EWG Skin Deep® | What is MENTHA PIPERITA (PEPPERMINT) OIL

HOW WE DETERMINE SCORES Learn more About EWG VERIFIED™

Data: Limited

Mentha Piperita (Peppermint) Oil

IMAGE SOURCE: PubChem

SEARCH PRODUCTS

FIND PRODUCTS WITH THIS INGREDIENT

Other Concerns

Enhanced skin absorption and Use restrictions (low)

SYNONYMS

MENTHA (MINT) ESSENTIAL OIL, MENTHA (MINT) LEAF ESSENTIAL OIL, MENTHA (MINT) OIL, MENTHA ESSENTIAL OIL, MENTHA LEAF ESSENTIAL OIL, MENTHA OIL, MENTHA PIPERITA (PEPPERMINT) ESSENTIAL OIL, MENTHA PIPERITA (PEPPERMINT) LEAF ESSENTIAL OIL, MENTHA PIPERITA (PEPPERMINT) LEAF OIL, MENTHA PIPERITA (PEPPERMINT) OIL, MENTHA PIPERITA (PEPPERMINT) OIL EXTRACT, MENTHA PIPERITA AMERICAN HERB OIL, MENTHA PIPERITA ESSENTIAL OIL, MENTHA PIPERITA LEAF ESSENTIAL OIL, MENTHA PIPERITA LEAF OIL, MENTHA PIPERITA OIL, MENTHA PIPERITA OIL EXTRACT, MINT ESSENTIAL OIL, MINT LEAF ESSENTIAL OIL, OIL OF PEPPERMINT, OILS, PEPPERMINT, PEPPERMINT ESSENTIAL OIL, PEPPERMINT LEAF ESSENTIAL OIL, PEPPERMINT LEAF OIL, PEPPERMINT OIL, PEPPERMINT OIL EXTRACT, PEPPERMINT OIL; PEPPERMINT OIL; PEPPERMINT TERPENES, and WILD PEPPERMINT OIL

Restricted

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

Peppermint oil is a volatile oil obtained from the plant Mentha piperita.

Common concerns

See how this product scores for common concerns.

LOW

Cancer
HIGH

Allergies & Immunotoxicity
LOW

Developmental and Reproductive Toxicity
LOW

Use Restrictions

Ingredient concerns

CONCERNS
DATA SOURCES

Products with this Ingredient

shampoo	135 products
lip balm	126 products
conditioner	116 products
lip gloss	85 products
toothpaste	72 products
exfoliant/scrub	66 products
hair treatment/serum	64 products
body wash/cleanser	56 products
bar soap	55 products
facial cleanser	52 products
lipstick	50 products
moisturizer	49 products
antiperspirant/deodorant	48 products
mask	36 products
mouthwash	35 products
foot moisturizer	32 products
bath oil/salts/soak	30 products
tooth whitening	30 products
sunless tanning	28 products
facial moisturizer/treatment	21 products
liquid hand soap	20 products
lip plumper	17 products
shaving cream	16 products
muscle/joint soreness	15 products
body oil	15 products
hair-loss treatment	14 products
serums & essences	14 products
hand sanitizer	14 products
hair styling aide	14 products
beard oil	13 products
toners/astringents	12 products
foot cleansing	12 products
foot odor control	11 products
bubble bath	11 products
hand cream	10 products
styling gel/lotion	10 products
recreational sunscreen	8 products
shaving cream (men's)	7 products
beard care	7 products
after sun product	6 products
body firming lotion	6 products
body powder	5 products
damaged skin treatment	4 products
antiperspirant/deodorant (men's)	4 products
after shave	4 products
body spray	4 products
lip balm with SPF	4 products
beard cleanser	3 products
daily use with SPF	3 products
vapor rubs	3 products
baby shampoo	2 products
oil controller	2 products
baby bubble bath	2 products
cuticle treatment	1 products
baby lotion	1 products
makeup primer	1 products
baby wipes	1 products
	1 products
baby soap	1 products
around-eye cream	1 products
detangler	1 products
hair color and bleaching	1 products
nail treatment	1 products

Enhanced skin absorption

CONCERN	REFERENCE
Penetration enhancer	Cosmetic Ingredient Review Assessments

Allergies/immunotoxicity

CONCERN	REFERENCE
Known human any toxicant or allergen	Open scientific literature

Use restrictions

CONCERN	REFERENCE
Determined safe for use in cosmetics, subject to concentration or use limitations - Safe for use in cosmetics with some qualifications	Cosmetic Ingredient Review Assessments

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
821 studies in PubMed science library may include information on the toxicity of this chemical	NLM PubMed

Ecotoxicology

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

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.
Open scientific/peer reviewed literature
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