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HOW WE DETERMINE SCORES Learn more About EWG VERIFIED™

Data: Fair

Octisalate

  • Products with the EWG VERIFIED mark have met use restrictions and warnings based on EWG review of company data.

IMAGE SOURCE: PubChem

SEARCH PRODUCTS

Other Concerns

Enhanced skin absorption, Use restrictions (moderate), Endocrine disruption (low), and Biochemical or cellular level changes (high)

SYNONYMS

● 2-ETHYLHEXYL 2-HYDROXYBENZOATE
● 2-ETHYLHEXYL ESTER BENZOIC ACID, 2-HYDROXY-
● 2-ETHYLHEXYL ESTER SALICYLIC ACID
● 2-ETHYLHEXYL SALICYLATE
● 2-HYDROXY- 2-ETHYLHEXYL ESTER BENZOIC ACID
● 3-10-00-00124 (BEILSTEIN HANDBOOK REFERENCE)
● BENZOIC ACID, 2-HYDROXY-, 2-ETHYLHEXYL ESTER
● BENZOIC ACID, 2HYDROXY, 2ETHYLHEXYL ESTER
● BRN 2730664
● EHS
● EINECS 204-263-4
● ETHYL HEXYL SALICYLATE
● ETHYLHEXYL SALICYLATE
● NSC 46151
● OCTISALATE
● OCTISALATE (OCTYL SALICYLATE)
● OCTYL SALICYLATE
● SALICYLIC ACID, 2-ETHYLHEXYL ESTER
● SUNAROME O
● SUNAROME WMO
● USAF DO-11
● WMO

Restricted

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

Octisalate is a sunscreen ingredient with a generally good safety profile. It can stabilize avobenzone and result in longer-lasting sun protection.

Common concerns

See how this product scores for common concerns.

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

Ingredient concerns

  • CONCERNS
  • DATA SOURCES

Products with this Ingredient

Expand content Collapse content
recreational sunscreen484 products
daily use with SPF280 products
foundation131 products
fragrance for women124 products
CC cream71 products
fragrance for men54 products
baby sunscreen49 products
lip balm with SPF47 products
body spray31 products
conditioner26 products
facial moisturizer/treatment22 products
shampoo19 products
hair treatment/serum16 products
blush12 products
11 products
body oil11 products
tanning oil9 products
hair styling aide8 products
body wash/cleanser7 products
makeup primer7 products
lip balm7 products
bronzer/highlighter6 products
BB cream5 products
facial cleanser5 products
hair spray5 products
hand sanitizer4 products
styling mousse/foam4 products
skin fading/lightener4 products
styling gel/lotion3 products
serums & essences3 products
setting powder/spray3 products
moisturizer3 products
after shave3 products
lipstick2 products
exfoliant/scrub2 products
detangler2 products
concealer1 products
hair color and bleaching1 products
toners/astringents1 products
after sun product1 products
around-eye cream1 products
lip gloss1 products
hand cream1 products
sunless tanning1 products

Enhanced skin absorption

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CONCERN REFERENCE
Penetration enhancerOpen scientific literature
Absorbs into the skinOpen scientific literature

Biochemical or cellular level changes

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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

Use restrictions

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CONCERN REFERENCE
Restricted in cosmetics (recommendations or requirements) - use, concentration, or manufacturing restrictions - Japan - restricted for use in some types of cosmetics (concentration limit)Japan's Standards for Cosmetics
Determined safe for use in cosmetics, subject to concentration or use limitations - Safe for use in cosmetics with some qualificationsCosmetic Ingredient Review Assessments

Allergies/immunotoxicity

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CONCERN REFERENCE
One or more human case studies show possible immune or allergenic effectsOpen scientific literature

Endocrine disruption

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

Ecotoxicology

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CONCERN REFERENCE
Suspected to be an environmental toxinEnvironment Canada Domestic Substance List

Organ system toxicity (non-reproductive)

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CONCERN REFERENCE
Classified as not expected to be potentially toxic or harmfulEnvironment Canada Domestic Substance List

Persistence and bioaccumulation

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

Data gaps

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CONCERN REFERENCE
2123 studies in PubMed science library may include information on the toxicity of this chemicalNLM PubMed
  • Open scientific/peer reviewed literature
  • Japan Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare. 2006. Standards for Cosmetics. Evaluation and Licensing Division. Pharmaceutical and Food Safety Bureau.
  • CIR (Cosmetic Ingredient Review). 2006. CIR Compendium, containing abstracts, discussions, and conclusions of CIR cosmetic ingredient safety assessments. Washington DC.
  • 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.

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