EWG Skin Deep® | What is COCAMIDE MEA

HOW WE DETERMINE SCORES Learn more About EWG VERIFIED®

Data: Limited

Cocamide Mea

This ingredient’s score is higher if used in products that will not be immediately rinsed off due to increased risk of absorption.

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Other Concerns

Use restrictions (high), Irritation (skin, eyes, or lungs) (low), and Contamination concerns (high)

SYNONYMS

● AMIDES, COCO, N(HYDROXYETHYL)

● AMIDES, COCO, N-(2-HYDROXYETHYL)-

● AMIDES, COCO, N-(HYDROXYETHYL)

● COCAMIDE MEA

● COCO MONOETHANOLAMIDE

● COCO N-(2-HYDROXYETHYL)- AMIDES

● COCONUT FATTY ACID MONOETHANOLAMIDE

● COCONUT FATTY ACID, MONOETHANOLAMIDE; COCONUT OIL FATTY ACID ETHANOLAMIDE; COCONUT OIL FATTY ACID ETHANOLAMIDE; COCONUT OIL FATTY ACIDS, MONOETHANOLAMIDE; COCONUT OIL MONOETHANOLAMIDE; COCONUT OIL, MO

● COCOYL MONOETHANOLAMINE

● EQUEX AEM

● MONOETHANOLAMINE COCONUT ACID AMIDE

● N-(2-HYDROXYETHYL) COCO FATTY ACID AMIDE

● N-(2-HYDROXYETHYL)- AMIDES, COCO

Unacceptable

Unacceptable: EWG VERIFIED products cannot contain this ingredient

Cocamide MEA is a compound synthesized from coconut oils and ethanolamine.

Common concerns

See how this product scores for common concerns.

LOW

Cancer
LOW

Allergies & Immunotoxicity
LOW

Developmental and Reproductive Toxicity
HIGH

Use Restrictions

Ingredient concerns

CONCERNS
DATA SOURCES

Products with this Ingredient

shampoo	431 products
body wash/cleanser	181 products
liquid hand soap	152 products
conditioner	65 products
facial cleanser	29 products
bubble bath	19 products
hair color and bleaching	9 products
exfoliant/scrub	7 products
bath oil/salts/soak	7 products
beard cleanser	4 products
hair treatment/serum	3 products
	2 products
detangler	2 products
antiperspirant/deodorant (men's)	2 products
bar soap	2 products
baby soap	2 products
hair relaxer	2 products
shaving cream	2 products
sunless tanning	1 products
serums & essences	1 products
beard care	1 products
mask	1 products
glitter	1 products
foot cleansing	1 products
facial moisturizer/treatment	1 products
hair spray	1 products

Contamination concerns

Chemical
NITROSAMINES

Use restrictions

CONCERN	REFERENCE
Violation of industry recommendations - Restricted in cosmetics; use, concentration, or manufacturing restrictions - Unsafe in products left on skin and not rinsed off	Cosmetic Ingredient Review Assessments
Determined safe for use in cosmetics, subject to concentration or use limitations - Safe for use in cosmetics with some qualifications	Cosmetic Ingredient Review Assessments

Irritation (skin, eyes, or lungs)

CONCERN	REFERENCE
any irritation - weight of evidence unknown/unassessed	Open scientific literature

Ecotoxicology

CONCERN	REFERENCE
Not suspected to be an environmental toxin	Environment Canada Domestic Substance List

Organ system toxicity (non-reproductive)

CONCERN	REFERENCE
Classified as not expected to be potentially toxic or harmful	Environment Canada Domestic Substance List
Classified as a low human health priority	Environment Canada Domestic Substance List

Persistence and bioaccumulation

CONCERN	REFERENCE
Not suspected to be persistent	Environment Canada Domestic Substance List
Not suspected to be bioaccumulative	Environment Canada Domestic Substance List

Data gaps

CONCERN	REFERENCE
0 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 - Unsafe in products left on skin and not rinsed off	Cosmetic Ingredient Review Assessments

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
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.

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