EWG Skin Deep® | What is POLYSORBATE-20

HOW WE DETERMINE SCORES Learn more About EWG VERIFIED™

Data: Fair

Polysorbate 20

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.

IMAGE SOURCE: PubChem

SEARCH PRODUCTS

FIND PRODUCTS WITH THIS INGREDIENT

Other Concerns

Use restrictions (low), Non-reproductive organ system toxicity (low), Irritation (skin, eyes, or lungs) (low), and Contamination concerns (high)

SYNONYMS

● MONODODECANOATE POLY(OXY-1,2-ETHANEDIYL) DERIVS. SORBITAN

● POLY(OXY-1,2-ETHANEDIYL) DERIVS. SORBITAN, MONODODECANOATE

● POLYOXYETHYLENE (20) SORBITAN MONOLAURATE

● POLYOXYETHYLENE SORBITAN MONOLAURATE

● POLYSORBATE 20

● POLYSORBATE-20

● POYLSORBATE-20

● SORBIMACROGOL LAURATE 300

● SORBITAN, MONODODECANOATE, POLY(OXY-1,2-ETHANEDIYL) DERIVS.

● TWEEN-20

Restricted

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

Polysorbate 20 (Tween 20) is a surfactant and emulsifier used in cleaners and personal care products.

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

facial moisturizer/treatment	229 products
serums & essences	204 products
shampoo	190 products
mask	156 products
body wash/cleanser	151 products
hair treatment/serum	131 products
facial cleanser	124 products
foundation	122 products
hair styling aide	121 products
toners/astringents	115 products
moisturizer	112 products
exfoliant/scrub	107 products
conditioner	102 products
liquid hand soap	99 products
around-eye cream	91 products
styling gel/lotion	75 products
daily use with SPF	66 products
eye liner	64 products
baby wipes	63 products
bronzer/highlighter	56 products
makeup remover	50 products
body spray	49 products
hand sanitizer	45 products
sunless tanning	43 products
styling mousse/foam	42 products
recreational sunscreen	40 products
hair spray	38 products
CC cream	35 products
makeup primer	28 products
eye shadow	27 products
after sun product	25 products
anti-aging	23 products
antiperspirant/deodorant	23 products
bath oil/salts/soak	22 products
mascara	22 products
setting powder/spray	22 products
detangler	20 products
blush	18 products
brow liner	18 products
body firming lotion	17 products
mouthwash	16 products
lipstick	16 products
after shave	15 products
hand cream	15 products
baby lotion	14 products
concealer	13 products
shaving cream	12 products
BB cream	10 products
antiperspirant/deodorant (men's)	9 products
	9 products
facial powder	8 products
body cleansing wipes	8 products
hair color and bleaching	7 products
hair-loss treatment	7 products
shaving cream (men's)	7 products
foot cleansing	6 products
foot moisturizer	6 products
nail treatment	5 products
bubble bath	5 products
other eye makeup	5 products
baby sunscreen	5 products
muscle/joint soreness	4 products
foot odor control	4 products
beard care	4 products
beard cleanser	4 products
eye makeup remover	3 products
baby shampoo	3 products
skin fading/lightener	3 products
tooth whitening	3 products
body oil	3 products
cuticle treatment	3 products
tanning oil	2 products
polish remover	2 products
baby bubble bath	2 products
lip balm	2 products
glitter	2 products
baby soap	1 products
oil controller	1 products
beard oil	1 products
damaged skin treatment	1 products
lip gloss	1 products
diaper cream	1 products
lip plumper	1 products
eyelash glue	1 products
baby oil	1 products
baby powder	1 products
lip liner	1 products
facial cleansing wipes	1 products

Contamination concerns

Chemical
ETHYLENE OXIDE
1,4-DIOXANE

Allergies/immunotoxicity

CONCERN	REFERENCE
Limited evidence of any toxicity or allergies	Open scientific literature

Organ system toxicity (non-reproductive)

CONCERN	REFERENCE
Limited evidence of sense organ toxicity	Scorecard.org Toxicity Information
Classified as not expected to be potentially toxic or harmful	Environment Canada Domestic Substance List
Classified as a low human health priority	Environment Canada Domestic Substance List

Use restrictions

CONCERN	REFERENCE
Determined safe for use in cosmetics, subject to concentration or use limitations - any	Open scientific literature

Irritation (skin, eyes, or lungs)

CONCERN	REFERENCE
any irritation - weight of evidence unknown/unassessed	Open scientific literature

Data gaps

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 product	Cosmetic Ingredient Review Assessments
2265 studies in PubMed science library may include information on the toxicity of this chemical	NLM PubMed

Multiple, additive exposure sources

CONCERN	REFERENCE
Designated as safe for general or specific, limited use in food	FDA Food Additive Status
Designated as safe for general or specific, limited use in food	FDA Everything Added to Food

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

Open scientific/peer reviewed literature
ED (Environmental Defense). 2006. Scorecard _ The Pollution Information Site. http://www.scorecard.org.
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.
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.
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.

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