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HOW WE DETERMINE SCORES Learn more About EWG VERIFIED®

Data: Fair

Polypropylene

  • This ingredient’s score is higher if used in products that are inhalable (e.g., sprays, powders) because of respiratory concerns.

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Other Concerns

Non-reproductive organ system toxicity (moderate)

SYNONYMS

● 1-PROPENE, HOMOPOLYMER
● 1PROPENE, HOMOPOLYMER
● HOMOPOLYMER 1-PROPENE
● POLYPROPYLENE
● POLYPROPYLENE POWDER

Restricted

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

Polypropylene is a polymer of propylene monomers.

Common concerns

See how this product scores for common concerns.

  • LOW
    Cancer
  • MODERATE
    Allergies & Immunotoxicity
  • LOW
    Developmental and Reproductive Toxicity
  • LOW
    Use Restrictions

Ingredient concerns

  • CONCERNS
  • DATA SOURCES

Products with this Ingredient

Expand content Collapse content
foundation59 products
brow liner53 products
lipstick28 products
eye shadow2 products
nail polish2 products
makeup remover1 products
lip plumper1 products
makeup primer1 products
lip balm1 products
daily use with SPF1 products
lip balm with SPF1 products
facial moisturizer/treatment1 products

Allergies/immunotoxicity

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CONCERN REFERENCE
Human any toxicant or allergen - strong evidenceOpen scientific literature
Limited evidence of any toxicity or allergiesOpen scientific literature

Organ system toxicity (non-reproductive)

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CONCERN REFERENCE
Classified as expected to be toxic or harmfulEnvironment Canada Domestic Substance List
Classified as medium human health priorityEnvironment Canada Domestic Substance List
Limited evidence of gastrointestinal or liver toxicityScorecard.org Toxicity Information

Occupational hazards

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CONCERN REFERENCE
Single case study detailing occupational hazardsNational Library of Medicine HazMap

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

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

Data gaps

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CONCERN REFERENCE
7036 studies in PubMed science library may include information on the toxicity of this chemicalNLM PubMed

Informational

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CONCERN REFERENCE
Industry or government recommendations for safe use: restrictions on concentration, impurities, product types, or manufacturing methods - anyOpen scientific literature
  • Open scientific/peer reviewed literature
  • EC (Environment Canada). 2008. Domestic Substances List Categorization. Canadian Environmental Protection Act (CEPA) Environmental Registry.
  • ED (Environmental Defense). 2006. Scorecard _ The Pollution Information Site. http://www.scorecard.org.
  • NLM (National Library of Medicine). 2006. HazMap — Occupational Exposure to Hazardous Agents.
  • 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).
  • 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.

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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