EWG Skin Deep® | What is POTASSIUM THIOGLYCOLATE

HOW WE DETERMINE SCORES Learn more About EWG VERIFIED™

Data: Limited

Potassium Thioglycolate

This ingredient is unacceptable for use in EWG VERIFIED products

IMAGE SOURCE: PubChem

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Other Concerns

Use restrictions (high)

SYNONYMS

● ACETIC ACID, MERCAPTO-, MONOPOTASSIUM SALT

● MERCAPTO- MONOPOTASSIUM SALT ACETIC ACID

● MERCAPTOACETIC ACID, MONOPOTASSIUM SALT

● MONOPOTASSIUM SALT ACETIC ACID, MERCAPTO-

● MONOPOTASSIUM SALT MERCAPTOACETIC ACID

● POTASSIUM MERCAPTOACETATE

● POTASSIUM THIOGLYCOLATE

● POTASSIUM THIOGLYCOLLATE

Unacceptable

Unacceptable: EWG VERIFIED products cannot contain this ingredient

Potassium Thioglycolate is an organic salt.

Common concerns

See how this product scores for common concerns.

LOW

Cancer
LOW

Allergies & Immunotoxicity
LOW

Developmental and Reproductive Toxicity
HIGH

Use Restrictions

Ingredient concerns

CONCERNS
DATA SOURCES

Products with this Ingredient

depilatory	5 products
depilatory (men's)	1 products
shaving cream	1 products

Use restrictions

CONCERN	REFERENCE
Violation of industry recommendations - Restricted in cosmetics; use, concentration, or manufacturing restrictions - Avoid skin contact	Cosmetic Ingredient Review Assessments
Restricted in cosmetics (recommendations or requirements) - use, concentration, or manufacturing restrictions - any	CosIng
Determined safe for use in cosmetics, subject to concentration or use limitations - Safe for use in cosmetics with some qualifications	Cosmetic Ingredient Review Assessments

Data gaps

CONCERN	REFERENCE
251 studies in PubMed science library may include information on the toxicity of this chemical	NLM PubMed

Informational

CONCERN	REFERENCE
Industry or government recommendations for safe use: restrictions on concentration, impurities, product types, or manufacturing methods - Avoid skin contact	Cosmetic Ingredient Review Assessments

CIR (Cosmetic Ingredient Review). 2006. CIR Compendium, containing abstracts, discussions, and conclusions of CIR cosmetic ingredient safety assessments. Washington DC.
European Commission. 2013. Cosing, the European Commission database with information on cosmetic substances and ingredients. Accessed on March 1, 2013 at http://ec.europa.eu/consumers/cosmetics/cosing/ .
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