Find products and ingredients Learn how Skin Deep® works Meet our experts Discover EWG VERIFIED®

Data: Limited

Cetyl Alcohol

IMAGE SOURCE: PubChem

SEARCH PRODUCTS

Other Concerns

Non-reproductive organ system toxicity (moderate)

SYNONYMS

● 1-HEXADECANOL
● CETANOL
● CETYL ALCOHOL
● HEXADECAN-1-OL
● N-HEXADECYL ALCOHOL
● PALMITYL ALCOHOL

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


Cetyl alcohol is a long chain organic alcohol; according to the PETA's Caring Consumer guide, this ingredient can be of either animal or plant origin.

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

Expand content Collapse content
moisturizer967 products
conditioner952 products
facial moisturizer/treatment510 products
hair treatment/serum254 products
hand cream231 products
mask168 products
shampoo166 products
hair color and bleaching161 products
hair styling aide121 products
around-eye cream116 products
recreational sunscreen115 products
exfoliant/scrub112 products
daily use with SPF109 products
facial cleanser99 products
foundation91 products
baby lotion70 products
mascara70 products
lipstick65 products
body firming lotion63 products
lip balm59 products
serums & essences54 products
concealer47 products
antiperspirant/deodorant41 products
styling gel/lotion40 products
anti-aging37 products
brow liner36 products
shaving cream32 products
bar soap29 products
foot moisturizer27 products
body wash/cleanser26 products
lip gloss26 products
BB cream24 products
hair-loss treatment24 products
eye shadow23 products
baby sunscreen23 products
lip balm with SPF21 products
eye liner17 products
sunless tanning16 products
detangler16 products
after sun product15 products
makeup primer15 products
shaving cream (men's)15 products
after shave14 products
antiperspirant/deodorant (men's)14 products
CC cream14 products
beard care13 products
blush11 products
muscle/joint soreness9 products
makeup remover5 products
toners/astringents5 products
bronzer/highlighter5 products
damaged skin treatment5 products
5 products
cuticle treatment4 products
baby shampoo4 products
liquid hand soap4 products
nail treatment4 products
tanning oil4 products
diaper cream3 products
styling mousse/foam3 products
lip liner3 products
hair relaxer3 products
hand sanitizer3 products
baby oil3 products
fragrance for women2 products
skin fading/lightener2 products
nail polish2 products
depilatory1 products
oil controller1 products
foot cleansing1 products
hair spray1 products
baby soap1 products
eye makeup remover1 products
facial powder1 products
beard cleanser1 products
setting powder/spray1 products
baby bubble bath1 products
beard oil1 products
glitter1 products
nail glue1 products
facial cleansing wipes1 products

Organ system toxicity (non-reproductive)

Expand content Collapse content
CONCERN REFERENCE
Classified as expected to be toxic or harmfulEnvironment Canada Domestic Substance List
Classified as medium human health priorityEnvironment Canada Domestic Substance List

Ecotoxicology

Expand content Collapse content
CONCERN REFERENCE
Suspected to be an environmental toxinEnvironment Canada Domestic Substance List

Data gaps

Expand content Collapse content
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 productCosmetic Ingredient Review Assessments
740 studies in PubMed science library may include information on the toxicity of this chemicalNLM PubMed

Multiple, additive exposure sources

Expand content Collapse content
CONCERN REFERENCE
Designated as safe for general or specific, limited use in foodFDA Everything Added to Food

Informational

Expand content Collapse content
CONCERN REFERENCE
Industry or government recommendations for safe use: restrictions on concentration, impurities, product types, or manufacturing methods - anyCosmetic Ingredient Review Assessments

Persistence and bioaccumulation

Expand content Collapse content
CONCERN REFERENCE
Not suspected to be persistentEnvironment Canada Domestic Substance List
Not suspected to be bioaccumulativeEnvironment Canada Domestic Substance List
  • EC (Environment Canada). 2008. Domestic Substances List Categorization. Canadian Environmental Protection Act (CEPA) Environmental Registry.
  • 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). 2008. EAFUS [Everything Added to Food]: A Food Additive Database. FDA Office of Food Safety and Applied Nutrition.

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

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

Can’t find your product?

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

BUILD YOUR OWN REPORT
Skindeep Healthy Living App

EWG research
on the go

Find personal care, cleaning, and food products on the EWG Healthy Living app.

DOWNLOAD THE APP