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HOW WE DETERMINE SCORES Learn more About EWG VERIFIED™

Data: Fair

Petrolatum

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

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Other Concerns

Use restrictions (moderate), Non-reproductive organ system toxicity (moderate), and Contamination concerns (high)

SYNONYMS

● MINERAL GREASE (PETROLATUM)
● MINERAL JELLY
● PETROLATUM
● PETROLATUM AMBER
● PETROLATUM WHITE
● PETROLEUM JELLY
● YELLOW PETROLATUM

Restricted

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

Petrolatum is a semisolid mixture of hydrocarbons obtained from petroleum.

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

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moisturizer357 products
lip balm137 products
lipstick115 products
antiperspirant/deodorant110 products
hair styling aide102 products
facial moisturizer/treatment63 products
lip gloss60 products
eye liner57 products
body wash/cleanser56 products
eye shadow56 products
body firming lotion53 products
antiperspirant/deodorant (men's)49 products
hand cream44 products
styling gel/lotion33 products
lip liner32 products
foundation31 products
concealer31 products
diaper cream30 products
bar soap27 products
hair treatment/serum26 products
brow liner25 products
baby lotion23 products
conditioner23 products
lip balm with SPF22 products
bronzer/highlighter20 products
sunless tanning18 products
shaving cream16 products
mask15 products
exfoliant/scrub14 products
lip plumper14 products
facial cleanser13 products
around-eye cream12 products
damaged skin treatment9 products
blush8 products
tooth whitening8 products
foot moisturizer6 products
hair relaxer6 products
recreational sunscreen6 products
beard care6 products
after sun product5 products
anti-aging5 products
makeup primer4 products
daily use with SPF4 products
facial powder3 products
after shave3 products
hair color and bleaching3 products
serums & essences3 products
glitter2 products
shaving cream (men's)2 products
styling mousse/foam1 products
muscle/joint soreness1 products
detangler1 products
baby oil1 products
fragrance for women1 products
foot cleansing1 products
hair spray1 products
hand sanitizer1 products
1 products
baby sunscreen1 products
setting powder/spray1 products
body oil1 products
liquid hand soap1 products

Contamination concerns

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Chemical
PAHS

Organ system toxicity (non-reproductive)

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CONCERN REFERENCE
Classified as a high human health priorityEnvironment Canada Domestic Substance List
Classified as expected to be toxic or harmfulEnvironment Canada Domestic Substance List

Use restrictions

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CONCERN REFERENCE
Restricted in cosmetics (recommendations or requirements) - use, concentration, or manufacturing restrictions - anyCosIng

Multiple, additive exposure sources

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

Data gaps

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CONCERN REFERENCE
1901 studies in PubMed science library may include information on the toxicity of this chemicalNLM PubMed

Ecotoxicology

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CONCERN REFERENCE
Not suspected to be an environmental toxinEnvironment Canada Domestic Substance List

Persistence and bioaccumulation

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CONCERN REFERENCE
Not suspected to be bioaccumulativeEnvironment Canada Domestic Substance List
  • EC (Environment Canada). 2008. Domestic Substances List Categorization. Canadian Environmental Protection Act (CEPA) Environmental Registry.
  • European Commission. 2013. Cosing, the European Commission database with information on cosmetic substances and ingredients. Accessed on March 1, 2013 at http://ec.europa.eu/consumers/cosmetics/cosing/ .
  • 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.
  • 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.

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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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