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Data: Limited

Peg 40 Stearate

  • Products with the EWG VERIFIED mark have met the program’s impurity restrictions based on EWG review of company data.

IMAGE SOURCE: PubChem

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Other Concerns

Non-reproductive organ system toxicity (low) and Contamination concerns (high)

SYNONYMS

● MACROGOL STEARATE 2000
● PEG-40 STEARATE
● POLYETHYLENE GLYCOL 2000 MONOSTEARATE
● POLYOXYETHYLENE (40) MONOSTEARATE
● POLYOXYL 40 STEARATE
● STEARETHATE 40

Restricted

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


PEG-40 stearate is a synthetic polymer composed of PEG (polyethylene glycol) and stearic acid, a naturally occurring fatty acid. Due to the presence of PEG, this ingredient may contain potentially toxic manufacturing impurities such as 1,4-dioxane.

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

Expand content Collapse content
moisturizer34 products
facial moisturizer/treatment27 products
facial cleanser12 products
hand cream12 products
mask11 products
around-eye cream11 products
recreational sunscreen7 products
makeup primer7 products
body firming lotion6 products
eye liner5 products
conditioner5 products
exfoliant/scrub5 products
anti-aging5 products
serums & essences4 products
daily use with SPF4 products
hair styling aide4 products
foot moisturizer4 products
mascara4 products
hair treatment/serum2 products
baby sunscreen2 products
BB cream2 products
foot odor control2 products
styling gel/lotion2 products
damaged skin treatment2 products
eye shadow1 products
hair color and bleaching1 products
1 products
nail treatment1 products
body wash/cleanser1 products
foundation1 products
lip balm1 products
baby lotion1 products
concealer1 products

Contamination concerns

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Organ system toxicity (non-reproductive)

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CONCERN REFERENCE
Limited evidence of sense organ toxicityScorecard.org Toxicity Information
Classified as not expected to be potentially toxic or harmfulEnvironment Canada Domestic Substance List

Ecotoxicology

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

Data gaps

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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
Safety assessment was based on related chemicalCosmetic Ingredient Review Assessments
38 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

Informational

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

Persistence and bioaccumulation

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CONCERN REFERENCE
Not suspected to be persistentEnvironment Canada Domestic Substance List
Not suspected to be bioaccumulativeEnvironment Canada Domestic Substance List
  • ED (Environmental Defense). 2006. Scorecard _ The Pollution Information Site. http://www.scorecard.org.
  • EC (Environment Canada). 2008. Domestic Substances List Categorization. Canadian Environmental Protection Act (CEPA) Environmental Registry.
  • 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) 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

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

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