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), 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, and SILOXANES AND SILICONES, DIME, HYDROXYTERMINATED, ETHOXYLATED PROPOXYLATED

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 Reingredientive Toxicity
MODERATE

Use Restrictions

Ingredient concerns

CONCERNS
DATA SOURCES

Products with this Ingredient

foundation	1624 products
eye shadow	1035 products
lipstick	860 products
moisturizer	828 products
concealer	799 products
facial moisturizer/treatment	490 products
daily use with SPF	446 products
bronzer/highlighter	438 products
conditioner	396 products
recreational sunscreen	345 products
blush	328 products
hair treatment/serum	198 products
hand cream	190 products
eye liner	188 products
shampoo	182 products
facial powder	160 products
antiperspirant/deodorant	158 products
CC cream	155 products
mask	151 products
brow liner	144 products
makeup primer	144 products
serums & essences	138 products
around-eye cream	124 products
hair styling aide	102 products
BB cream	101 products
body firming lotion	78 products
lip gloss	72 products
lip liner	71 products
mascara	67 products
hair color and bleaching	60 products
setting powder/spray	60 products
anti-aging	58 products
	57 products
baby lotion	56 products
nail polish	56 products
antiperspirant/deodorant (men's)	53 products
baby sunscreen	52 products
sunless tanning	49 products
lip balm	43 products
styling gel/lotion	42 products
foot moisturizer	33 products
makeup remover	31 products
glitter	31 products
body wash/cleanser	29 products
exfoliant/scrub	28 products
facial cleanser	20 products
nail treatment	17 products
detangler	16 products
shaving cream	15 products
hand sanitizer	15 products
after shave	14 products
lip balm with SPF	14 products
skin fading/lightener	11 products
damaged skin treatment	11 products
diaper cream	10 products
after sun product	10 products
hair spray	9 products
muscle/joint soreness	8 products
shaving cream (men's)	7 products
body oil	7 products
oil controller	7 products
cuticle treatment	6 products
styling mousse/foam	6 products
foot cleansing	6 products
baby oil	5 products
beard care	5 products
toners/astringents	4 products
bar soap	4 products
beard oil	4 products
pore strips	4 products
lip plumper	3 products
foot odor control	2 products
body spray	2 products
toothpaste	2 products
baby wipes	2 products
liquid hand soap	1 products
fragrance for men	1 products
tanning oil	1 products
tooth whitening	1 products
body powder	1 products
polish remover	1 products
beard cleanser	1 products
nail glue	1 products
baby bubble bath	1 products

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

Persistence and bioaccumulation

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

CIR (Cosmetic Ingredient Review). 2006. CIR Compendium, containing abstracts, discussions, and conclusions of CIR cosmetic ingredient safety assessments. Washington DC.
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.
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.

NONE LIMITED FAIR GOOD ROBUST

Low Availability

Moderate Availability

High Availability