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

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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	251 products
shampoo	229 products
serums & essences	224 products
mask	171 products
body wash/cleanser	155 products
hair styling aide	149 products
facial cleanser	142 products
foundation	137 products
toners/astringents	134 products
hair treatment/serum	133 products
conditioner	128 products
exfoliant/scrub	126 products
moisturizer	123 products
around-eye cream	100 products
liquid hand soap	92 products
styling gel/lotion	89 products
baby wipes	66 products
eye liner	65 products
daily use with SPF	59 products
styling mousse/foam	53 products
makeup remover	50 products
bronzer/highlighter	49 products
body spray	49 products
sunless tanning	44 products
recreational sunscreen	42 products
hair spray	41 products
CC cream	35 products
antiperspirant/deodorant	29 products
hand sanitizer	29 products
anti-aging	27 products
after sun product	27 products
makeup primer	27 products
bath oil/salts/soak	24 products
setting powder/spray	24 products
eye shadow	23 products
mascara	22 products
blush	20 products
mouthwash	17 products
detangler	17 products
hand cream	17 products
lipstick	17 products
brow liner	17 products
after shave	15 products
concealer	15 products
body cleansing wipes	14 products
hair color and bleaching	11 products
BB cream	11 products
	11 products
shaving cream	10 products
baby lotion	10 products
facial powder	9 products
bubble bath	9 products
antiperspirant/deodorant (men's)	9 products
hair-loss treatment	7 products
shaving cream (men's)	7 products
foot moisturizer	6 products
nail treatment	5 products
body firming lotion	5 products
muscle/joint soreness	5 products
other eye makeup	5 products
baby sunscreen	5 products
beard care	5 products
beard cleanser	5 products
facial cleansing wipes	5 products
foot cleansing	4 products
skin fading/lightener	4 products
body oil	4 products
foot odor control	4 products
makeup removing wipes	4 products
eye makeup remover	3 products
cuticle treatment	3 products
lip balm	3 products
baby shampoo	2 products
tanning oil	2 products
polish remover	2 products
baby bubble bath	2 products
glitter	2 products
baby soap	1 products
tooth whitening	1 products
oil controller	1 products
beard oil	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

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