin treatment2 products
setting powder/spray1 products
nail treatment1 products
toners/astringents1 products
baby oil1 products
antiperspirant/deodorant1 products
brow liner1 products
hand sanitizer1 products
shaving cream (men's)1 products
lip balm1 products
beard cleanser1 products
foot cleansing1 products
eye makeup remover1 products
body spray1 products
foundation1 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

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.
  • 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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