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HOW WE DETERMINE SCORES Learn more About EWG VERIFIED®

Data: Limited

Mentha Piperita (Peppermint) Oil

IMAGE SOURCE: PubChem

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Other Concerns

Enhanced skin absorption, Use restrictions (low), Neurotoxicity (low), Endocrine disruption (low), and Irritation (skin, eyes, or lungs) (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
● 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

Expand content Collapse content
shampoo156 products
lip balm130 products
conditioner127 products
lip gloss104 products
toothpaste73 products
exfoliant/scrub71 products
hair treatment/serum71 products
facial cleanser60 products
body wash/cleanser60 products
bar soap58 products
lipstick53 products
antiperspirant/deodorant49 products
moisturizer43 products
bath oil/salts/soak40 products
mask39 products
sunless tanning31 products
tooth whitening28 products
mouthwash26 products
liquid hand soap25 products
foot moisturizer25 products
facial moisturizer/treatment22 products
toners/astringents19 products
body oil19 products
hair styling aide19 products
lip plumper18 products
shaving cream17 products
hair-loss treatment17 products
serums & essences15 products
styling gel/lotion13 products
muscle/joint soreness12 products
hand sanitizer11 products
foot cleansing11 products
hand cream11 products
beard oil10 products
foot odor control9 products
bubble bath8 products
recreational sunscreen8 products
shaving cream (men's)8 products
after sun product7 products
antiperspirant/deodorant (men's)5 products
body powder5 products
beard cleanser4 products
damaged skin treatment4 products
body spray4 products
lip balm with SPF4 products
after shave3 products
beard care3 products
3 products
daily use with SPF3 products
nail treatment3 products
detangler2 products
baby bubble bath2 products
hair spray2 products
oil controller2 products
baby shampoo2 products
cuticle treatment2 products
vapor rubs2 products
styling mousse/foam2 products
hair color and bleaching1 products
baby lotion1 products
baby soap1 products
around-eye cream1 products
makeup primer1 products
body firming lotion1 products
exfoliant/scrub - large particle1 products

Enhanced skin absorption

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CONCERN REFERENCE
Penetration enhancerCosmetic Ingredient Review Assessments

Allergies/immunotoxicity

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CONCERN REFERENCE
Known human any toxicant or allergenOpen scientific literature
Limited evidence of any toxicity or allergiesOpen scientific literature
any or allergies - weight of evidence unknown/unassessedOpen scientific literature

Irritation (skin, eyes, or lungs)

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CONCERN REFERENCE
Limited evidence of any irritationOpen scientific literature

Use restrictions

Expand content Collapse content
CONCERN REFERENCE
Determined safe for use in cosmetics, subject to concentration or use limitations - Safe for use in cosmetics with some qualificationsCosmetic Ingredient Review Assessments

Cancer

Expand content Collapse content
CONCERN REFERENCE
One or more in vitro tests on mammalian cells show positive mutation resultsOpen scientific literature

Endocrine disruption

Expand content Collapse content
CONCERN REFERENCE
Associated with endocrine disruptionOpen scientific literature

Neurotoxicity

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

Ecotoxicology

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CONCERN REFERENCE
Wildlife and environmental toxicityOpen scientific literature
Not suspected to be an environmental toxinEnvironment Canada Domestic Substance List

Data gaps

Expand content Collapse content
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 productCosmetic Ingredient Review Assessments
821 studies in PubMed science library may include information on the toxicity of this chemicalNLM PubMed

Multiple, additive exposure sources

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

Biochemical or cellular level changes

Expand content Collapse content
CONCERN REFERENCE
Does not produces excess reactive oxygen species or other harmful biochemical changes.Open scientific literature

Persistence and bioaccumulation

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

Organ system toxicity (non-reproductive)

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CONCERN REFERENCE
Classified as a low human health priorityEnvironment Canada Domestic Substance List
Classified as not expected to be potentially toxic or harmfulEnvironment Canada Domestic Substance List
  • 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
  • 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.
  • 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.

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.

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September 23, 2023 | Los Angeles, CA

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