EWG Skin Deep® | What is POLYETHYLENE TEREPHTHALATE

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Data: Fair

Polyethylene Terephthalate

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Other Concerns

Non-reproductive organ system toxicity (moderate)

SYNONYMS

ETHYLENE GLYCOL-TEREPHTHALIC ACID POLYMER, ETHYLENE TEREPHTHALATE OLIGOMER; POLY(ETHYLENE TEREPHTHALATE) GLYCOL, POLY(OXY-1,2-ETHANEDIYLOXYCARBONYL-1,4-PHENYLENECARBONYL), POLY(OXY1,2ETHANEDIYLOXYCARBONYL1,4PHENYLENECARBONYL), and POLYETHYLENE TEREPHTHALATE

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

Polyethylene terephthalate is a synthetic plastic polymer used as a film-forming agent.

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

lipstick	175 products
nail polish	152 products
eye shadow	92 products
glitter	89 products
lip gloss	65 products
eye liner	42 products
bronzer/highlighter	10 products
mask	7 products
blush	6 products
nail glue	4 products
bath oil/salts/soak	3 products
recreational sunscreen	3 products
lip balm	3 products
hair color and bleaching	2 products
body oil	2 products
	2 products
fragrance for women	1 products
facial moisturizer/treatment	1 products
mascara	1 products
setting powder/spray	1 products
hair spray	1 products
brow liner	1 products
moisturizer	1 products

Organ system toxicity (non-reproductive)

CONCERN	REFERENCE
Classified as expected to be toxic or harmful	Environment Canada Domestic Substance List
Classified as medium human health priority	Environment Canada Domestic Substance List

Informational

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

Ecotoxicology

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

Persistence and bioaccumulation

CONCERN	REFERENCE
Not suspected to be bioaccumulative	Environment Canada Domestic Substance List

Data gaps

CONCERN	REFERENCE
2032 studies in PubMed science library may include information on the toxicity of this chemical	NLM PubMed

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.

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.

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