Know Your Environment. Protect Your Health.
EWG Home EWG’s Guide to Healthy Cleaning EWG’s Food Scores Healthy Living App Open menu

EWG's Skin Deep®
Find products and ingredients Learn how Skin Deep® works Meet our experts Discover EWG VERIFIED®
GET UPDATES DONATE
Score legend
HOW WE DETERMINE SCORES Learn more About EWG VERIFIED®

Data: Fair

Octinoxate

IMAGE SOURCE: PubChem

SEARCH PRODUCTS

Other Concerns

Enhanced skin absorption, Neurotoxicity (low), Endocrine disruption (moderate), Persistence and bioaccumulation (low), Non-reproductive organ system toxicity (low), and Biochemical or cellular level changes (high)

SYNONYMS

● 2-ETHYLHEXYL P-METHOXYCINNAMATE
● 2-ETHYLHEXYL 4-METHOXYCINNAMATE
● 2-ETHYLHEXYL ESTER 2-PROPENOIC ACID, 3-(4-METHOXYPHENY L)-
● 2-ETHYLHEXYL ESTER 3-(4-METHOXYPHENYL)-2-PROPENOIC ACID
● 2-ETHYLHEXYL ESTER P-METHOXYCINNAMIC ACID
● 2-ETHYLHEXYL METHOXYCINNAMATE
● 2-ETHYLHEXYL P-METHOXYCINNAMATE
● 2-ETHYLHEXYL-4-METHOXYCINNAMATE
● 2-PROPENOIC ACID, 3-(4-METHOXYPHENY L)-, 2-ETHYLHEXYL ESTER
● 2-PROPENOIC ACID, 3-(4-METHOXYPHENYL)-, 2-ETHYLHEXYL ESTER
● 2-PROPENOIC ACID, 3-(4-METHOXYPHENYL)-, 2-ETHYLHEXYL ESTER;2-ETHYLHEXYL-P-METHOXYCINNAMATE
● 2PROPENOIC ACID, 3(4METHOXYPHENYL), 2ETHYLHEXYL ESTER
● 3-(4-METHOXYPHENY L)- 2-ETHYLHEXYL ESTER 2-PROPENOIC ACID
● 3-(4-METHOXYPHENYL)-2-PROPENOIC ACID, 2-ETHYLHEXYL ESTER
● AI3-05710
● CCRIS 6200
● EINECS 226-775-7
● ESCALOL
● ETHYLHEXYL METHOXYCINNAMATE
● NEO HELIOPAN
● NSC 26466
● OCTINOXATE
● OCTINOXATE (OCTYL METHOXYCINNAMATE)
● OCTYL METHOXYCINNAMATE
● OMC
● P-METHOXYCINNAMIC ACID, 2-ETHYLHEXYL ESTER
● PARSOL MOX

Unacceptable

Unacceptable: EWG VERIFIED products cannot contain this ingredient

This common sunscreen ingredient is shown to have hormone-mimicking effects on laboratory animals. This chemical is found in humans, including mothers' milk samples.

Common concerns

See how this product scores for common concerns.

  • LOW
    Cancer
  • MODERATE
    Allergies & Immunotoxicity
  • MODERATE
    Developmental and Reproductive Toxicity
  • LOW
    Use Restrictions

Ingredient concerns

  • CONCERNS
  • DATA SOURCES

Products with this Ingredient

Expand content Collapse content
foundation372 products
daily use with SPF134 products
fragrance for women132 products
hair spray86 products
shampoo68 products
lipstick66 products
hair styling aide60 products
fragrance for men60 products
lip balm with SPF59 products
hair treatment/serum54 products
conditioner52 products
facial moisturizer/treatment37 products
CC cream36 products
36 products
body spray34 products
recreational sunscreen28 products
concealer19 products
makeup primer19 products
BB cream18 products
lip gloss18 products
lip balm17 products
styling gel/lotion15 products
moisturizer14 products
body wash/cleanser14 products
anti-aging11 products
styling mousse/foam10 products
serums & essences10 products
blush10 products
hand cream9 products
bronzer/highlighter9 products
detangler7 products
eye shadow7 products
after shave6 products
mask6 products
hair color and bleaching5 products
facial cleanser5 products
lip plumper5 products
around-eye cream5 products
baby sunscreen4 products
exfoliant/scrub4 products
hand sanitizer3 products
mascara2 products
eye liner2 products
body oil2 products
skin fading/lightener1 products
toners/astringents1 products
after sun product1 products
setting powder/spray1 products
beard care1 products
glitter1 products

Enhanced skin absorption

Expand content Collapse content
CONCERN REFERENCE
Penetration enhancerOpen scientific literature
Absorbs into the skinOpen scientific literature

Biochemical or cellular level changes

Expand content Collapse content
CONCERN REFERENCE
Produces excess reactive oxygen species that can interfere with cellular signaling, cause mutations, lead to cell death and may be implicated in cardiovascular disease.Open scientific literature
Does not produces excess reactive oxygen species or other harmful biochemical changes.Open scientific literature

Endocrine disruption

Expand content Collapse content
CONCERN REFERENCE
Human endocrine disruptor - strong evidenceEuropean Commission on Endocrine Disruption
One or more studies show significant wildlife and the environment disruptionEuropean Commission on Endocrine Disruption
One or more studies show moderate endocrine disruptionOpen scientific literature
One or more studies show weak endocrine disruptionOpen scientific literature
Associated with endocrine disruptionOpen scientific literature

Developmental/reproductive toxicity

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

Allergies/immunotoxicity

Expand content Collapse content
CONCERN REFERENCE
One or more human case studies show significant any or allergenic effectsOpen scientific literature
One or more human case studies show possible photoallergic or allergenic effectsOpen scientific literature
One or more human case studies show equivocal any or allergenic effectsOpen scientific literature
Associated with immunotoxicity or allergiesOpen scientific literature

Persistence and bioaccumulation

Expand content Collapse content
CONCERN REFERENCE
Ingredient is suspected or measured to accumulate in peopleOpen scientific literature
Not suspected to be bioaccumulativeEnvironment Canada Domestic Substance List
Not suspected to be persistentEnvironment Canada Domestic Substance List

Neurotoxicity

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

Organ system toxicity (non-reproductive)

Expand content Collapse content
CONCERN REFERENCE
One or more animal studies show liver effects at high doses (low dose studies may be unavailable for this ingredient)Open scientific literature
Classified as not expected to be potentially toxic or harmfulEnvironment Canada Domestic Substance List

Ecotoxicology

Expand content Collapse content
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
799 studies in PubMed science library may include information on the toxicity of this chemicalNLM PubMed
  • Open scientific/peer reviewed literature
  • EU (European Union)- Strategy for Endocrine Disrupters 2007. Commision on endocrin disruption requested by the European Parliament in 1998.
  • 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.

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.

BUILD YOUR OWN REPORT

News & updates

Big Market for Black Cosmetics, but Less-Hazardous Choices Limited
RESEARCH
Big Market for Black Cosmetics, but Less-Hazardous Choices Limited
K-Beauty Trends: Serums, Essences and EWG’s Best Bets
RESEARCH
K-Beauty Trends: Serums, Essences and EWG’s Best Bets
FDA Asks Women To Protect Themselves From Products The Agency Refused To Ban
NEWS RELEASE
FDA Asks Women To Protect Themselves From Products The Agency Refused To Ban
Study Highlights Importance of Cosmetics Ingredient Safety Tests
NEWS RELEASE
Study Highlights Importance of Cosmetics Ingredient Safety Tests
READ ALL ARTICLES
Skindeep Healthy Living App

EWG research
on the go

Find personal care, cleaning, and food products on the EWG Healthy Living app.

DOWNLOAD THE APP