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HOW WE DETERMINE SCORES Learn more About EWG VERIFIED™

Data: Limited

Polysorbate 60

  • 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

● MONOOCTADECANOATE POLY(OXY-1,2-ETHANEDIYL) DERIVS. SORBITAN
● MONOOCTADECANOATE SORBITAN, POLY(OXY-1,2-ETHANEDIYL) DERIVS
● POLY(OXY-1,2-ETHANEDIYL) DERIVS. SORBITAN, MONOOCTADECANOATE
● POLYOXYETHYLENE (20) SORBITAN MONOSTEARATE
● POLYSORBATE 60
● POLYSORBATE-60
● SORBIMACROGOL STEARATE 300
● SORBITAN, MONOOCTADECANOATE, POLY(OXY-1,2-ETHANEDIYL) DERIVS.
● SORBITAN, MONOOCTADECANOATE, POLY(OXY1,2ETHANEDIYL) DERIVS.

Restricted

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

Polysorbate 60 (Tween-60) is a sorbitol-based emulsifier and surfactant.

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

Expand content Collapse content
moisturizer158 products
facial moisturizer/treatment154 products
conditioner116 products
mask79 products
daily use with SPF63 products
hair treatment/serum57 products
eye shadow55 products
hair styling aide55 products
foundation50 products
mascara48 products
serums & essences45 products
hand cream44 products
around-eye cream44 products
exfoliant/scrub42 products
recreational sunscreen40 products
body firming lotion30 products
facial cleanser26 products
lipstick25 products
BB cream23 products
hair-loss treatment21 products
sunless tanning20 products
styling gel/lotion17 products
brow liner17 products
makeup primer17 products
baby lotion16 products
12 products
bronzer/highlighter11 products
anti-aging10 products
detangler9 products
lip gloss9 products
shampoo8 products
beard care8 products
blush7 products
muscle/joint soreness7 products
body wash/cleanser7 products
after shave6 products
foot moisturizer5 products
eye liner5 products
hair color and bleaching4 products
foot cleansing4 products
cuticle treatment4 products
after sun product4 products
hair relaxer4 products
shaving cream4 products
shaving cream (men's)4 products
lip balm3 products
eyelash glue3 products
makeup remover3 products
damaged skin treatment3 products
pore strips3 products
beard cleanser3 products
baby sunscreen3 products
antiperspirant/deodorant2 products
other eye makeup2 products
lip balm with SPF2 products
toners/astringents2 products
hair spray2 products
concealer1 products
CC cream1 products
foot odor control1 products
body oil1 products
skin fading/lightener1 products
beard oil1 products
bath oil/salts/soak1 products
tanning oil1 products

Contamination concerns

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Chemical
ETHYLENE OXIDE
1,4-DIOXANE

Organ system toxicity (non-reproductive)

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CONCERN REFERENCE
Limited evidence of sense organ toxicityScorecard.org Toxicity Information
Classified as not expected to be potentially toxic or harmfulEnvironment Canada Domestic Substance List
Classified as a low human health priorityEnvironment Canada Domestic Substance List

Irritation (skin, eyes, or lungs)

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

Use restrictions

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

Data gaps

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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 productCosmetic Ingredient Review Assessments
222 studies in PubMed science library may include information on the toxicity of this chemicalNLM PubMed

Multiple, additive exposure sources

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

Ecotoxicology

Expand content Collapse content
CONCERN REFERENCE
Not suspected to be an environmental toxinEnvironment Canada Domestic Substance List

Informational

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CONCERN REFERENCE
Industry or government recommendations for safe use: restrictions on concentration, impurities, product types, or manufacturing methods - anyCosmetic Ingredient Review Assessments
  • 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.
  • Open scientific/peer reviewed literature
  • 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). 2008. EAFUS [Everything Added to Food]: A Food Additive Database. FDA Office of Food Safety and Applied Nutrition.
  • 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.

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.

Can’t find your product?

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