EWG Skin Deep® | What is CHLOROXYLENOL

HOW WE DETERMINE SCORES Learn more About EWG VERIFIED®

Data: Limited

Chloroxylenol

IMAGE SOURCE: PubChem

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Other Concerns

Persistence and bioaccumulation (moderate), Non-reproductive organ system toxicity (low), Irritation (skin, eyes, or lungs) (high), and Occupational hazards (high)

SYNONYMS

● 4-CHLORO-3,5-DIMETHYL- PHENOL

● 4-CHLORO-3,5-DIMETHYLPHENOL

● 4-CHLORO-3,5-XYLENOL

● CHLORODIMETHYL- PHENOL

● CHLORODIMETHYLHYDROXYBENZENE

● CHLOROXYLENOL

● P-CHLORO-M-XYLENOL

● PCMX

● PHENOL, CHLORODIMETHYL-

● XYLENOL, ARCHLORO

Unacceptable

Unacceptable: EWG VERIFIED products cannot contain this ingredient

Common concerns

See how this product scores for common concerns.

LOW

Cancer
MODERATE

Allergies & Immunotoxicity
LOW

Developmental and Reproductive Toxicity
LOW

Use Restrictions

Ingredient concerns

CONCERNS
DATA SOURCES

Products with this Ingredient

liquid hand soap	19 products
brow liner	9 products
mascara	3 products
glitter	1 products
facial cleanser	1 products
hand cream	1 products
hand sanitizer	1 products
toners/astringents	1 products
bar soap	1 products
foundation	1 products

Irritation (skin, eyes, or lungs)

CONCERN	REFERENCE
Classified as irritant	CPS&Q - Classification & Labelling
Human any irritant - strong evidence	Cosmetic Ingredient Review Assessments

Occupational hazards

CONCERN	REFERENCE
Allowed workplace exposures restricted to low doses	CPS&Q - Classification & Labelling

Persistence and bioaccumulation

CONCERN	REFERENCE
Persistent or bioaccumulative and moderate to high toxicity concern in humans	Open scientific literature
Persistent, bioaccumulative in wildlife	Emerging PBTs from peer-reviewed literature
Not suspected to be bioaccumulative	Environment Canada Domestic Substance List
Not suspected to be persistent	Environment Canada Domestic Substance List

Allergies/immunotoxicity

CONCERN	REFERENCE
Limited evidence of immune system toxicity or allergies	Scorecard.org Toxicity Information
Limited evidence of immune system toxicity or allergies	CPS&Q - Classification & Labelling

Organ system toxicity (non-reproductive)

CONCERN	REFERENCE
Classified as toxic or harmful	CPS&Q - Classification & Labelling
Limited evidence of sense organ toxicity	Scorecard.org Toxicity Information
One or more animal studies show any effects at moderate doses (low dose studies may be unavailable for this ingredient)	EPA Categorized List of Inert Pesticide Ingredients
Classified as not expected to be potentially toxic or harmful	Environment Canada Domestic Substance List

Ecotoxicology

CONCERN	REFERENCE
Wildlife and environmental toxicity	Open scientific literature
Suspected to be an environmental toxin	Environment Canada Domestic Substance List

Data gaps

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 product	Cosmetic Ingredient Review Assessments
191 studies in PubMed science library may include information on the toxicity of this chemical	NLM PubMed

Informational

CONCERN	REFERENCE
Industry or government recommendations for safe use: restrictions on concentration, impurities, product types, or manufacturing methods - any	Cosmetic Ingredient Review Assessments

CPS&Q (Consumer Products Safety & Quality) formely known as ECB (European Chemicals Bureau). 2008. Classification and Labelling: Chemicals: Annex VI of Directive 67/548/EEC through the 31st ATP.
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
Emerging PBTs from peer-reviewed literature
EC (Environment Canada). 2008. Domestic Substances List Categorization. Canadian Environmental Protection Act (CEPA) Environmental Registry.
ED (Environmental Defense). 2006. Scorecard _ The Pollution Information Site. http://www.scorecard.org.
EPA (U.S. Environmental Protection Agency). 1987 & 2005. Office of Pesticide Programs. Inert (other) Pesticide Ingredients in Pesticide Products - Categorized List of Inert (other) Pesticide Ingredients.
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.

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