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HOW WE DETERMINE SCORES Learn more About EWG VERIFIED™

Data: Good

Coumarin

  • †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)

SYNONYMS

2H-1-BENZOPYRAN-2-ONE, 2H1BENZOPYRAN2ONE, COUMARIN, and TONKA BEAN CAMPHOR

Coumarin is a naturally occurring and synthetically produced scent chemical; associated with allergies and contact dermatitis.

Common concerns

See how this product scores for common concerns.

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

Ingredient concerns

  • CONCERNS
  • DATA SOURCES

Products with this Ingredient

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hair treatment/serum157 products
fragrance for women152 products
moisturizer150 products
conditioner130 products
shampoo130 products
fragrance for men94 products
body wash/cleanser83 products
hair styling aide72 products
body spray53 products
antiperspirant/deodorant46 products
facial moisturizer/treatment45 products
hand cream44 products
styling gel/lotion43 products
bar soap36 products
mask31 products
hair spray29 products
hair color and bleaching29 products
serums & essences26 products
sunless tanning25 products
liquid hand soap25 products
body oil23 products
antiperspirant/deodorant (men's)22 products
exfoliant/scrub18 products
facial cleanser17 products
body firming lotion14 products
hand sanitizer14 products
daily use with SPF14 products
bath oil/salts/soak12 products
foundation12 products
detangler11 products
after shave10 products
toners/astringents9 products
setting powder/spray9 products
concealer8 products
styling mousse/foam7 products
beard care7 products
foot moisturizer6 products
shaving cream6 products
bronzer/highlighter6 products
6 products
shaving cream (men's)5 products
beard oil5 products
anti-aging4 products
recreational sunscreen4 products
baby lotion4 products
baby shampoo4 products
baby soap4 products
makeup remover3 products
cuticle treatment3 products
tanning oil3 products
bubble bath3 products
brow liner3 products
skin fading/lightener2 products
after sun product2 products
lip balm2 products
baby bubble bath2 products
around-eye cream1 products
body powder1 products
blush1 products
eyelash glue1 products
nail treatment1 products
makeup primer1 products
muscle/joint soreness1 products
hair removal waxes1 products
nail glue1 products
damaged skin treatment1 products
baby wipes1 products
lip liner1 products

Allergies/immunotoxicity

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CONCERN REFERENCE
Known human immune system toxicant or allergenSCCPNFP Opinion on Fragrance Allergy
Limited evidence of any toxicity or allergiesOpen scientific literature

Use restrictions

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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

Cancer

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CONCERN REFERENCE
Cancer - limited evidenceScorecard.org Toxicity Information
Limited or incomplete evidence of cancer according to safety/hazard data – government assessment cannot classify as human carcinogen due to data gapsInt'l Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) - Carcinogens

Miscellaneous

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CONCERN REFERENCE
Prohibited for use in foodFDA Food Additive Status

Informational

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CONCERN REFERENCE
Industry or government recommendations for safe use: restrictions on concentration, impurities, product types, or manufacturing methods - The substance was formerly approved as a food additive but is now banned; there may be some toxicology data available.FDA Everything Added to Food

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
8313 studies in PubMed science library may include information on the toxicity of this chemicalNLM PubMed
  • 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
  • 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/ .
  • ED (Environmental Defense). 2006. Scorecard _ The Pollution Information Site. http://www.scorecard.org.
  • IARC (International Agency for Research on Cancer). 2008. Overall Evaluations of Carcinogenicity to Humans, as evaluated in IARC Monographs Volumes 1-99 (a total of 935 agents, mixtures and exposures).
  • FDA (U.S. Food and Drug Administration) 2006. Food Additive Status List. Downloaded from http://www.cfsan.fda.gov/%7Edms/opa-appa.html, Oct 16, 2006.
  • 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.
  • 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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