EWG Skin Deep® | What is QUATERNIUM-18 HECTORITE

HOW WE DETERMINE SCORES Learn more About EWG VERIFIED®

Data: Limited

Quaternium 18 Hectorite

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Other Concerns

Use restrictions (low)

SYNONYMS

● BENTONE 38

● DIMETHYLDISTEARYL AMMONIUM HECTORITE

● PRODUCTS WITH HECTORITE

● QUATERNIUM-18 HECTORATE

● QUATERNIUM-18 HECTORITE

Restricted

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

This synthetic ingredient is composed of quaternium-18, a mixture of quaternary ammonium chloride salts made from fatty acids of tallow (rendered animal fat) and hectorite, a clay mineral.

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

foundation	18 products
lipstick	14 products
bronzer/highlighter	13 products
brow liner	12 products
moisturizer	7 products
CC cream	6 products
blush	4 products
makeup primer	3 products
eye shadow	3 products
lip liner	1 products
lip gloss	1 products
eye liner	1 products
lip balm	1 products

Use restrictions

CONCERN	REFERENCE
Determined safe for use in cosmetics, subject to concentration or use limitations - Distinction between safe conc in leave-on and rinse-off	Cosmetic Ingredient Review Assessments

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
0 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 - any	Cosmetic Ingredient Review Assessments

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.

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