EWG Skin Deep® | What is PVP

HOW WE DETERMINE SCORES Learn more About EWG VERIFIED®

Data: Good

Pvp

IMAGE SOURCE: PubChem

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Other Concerns

Non-reproductive organ system toxicity (moderate)

SYNONYMS

● 1-ETHENYL- HOMOPOLYMER 2-PYRROLIDINONE

● 1-ETHENYL-2-PYRROLIDINONE, HOMOPOLYMER

● 2-PYRROLIDINONE, 1-ETHENYL-, HOMOPOLYMER

● 2PYRROLIDINONE, 1ETHENYL, HOMOPOLYMER

● HOMOPOLYMER 1-ETHENYL-2-PYRROLIDINONE

● HOMOPOLYMER 2-PYRROLIDINONE, 1-ETHENYL-

● N-VINYLBUTYROLACTAM POLYMER

● POLYVINYLPYRROLIDONE

● POVIDONE

● PVP

Restricted

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

PVP (polyvinylpyrrolidone) is a water-soluble synthetic polymer.

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

hair styling aide	210 products
mascara	149 products
styling gel/lotion	134 products
brow liner	107 products
eye shadow	75 products
setting powder/spray	63 products
mask	61 products
styling mousse/foam	45 products
tooth whitening	45 products
hair treatment/serum	36 products
eye liner	31 products
hair spray	26 products
toothpaste	26 products
serums & essences	20 products
conditioner	20 products
hair color and bleaching	20 products
facial moisturizer/treatment	19 products
makeup primer	15 products
foundation	15 products
shaving cream	15 products
shampoo	13 products
concealer	10 products
bronzer/highlighter	9 products
lipstick	9 products
glitter	8 products
shaving cream (men's)	8 products
beard care	8 products
pore strips	7 products
BB cream	7 products
toners/astringents	6 products
recreational sunscreen	6 products
facial cleanser	5 products
blush	5 products
bath oil/salts/soak	4 products
moisturizer	4 products
	4 products
eyelash glue	4 products
other eye makeup	3 products
daily use with SPF	3 products
exfoliant/scrub	3 products
around-eye cream	3 products
anti-aging	1 products
nail polish	1 products
mouthwash	1 products
body spray	1 products
antiperspirant/deodorant (men's)	1 products
eye makeup remover	1 products

Organ system toxicity (non-reproductive)

CONCERN	REFERENCE
Classified as expected to be toxic or harmful	Environment Canada Domestic Substance List
Classified as medium human health priority	Environment Canada Domestic Substance List

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
13470 studies in PubMed science library may include information on the toxicity of this chemical	NLM PubMed

Cancer

CONCERN	REFERENCE
Not likely to be carcinogenic in humans	Open scientific literature
Limited or incomplete evidence of cancer according to safety/hazard data – government assessment cannot classify as human carcinogen due to data gaps	Int'l Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) - Carcinogens

Multiple, additive exposure sources

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

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

Persistence and bioaccumulation

CONCERN	REFERENCE
Not suspected to be bioaccumulative	Environment Canada Domestic Substance List

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.
Open scientific/peer reviewed literature
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).
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.

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