EWG Skin Deep® | What is POLYHYDROXYSTEARIC ACID

HOW WE DETERMINE SCORES Learn more About EWG VERIFIED®

Data: None

Polyhydroxystearic Acid

IMAGE SOURCE: PubChem

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Other Concerns

SYNONYMS

● 12-HYDROXYSTEARIC ACID ESTOLIDE

● OCTADECANOIC ACID, 12HYDROXY, HOMOPOLYMER

● POLYHYDROXYOCTADECANOIC ACID

● POLYHYDROXYSTEARIC ACID

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

Polyhydroxystearic Acid is a polymer of Hydroxystearic Acid (q.v.)

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	357 products
recreational sunscreen	281 products
foundation	229 products
daily use with SPF	213 products
concealer	180 products
lip gloss	99 products
blush	78 products
brow liner	72 products
eye shadow	66 products
baby sunscreen	58 products
lip balm	58 products
eye liner	55 products
lip balm with SPF	32 products
BB cream	26 products
bronzer/highlighter	26 products
	25 products
around-eye cream	23 products
hair styling aide	19 products
facial moisturizer/treatment	19 products
hair color and bleaching	18 products
lip liner	16 products
moisturizer	14 products
antiperspirant/deodorant	13 products
mascara	11 products
makeup primer	11 products
setting powder/spray	10 products
exfoliant/scrub	10 products
CC cream	9 products
facial cleanser	5 products
baby lotion	5 products
hair treatment/serum	4 products
mask	4 products
serums & essences	4 products
beard care	3 products
tanning oil	2 products
diaper cream	2 products
makeup remover	2 products
foot moisturizer	1 products
damaged skin treatment	1 products
body art	1 products
styling gel/lotion	1 products
anti-aging	1 products

Ecotoxicology

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

Organ system toxicity (non-reproductive)

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

Persistence and bioaccumulation

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

Data gaps

CONCERN	REFERENCE
0 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.
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