EWG Skin Deep® | What is HYDROCHLORIC ACID

HOW WE DETERMINE SCORES Learn more About EWG VERIFIED™

Data: Good

Hydrochloric Acid

IMAGE SOURCE: PubChem

SEARCH PRODUCTS

FIND PRODUCTS WITH THIS INGREDIENT

Other Concerns

Non-reproductive organ system toxicity (moderate), Irritation (skin, eyes, or lungs) (high), and Occupational hazards (high)

SYNONYMS

CHLOROHYDRIC ACID, DILUTE HYDROCHLORIC ACID, HYDROCHLORIC ACID, HYDROGEN CHLORIDE, and MURIATIC ACID

Hydrochloric Acid is an inorganic acid.

Common concerns

See how this product scores for common concerns.

LOW

Cancer
LOW

Allergies & Immunotoxicity
LOW

Developmental and Reingredientive Toxicity
LOW

Use Restrictions

Ingredient concerns

CONCERNS
DATA SOURCES

Products with this Ingredient

facial moisturizer/treatment	2 products
around-eye cream	2 products
shampoo	1 products
serums & essences	1 products
hair treatment/serum	1 products
shaving cream	1 products

Occupational hazards

CONCERN	REFERENCE
Allowed workplace exposures restricted to very low doses	CPS&Q - Classification & Labelling
Allowed workplace exposures restricted to low doses	CPS&Q - Classification & Labelling
Allowed workplace exposures restricted to high doses	Scorecard.org Toxicity Information
Single case study detailing occupational hazards	National Library of Medicine HazMap

Organ system toxicity (non-reproductive)

CONCERN	REFERENCE
Classified as medium human health priority	Environment Canada Domestic Substance List
Classified as expected to be toxic or harmful	Environment Canada Domestic Substance List
Limited evidence of gastrointestinal or liver toxicity	Scorecard.org Toxicity Information

Miscellaneous

CONCERN	REFERENCE
Occupational hazards related to handling	CPS&Q - Classification & Labelling

Ecotoxicology

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

Multiple, additive exposure sources

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

Persistence and bioaccumulation

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

Data gaps

CONCERN	REFERENCE
49941 studies in PubMed science library may include information on the toxicity of this chemical	NLM PubMed

Cancer

CONCERN	REFERENCE
Limited or incomplete evidence of cancer according to safety/hazard data – government assessment cannot classify as human carcinogen due to data gaps	Int'l Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) - Carcinogens

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.
ED (Environmental Defense). 2006. Scorecard _ The Pollution Information Site. http://www.scorecard.org.
NLM (National Library of Medicine). 2006. HazMap — Occupational Exposure to Hazardous Agents.
EC (Environment Canada). 2008. Domestic Substances List Categorization. Canadian Environmental Protection Act (CEPA) Environmental Registry.
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.
NLM (National Library of Medicine). 2012. PubMed online scientific bibliography data. http://www.pubmed.gov.
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).

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