Know Your Environment. Protect Your Health.
EWG Home EWG’s Guide to Healthy Cleaning EWG’s Food Scores Healthy Living App Open menu

EWG's Skin Deep®
Find products and ingredients Learn how Skin Deep® works Meet our experts Discover EWG VERIFIED®
GET UPDATES DONATE
Score legend
HOW WE DETERMINE SCORES Learn more About EWG VERIFIED®

Data: Fair

Citral

  • Products with this ingredient are allowed for use in EWG VERIFIED but must meet use restrictions and warnings based on EWG review of company data.
  • Products with the EWG VERIFIED mark have met use restrictions and warnings based on EWG review of company data.

IMAGE SOURCE: PubChem

SEARCH PRODUCTS

Other Concerns

Use restrictions (moderate) and Irritation (skin, eyes, or lungs) (high)

SYNONYMS

● 2,6-OCTADIENAL, 3,7-DIMETHYL-
● 2,6OCTADIENAL, 3,7DIMETHYL
● 3,7-DIMETHYL- 2,6-OCTADIENAL
● 3,7-DIMETHYL-2,6-OCTADIENAL
● CITRAL

Restricted

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

Citral is a naturally occurring scent ingredient; manufactured synthetically on a large scale; associated with allergies and contact dermatitis.

Common concerns

See how this product scores for common concerns.

  • LOW
    Cancer
  • HIGH
    Allergies & Immunotoxicity
  • LOW
    Developmental and Reproductive Toxicity
  • MODERATE
    Use Restrictions

Ingredient concerns

  • CONCERNS
  • DATA SOURCES

Products with this Ingredient

Expand content Collapse content
fragrance for women290 products
moisturizer181 products
facial moisturizer/treatment148 products
hair treatment/serum118 products
fragrance for men112 products
hair styling aide98 products
shampoo92 products
lip balm91 products
conditioner89 products
serums & essences79 products
body spray63 products
hand cream62 products
styling gel/lotion60 products
antiperspirant/deodorant58 products
body wash/cleanser56 products
daily use with SPF52 products
facial cleanser50 products
exfoliant/scrub49 products
lipstick46 products
antiperspirant/deodorant (men's)42 products
mask41 products
liquid hand soap40 products
lip gloss39 products
body oil34 products
bar soap33 products
hair spray27 products
lip balm with SPF24 products
CC cream22 products
after shave19 products
foundation18 products
hair color and bleaching18 products
sunless tanning17 products
hand sanitizer15 products
styling mousse/foam14 products
blush14 products
toners/astringents13 products
around-eye cream11 products
bronzer/highlighter11 products
makeup primer11 products
body firming lotion9 products
beard care9 products
bath oil/salts/soak8 products
shaving cream8 products
beard oil8 products
foot moisturizer7 products
makeup remover7 products
lip plumper7 products
facial powder7 products
setting powder/spray7 products
nail treatment6 products
after sun product5 products
recreational sunscreen5 products
cuticle treatment4 products
concealer4 products
detangler3 products
bubble bath3 products
tanning oil3 products
muscle/joint soreness3 products
skin fading/lightener3 products
other eye makeup3 products
anti-aging2 products
hair relaxer2 products
body powder2 products
eyelash glue2 products
foot odor control1 products
shaving cream (men's)1 products
oil controller1 products
polish remover1 products
eye makeup remover1 products
BB cream1 products
baby oil1 products
baby lotion1 products
toothpaste1 products
1 products
beard cleanser1 products
brow liner1 products
nail glue1 products

Allergies/immunotoxicity

Expand content Collapse content
CONCERN REFERENCE
Known human immune system toxicant or allergenSCCPNFP Opinion on Fragrance Allergy
Human any toxicant or allergen - strong evidenceOpen scientific literature
Possible human any toxicant or allergenOpen scientific literature
Limited evidence of immune system toxicity or allergiesCPS&Q - Classification & Labelling

Irritation (skin, eyes, or lungs)

Expand content Collapse content
CONCERN REFERENCE
Classified as irritantCPS&Q - Classification & Labelling

Use restrictions

Expand content Collapse content
CONCERN REFERENCE
Recommended restricted in cosmetics - use, concentration, or manufacturing restrictions - Fragrance subject to restrictions: safe only within recommended use or concentration limitsn)International Fragrance Association Codes & Standards
Restricted in cosmetics - labeling requirement for allergensCosIng

Data gaps

Expand content Collapse content
CONCERN REFERENCE
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

Ecotoxicology

Expand content Collapse content
CONCERN REFERENCE
Not suspected to be an environmental toxinEnvironment Canada Domestic Substance List

Organ system toxicity (non-reproductive)

Expand content Collapse content
CONCERN REFERENCE
Classified as not expected to be potentially toxic or harmfulEnvironment Canada Domestic Substance List

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
  • SCCPNFP (Scientific Committee On Cosmetic Products And Non-Food Products). 1999. Opinion Concerning Fragrance Allergy In Consumers. . SCCNFP/0017/98 Final, December 1999; and SCCPNFP (Scientific Committee On Cosmetic Products And Non-Food Products). 2000. An Initial List Of Perfumery Materials Which Must Not Form Part Of Fragrances Compounds Used In Cosmetic Products. SCCNFP/0320/00, final May 2000.
  • Open scientific/peer reviewed literature
  • 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.
  • IFRA (International Fragrance Association). 2006. Codes and Standards.
  • European Commission. 2013. Cosing, the European Commission database with information on cosmetic substances and ingredients. Accessed on March 1, 2013 at http://ec.europa.eu/consumers/cosmetics/cosing/ .
  • 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.
  • EC (Environment Canada). 2008. Domestic Substances List Categorization. Canadian Environmental Protection Act (CEPA) Environmental Registry.

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.

BUILD YOUR OWN REPORT

News & updates

Big Market for Black Cosmetics, but Less-Hazardous Choices Limited
RESEARCH
Big Market for Black Cosmetics, but Less-Hazardous Choices Limited
K-Beauty Trends: Serums, Essences and EWG’s Best Bets
RESEARCH
K-Beauty Trends: Serums, Essences and EWG’s Best Bets
FDA Asks Women To Protect Themselves From Products The Agency Refused To Ban
NEWS RELEASE
FDA Asks Women To Protect Themselves From Products The Agency Refused To Ban
Study Highlights Importance of Cosmetics Ingredient Safety Tests
NEWS RELEASE
Study Highlights Importance of Cosmetics Ingredient Safety Tests
READ ALL ARTICLES
Skindeep Healthy Living App

Discover a curated selection of healthier beauty and personal care products. Donate today to get your EWG VERIFIED® holiday gift set!

GET IT NOW