EWG Skin Deep® | What is METHICONE

HOW WE DETERMINE SCORES Learn more About EWG VERIFIED®

Data: Limited

Methicone

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Other Concerns

SYNONYMS

● HYDROGEN METHYL POLYSILOXANE

● ME HYDROGEN SILOXANES AND SILICONES

● METHICONE

● METHYL HYDROGEN POLYSILOXANE

● POLY[OXY(METHYLSILYLENE)]

● SILOXANES AND SILICONES, ME HYDROGEN

Restricted

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

Methicone is a linear silicone-based polymer.

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

foundation	499 products
concealer	167 products
blush	38 products
facial powder	33 products
bronzer/highlighter	28 products
eye shadow	27 products
daily use with SPF	27 products
BB cream	25 products
	23 products
brow liner	19 products
lipstick	15 products
makeup primer	9 products
setting powder/spray	9 products
eye liner	7 products
CC cream	7 products
mascara	6 products
nail polish	6 products
recreational sunscreen	4 products
lip balm	3 products
shampoo	1 products
facial moisturizer/treatment	1 products
hair treatment/serum	1 products
other eye makeup	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
5 studies in PubMed science library may include information on the toxicity of this chemical	NLM PubMed

Multiple, additive exposure sources

CONCERN	REFERENCE
Designated as safe for general or specific, limited use in food	FDA Everything Added to Food

Informational

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

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.
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.

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