EWG Skin Deep® | What is MENTHOL

HOW WE DETERMINE SCORES Learn more About EWG VERIFIED™

Data: Fair

Menthol

IMAGE SOURCE: PubChem

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Other Concerns

Multiple, additive exposure sources (low)

SYNONYMS

● (1ALPHA,2BETA,5ALPHA)-5-METHYL-2-(1-METHYLETHYL)CYCLOHEXANE

● 2-ISOPROPYL-5-METHYLCYCLOHEXANOL

● 3-HYDROXY-P-MENTHANE

● 5-METHYL-2-(1-METHYLETHYL)- CYCLOHEXANOL

● 5-METHYL-2-(1-METHYLETHYL)CYCLOHEXANOL

● CYCLOHEXANOL, 5-METHYL-2-(1-METHYLETHYL)-

● CYCLOHEXANOL, 5-METHYL-2-(1-METHYLETHYL)-, (1R,2S,5R)-REL-

● DL-MENTHOL

● L-MENTHOL

● MENTHOL

● MENTHOL CRYSTAL

● P-METHAN-3-OL

● RACEMIC MENTHOL

Restricted

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

Menthol is a scent ingredient naturally found in peppermin oil; also manufactured synthetically on a large scale.

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	120 products
mouthwash	95 products
conditioner	91 products
facial cleanser	69 products
hair treatment/serum	56 products
lip balm	53 products
body wash/cleanser	45 products
toothpaste	39 products
exfoliant/scrub	34 products
moisturizer	33 products
lip plumper	27 products
mask	26 products
muscle/joint soreness	26 products
bath oil/salts/soak	25 products
lip gloss	25 products
after shave	22 products
tooth whitening	18 products
shaving cream (men's)	17 products
shaving cream	17 products
after sun product	15 products
setting powder/spray	15 products
toners/astringents	13 products
body firming lotion	12 products
foot moisturizer	11 products
body powder	11 products
hair-loss treatment	11 products
facial moisturizer/treatment	10 products
foot cleansing	9 products
pore strips	8 products
styling gel/lotion	7 products
lipstick	7 products
foundation	7 products
bar soap	7 products
body oil	6 products
foot odor control	5 products
lip balm with SPF	5 products
antiperspirant/deodorant (men's)	5 products
makeup primer	5 products
antiperspirant/deodorant	4 products
recreational sunscreen	4 products
beard cleanser	4 products
detangler	3 products
body spray	3 products
serums & essences	3 products
beard oil	3 products
hair removal waxes	2 products
makeup remover	2 products
vapor rubs	2 products
damaged skin treatment	2 products
hair styling aide	2 products
bubble bath	2 products
beard care	2 products
blush	1 products
hair spray	1 products
facial powder	1 products
baby wipes	1 products
cuticle treatment	1 products
liquid hand soap	1 products
around-eye cream	1 products
	1 products
makeup removing wipes	1 products

Allergies/immunotoxicity

CONCERN	REFERENCE
Known human any toxicant or allergen	Open scientific literature
Human any toxicant or allergen - strong evidence	Open scientific literature

Multiple, additive exposure sources

CONCERN	REFERENCE
Used in food or as an additive with limited or no toxicity information available	FDA Everything Added to Food
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

Data gaps

CONCERN	REFERENCE
2110 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

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

Open scientific/peer reviewed literature
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.
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.

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