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Data: Limited

Polyethylene

IMAGE SOURCE: PubChem

SEARCH PRODUCTS

Other Concerns

Irritation (skin, eyes, or lungs) (moderate)

SYNONYMS

● ETHENE, HOMOPOLYMER
● ETHYLENE POLYMER; POLYETHYLENE
● HIGH MELTING POINT POLYETHYLENE POWDER
● HOMOPOLYMER ETHENE
● POLYETHYLENE
● POLYETHYLENE POWDER
● POLYETHYLENE WAX

This ingredient is not currently on EWG's Skin Deep Restricted or Unacceptable Lists.

Polyethylene is a polymer of ethylene monomers; may contain potentially toxic manufacturing contaminants 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
lipstick903 products
eye liner463 products
brow liner264 products
eye shadow240 products
lip liner207 products
lip gloss188 products
blush186 products
bronzer/highlighter183 products
foundation116 products
lip balm109 products
concealer104 products
mascara64 products
recreational sunscreen47 products
antiperspirant/deodorant45 products
makeup primer30 products
lip plumper26 products
facial moisturizer/treatment19 products
daily use with SPF17 products
BB cream17 products
antiperspirant/deodorant (men's)16 products
facial powder16 products
around-eye cream15 products
makeup remover13 products
mask12 products
12 products
moisturizer9 products
facial cleanser8 products
lip balm with SPF7 products
baby sunscreen7 products
anti-aging6 products
exfoliant/scrub6 products
hair color and bleaching4 products
setting powder/spray3 products
hair styling aide3 products
body art3 products
hand cream3 products
hair treatment/serum2 products
shampoo2 products
serums & essences2 products
other eye makeup1 products
hair spray1 products
glitter1 products
hair removal waxes1 products
bar soap1 products
eye makeup remover1 products
diaper cream1 products
toners/astringents1 products
conditioner1 products
nail polish1 products
baby lotion1 products

Irritation (skin, eyes, or lungs)

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CONCERN REFERENCE
Human any irritant - strong evidenceCosmetic Ingredient Review Assessments

Allergies/immunotoxicity

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CONCERN REFERENCE
Limited evidence of immune system toxicity or allergiesNational Library of Medicine HazMap

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
Missing safety data noted by cosmetic industry reviewCosmetic Ingredient Review Assessments
Considered safe based on assumption of low absorptionCosmetic Ingredient Review Assessments
0 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

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
Classified as a low human health priorityEnvironment Canada Domestic Substance List

Persistence and bioaccumulation

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CONCERN REFERENCE
Not suspected to be bioaccumulativeEnvironment Canada Domestic Substance List

Cancer

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CONCERN REFERENCE
Not likely to be carcinogenic in humansOpen scientific literature
Limited or incomplete evidence of cancer according to safety/hazard data – government assessment cannot classify as human carcinogen due to data gapsInt'l Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) - Carcinogens

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
Designated as safe for general or specific, limited use in foodFDA Food Additive Status

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
  • 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). 2006. HazMap — Occupational Exposure to Hazardous Agents.
  • NLM (National Library of Medicine). 2012. PubMed online scientific bibliography data. http://www.pubmed.gov.
  • EC (Environment Canada). 2008. Domestic Substances List Categorization. Canadian Environmental Protection Act (CEPA) Environmental Registry.
  • Open scientific/peer reviewed literature
  • IARC (International Agency for Research on Cancer). 2008. Overall Evaluations of Carcinogenicity to Humans, as evaluated in IARC Monographs Volumes 1-99 (a total of 935 agents, mixtures and exposures).
  • 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.
  • 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.

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.

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