EWG Skin Deep® | What is MAGNESIUM STEARATE

HOW WE DETERMINE SCORES Learn more About EWG VERIFIED®

Data: Limited

Magnesium Stearate

IMAGE SOURCE: PubChem

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Other Concerns

SYNONYMS

● MAGNESIUM DISTEARATE

● MAGNESIUM OCTADECANOATE

● MAGNESIUM SALT OCTADECANOIC ACID

● MAGNESIUM SALT STEARIC ACID

● MAGNESIUM STEARATE

● OCTADECANOIC ACID, MAGNESIUM SALT

● STEARIC ACID, MAGNESIUM SALT

Restricted

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

Magnesium stearate is a magnesium salt of stearic acid, a naturally occurring fatty acid.

Common concerns

See how this product scores for common concerns.

LOW

Cancer
LOW

Allergies & Immunotoxicity
LOW

Developmental and Reproductive Toxicity
LOW

Use Restrictions

Ingredient concerns

CONCERNS
DATA SOURCES

Products with this Ingredient

eye shadow	495 products
bronzer/highlighter	145 products
blush	103 products
foundation	84 products
facial powder	71 products
lipstick	39 products
brow liner	38 products
shampoo	26 products
BB cream	24 products
setting powder/spray	20 products
hair color and bleaching	19 products
concealer	15 products
makeup primer	11 products
antiperspirant/deodorant	9 products
moisturizer	9 products
sunless tanning	8 products
mascara	6 products
facial moisturizer/treatment	5 products
body powder	5 products
hair styling aide	5 products
mouthwash	4 products
toothpaste	4 products
hair treatment/serum	3 products
tooth whitening	3 products
recreational sunscreen	3 products
body spray	3 products
baby sunscreen	3 products
lip balm	3 products
hair spray	3 products
eye liner	3 products
facial cleanser	2 products
daily use with SPF	2 products
bar soap	2 products
CC cream	2 products
glitter	2 products
serums & essences	2 products
beard cleanser	1 products
diaper cream	1 products
eyelash glue	1 products
hand cream	1 products
mask	1 products
around-eye cream	1 products
nail polish	1 products
lip gloss	1 products
antiperspirant/deodorant (men's)	1 products
lip balm with SPF	1 products
foot odor control	1 products
anti-aging	1 products

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
Safety assessment was based on related chemical	Cosmetic Ingredient Review Assessments
570 studies in PubMed science library may include information on the toxicity of this chemical	NLM PubMed

Ecotoxicology

CONCERN	REFERENCE
Uncertain environmental toxin and uncertain persistent or bioaccumulative	Environment Canada Domestic Substance List

Informational

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

Organ system toxicity (non-reproductive)

CONCERN	REFERENCE
Classified as not expected to be potentially toxic or harmful	Environment Canada Domestic Substance List
Classified as a low human health priority	Environment Canada Domestic Substance List

Persistence and bioaccumulation

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

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

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.
EC (Environment Canada). 2008. Domestic Substances List Categorization. Canadian Environmental Protection Act (CEPA) Environmental Registry.
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