Know Your Environment. Protect Your Health.
EWG Home EWG’s Guide to Healthy Cleaning EWG’s Food Scores Healthy Living App Open menu

EWG's Skin Deep®
Find products and ingredients Learn how Skin Deep® works Meet our experts Discover EWG VERIFIED®
GET UPDATES DONATE
Score legend
HOW WE DETERMINE SCORES Learn more About EWG VERIFIED®

Data: Limited

Hydroxycitronellal

  • 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 (high)

SYNONYMS

● 1,7OCTANEDIOL, 3,7DIMETHYL
● 3,7-DIMETHYLOCTANE-1,7-DIOL
● 7-HYDROXY-3,7-DIMETHYL- OCTANOL
● 7-HYDROXY-3,7-DIMETHYLOCTANOL
● 7-HYDROXYCITRONELLAL
● HYDROXYCITRONELLAL
● OCTANAL, 7HYDROXY3,7DIMETHYL
● OCTANOL, 7-HYDROXY-3,7-DIMETHYL-

Restricted

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

Hydroxycitronellal is a common scent ingredient; produced synthetically from naturally occurring scent chemical citronellal.

Common concerns

See how this product scores for common concerns.

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

Ingredient concerns

  • CONCERNS
  • DATA SOURCES

Products with this Ingredient

Expand content Collapse content
fragrance for women215 products
hair treatment/serum128 products
shampoo120 products
moisturizer117 products
conditioner102 products
hair styling aide97 products
lipstick88 products
styling gel/lotion63 products
hair spray59 products
concealer45 products
fragrance for men43 products
facial moisturizer/treatment40 products
body spray39 products
body wash/cleanser37 products
hand cream37 products
foundation36 products
lip gloss29 products
antiperspirant/deodorant29 products
mask26 products
styling mousse/foam24 products
exfoliant/scrub21 products
setting powder/spray16 products
eye shadow15 products
sunless tanning14 products
liquid hand soap11 products
lip balm11 products
serums & essences11 products
bath oil/salts/soak10 products
detangler10 products
lip plumper9 products
shaving cream8 products
bronzer/highlighter8 products
facial cleanser8 products
bar soap7 products
body oil7 products
beard care7 products
after shave6 products
body firming lotion6 products
hand sanitizer5 products
daily use with SPF5 products
hair color and bleaching4 products
toners/astringents4 products
antiperspirant/deodorant (men's)4 products
makeup primer3 products
body powder3 products
around-eye cream3 products
skin fading/lightener3 products
recreational sunscreen3 products
beard cleanser3 products
lip balm with SPF2 products
baby lotion2 products
lip liner2 products
anti-aging1 products
polish remover1 products
shaving cream (men's)1 products
blush1 products
nail treatment1 products
1 products
tanning oil1 products
baby oil1 products
baby soap1 products
beard oil1 products
baby powder1 products
nail glue1 products

Allergies/immunotoxicity

Expand content Collapse content
CONCERN REFERENCE
Known human immune system toxicant or allergenSCCPNFP Opinion on Fragrance Allergy
Human any toxicant or allergen - strong evidenceOpen scientific literature
Limited evidence of any toxicity or allergiesOpen scientific literature

Use restrictions

Expand content Collapse content
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 (recommendations or requirements) - use, concentration, or manufacturing restrictions - anyCosIng

Multiple, additive exposure sources

Expand content Collapse content
CONCERN REFERENCE
Designated as safe for general or specific, limited use in foodFDA Everything Added to Food

Ecotoxicology

Expand content Collapse content
CONCERN REFERENCE
Not suspected to be an environmental toxinEnvironment Canada Domestic Substance List

Organ system toxicity (non-reproductive)

Expand content Collapse content
CONCERN REFERENCE
Classified as not expected to be potentially toxic or harmfulEnvironment Canada Domestic Substance List

Persistence and bioaccumulation

Expand content Collapse content
CONCERN REFERENCE
Not suspected to be persistentEnvironment Canada Domestic Substance List
Not suspected to be bioaccumulativeEnvironment Canada Domestic Substance List

Data gaps

Expand content Collapse content
CONCERN REFERENCE
59 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/ .
  • 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.

BUILD YOUR OWN REPORT

News & updates

Big Market for Black Cosmetics, but Less-Hazardous Choices Limited
RESEARCH
Big Market for Black Cosmetics, but Less-Hazardous Choices Limited
K-Beauty Trends: Serums, Essences and EWG’s Best Bets
RESEARCH
K-Beauty Trends: Serums, Essences and EWG’s Best Bets
FDA Asks Women To Protect Themselves From Products The Agency Refused To Ban
NEWS RELEASE
FDA Asks Women To Protect Themselves From Products The Agency Refused To Ban
Study Highlights Importance of Cosmetics Ingredient Safety Tests
NEWS RELEASE
Study Highlights Importance of Cosmetics Ingredient Safety Tests
READ ALL ARTICLES
Skindeep Healthy Living App

Discover a curated selection of healthier beauty and personal care products. Donate today to get your EWG VERIFIED® holiday gift set!

GET IT NOW