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: Good

Lecithin

  • This ingredient’s score is higher if used in products that are inhalable (e.g., sprays, powders) because of respiratory concerns.
  • Products with the EWG VERIFIED mark have met the program’s impurity and use restrictions based on EWG's review of the company's data.

IMAGE SOURCE: PubChem

SEARCH PRODUCTS

Other Concerns

Enhanced skin absorption, Use restrictions (low), Multiple, additive exposure sources (low), and Contamination concerns (high)

SYNONYMS

EGG YOLK LECITHIN, EGG YOLK LECITHINS, GLYCINE SOJA (SOYBEAN) LECITHIN, GLYCINE SOJA LECITHIN, LECITHIN, LECITHIN, SOYBEAN, LECITHINS, LECITHINS, EGG YOLK, SOYBEAN LECITHIN, and SOYBEAN PHOSPHOLIPID

Restricted

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

Lecithin is a naturally ocurring lipid found in both plants and animals. According to the PETA's Caring Consumer guide, lecithin for com mercial purposes is most commonly obtain from eggs and soybeans.

Common concerns

See how this product scores for common concerns.

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

Ingredient concerns

  • CONCERNS
  • DATA SOURCES

Products with this Ingredient

Expand content Collapse content
foundation557 products
lipstick283 products
facial moisturizer/treatment200 products
daily use with SPF165 products
moisturizer158 products
concealer135 products
serums & essences131 products
eye liner92 products
lip liner70 products
mask70 products
mascara68 products
around-eye cream68 products
recreational sunscreen67 products
eye shadow65 products
brow liner63 products
facial cleanser57 products
blush49 products
bronzer/highlighter47 products
lip gloss46 products
shampoo44 products
conditioner40 products
lip balm38 products
BB cream37 products
36 products
exfoliant/scrub28 products
makeup primer25 products
body wash/cleanser23 products
hand cream20 products
hair treatment/serum20 products
facial powder15 products
antiperspirant/deodorant15 products
anti-aging14 products
body firming lotion14 products
hair-loss treatment11 products
lip balm with SPF11 products
toners/astringents10 products
nail treatment7 products
sunless tanning7 products
liquid hand soap7 products
baby sunscreen7 products
setting powder/spray7 products
body oil6 products
styling gel/lotion6 products
foot moisturizer6 products
baby lotion6 products
muscle/joint soreness5 products
makeup remover5 products
after shave4 products
after sun product4 products
skin fading/lightener3 products
diaper cream3 products
bath oil/salts/soak3 products
baby soap3 products
damaged skin treatment3 products
shaving cream2 products
hair color and bleaching2 products
cuticle treatment2 products
baby oil2 products
baby shampoo2 products
baby bubble bath2 products
beard cleanser2 products
detangler1 products
CC cream1 products
baby wipes1 products
tanning oil1 products
beard care1 products
antiperspirant/deodorant (men's)1 products
foot odor control1 products
shaving cream (men's)1 products

Contamination concerns

Expand content Collapse content
Chemical
NITROSAMINES

Enhanced skin absorption

Expand content Collapse content
CONCERN REFERENCE
Penetration enhancerOpen scientific literature

Allergies/immunotoxicity

Expand content Collapse content
CONCERN REFERENCE
Human any toxicant or allergen - strong evidenceOpen scientific literature
One or more human case studies show possible immune and respiratory or allergenic effectsAssociation of Occupational and Environmental Clinics

Multiple, additive exposure sources

Expand content Collapse content
CONCERN REFERENCE
Used in food or as an additive with limited or no toxicity information availableFDA Everything Added to Food
Designated as safe for general or specific, limited use in foodFDA Everything Added to Food

Use restrictions

Expand content Collapse content
CONCERN REFERENCE
Determined safe for use in cosmetics, subject to concentration or use limitations - anyOpen scientific literature

Developmental/reproductive toxicity

Expand content Collapse content
CONCERN REFERENCE
One or more animal studies show female reproductive system effects at high dosesOpen scientific literature

Ecotoxicology

Expand content Collapse content
CONCERN REFERENCE
Uncertain environmental toxin and uncertain persistent or bioaccumulativeEnvironment Canada Domestic Substance List

Data gaps

Expand content Collapse content
CONCERN REFERENCE
Safety unknown for products that may be inhaledOpen scientific literature
Risk assessment method deficiencies and data gaps - anyOpen scientific literature
18085 studies in PubMed science library may include information on the toxicity of this chemicalNLM PubMed

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
Classified as a low human health priorityEnvironment 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
  • Open scientific/peer reviewed literature
  • AOEC (Association of Occupational and Environmental Clinics). 2009. AEOC exposures codes and asthmagen designation.
  • 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

EWG research
on the go

Find personal care, cleaning, and food products on the EWG Healthy Living app.

DOWNLOAD THE APP