EWG Skin Deep® | What is DIMETHICONE

HOW WE DETERMINE SCORES Learn more About EWG VERIFIED™

Data: Limited

Dimethicone

Products with the EWG VERIFIED mark have met use restrictions and warnings based on EWG review of company data.

IMAGE SOURCE: PubChem

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Other Concerns

Use restrictions (moderate), Persistence and bioaccumulation (high), Non-reproductive organ system toxicity (moderate), and Ecotoxicology (low)

SYNONYMS

● DIMETHICONE

● DIMETHICONE COPOLYOL

● DIMETHYL SILICONE

● DIMETHYLSILOXANE, POLY(OXYETHYLENE OXYPROPYLENE) COPOLYMER; ETHOXYLATED, PROPOXYLATED SILICONE OIL

● HIGHLY POLYMERIZED METHYL POLYSILOXANE

● METHYL POLYSILOXANE

● POLY[OXY(DIMETHYLSILYLENE)],A -(TRIMETHYLSILYL)-W -METHYL-

● SILICONE L-45

● SILOXANES AND SILICONES, DIME, HYDROXYTERMINATED, ETHOXYLATED PROPOXYLATED

Restricted

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

Dimethicone (also called polymethylsiloxane) is a silicon-based polymer used as a lubricant and conditioning agent.

Common concerns

See how this product scores for common concerns.

LOW

Cancer
LOW

Allergies & Immunotoxicity
LOW

Developmental and Reproductive Toxicity
MODERATE

Use Restrictions

Ingredient concerns

CONCERNS
DATA SOURCES

Products with this Ingredient

foundation	1758 products
eye shadow	1181 products
lipstick	1049 products
concealer	883 products
moisturizer	849 products
facial moisturizer/treatment	628 products
conditioner	471 products
bronzer/highlighter	470 products
daily use with SPF	421 products
blush	388 products
recreational sunscreen	317 products
hand cream	237 products
hair treatment/serum	237 products
eye liner	221 products
shampoo	213 products
facial powder	191 products
around-eye cream	188 products
mask	181 products
CC cream	177 products
makeup primer	170 products
serums & essences	167 products
brow liner	151 products
antiperspirant/deodorant	143 products
body firming lotion	133 products
hair styling aide	128 products
setting powder/spray	103 products
BB cream	99 products
lip gloss	85 products
lip liner	80 products
nail polish	71 products
antiperspirant/deodorant (men's)	69 products
hair color and bleaching	67 products
anti-aging	66 products
mascara	64 products
baby lotion	60 products
	57 products
styling gel/lotion	51 products
sunless tanning	50 products
lip balm	46 products
baby sunscreen	41 products
glitter	37 products
body wash/cleanser	28 products
exfoliant/scrub	26 products
makeup remover	25 products
nail treatment	24 products
foot moisturizer	23 products
facial cleanser	22 products
shaving cream	20 products
after shave	19 products
hair spray	19 products
hand sanitizer	19 products
lip balm with SPF	16 products
detangler	15 products
diaper cream	13 products
damaged skin treatment	13 products
skin fading/lightener	11 products
after sun product	10 products
other eye makeup	8 products
shaving cream (men's)	7 products
body oil	7 products
pore strips	7 products
cuticle treatment	6 products
foot cleansing	6 products
styling mousse/foam	5 products
muscle/joint soreness	5 products
beard care	5 products
oil controller	4 products
baby oil	4 products
lip plumper	4 products
bar soap	4 products
beard cleanser	4 products
toners/astringents	3 products
body spray	3 products
baby wipes	3 products
foot odor control	2 products
tanning oil	2 products
liquid hand soap	1 products
baby soap	1 products
hair relaxer	1 products
tooth whitening	1 products
depilatory	1 products
body powder	1 products
eyelash glue	1 products
polish remover	1 products
toothpaste	1 products
baby shampoo	1 products
nail glue	1 products
baby bubble bath	1 products
body art	1 products

Persistence and bioaccumulation

CONCERN	REFERENCE
Persistent, bioaccumulative in wildlife and humans	Open scientific literature
Persistent, bioaccumulative in wildlife	Open scientific literature
Not suspected to be bioaccumulative	Environment Canada Domestic Substance List

Use restrictions

CONCERN	REFERENCE
Recommended restricted in cosmetics - use, concentration, or manufacturing restrictions - Product type restrictions or differences noted in safety assessment by industry panel	Cosmetic Ingredient Review Assessments

Organ system toxicity (non-reproductive)

CONCERN	REFERENCE
Classified as expected to be toxic or harmful	Environment Canada Domestic Substance List

Ecotoxicology

CONCERN	REFERENCE
Suspected to be an environmental toxin and be persistent or bioaccumulative	Environment Canada Domestic Substance List
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
218 studies in PubMed science library may include information on the toxicity of this chemical	NLM PubMed

Multiple, additive exposure sources

CONCERN	REFERENCE
Designated as safe for general or specific, limited use in food	FDA Everything Added to Food
Designated as safe for general or specific, limited use in food	FDA Food Additive Status

Informational

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

Open scientific/peer reviewed literature
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.
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.

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.

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Low Availability

Moderate Availability

High Availability