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HOW WE DETERMINE SCORES Learn more About EWG VERIFIED®

Data: Good

Salicylic Acid

  • Products with the EWG VERIFIED mark have met use restrictions and warnings based on EWG review of company data.

IMAGE SOURCE: PubChem

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Other Concerns

Enhanced skin absorption, Use restrictions (moderate), Multiple, additive exposure sources (low), and Irritation (skin, eyes, or lungs) (moderate)

SYNONYMS

● 2-HYDROXY- BENZOIC ACID
● 2-HYDROXYBENZOIC ACID
● BENZOIC ACID, 2-HYDROXY-
● BENZOIC ACID, 2HYDROXY
● O-CARBOXYPHENOL
● O-HYDROXYBENZOIC ACID
● PHENOL-2-CARBOXYLIC ACID
● SALICYLIC ACID

Restricted

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

Salicylic acid is a naturally occuring and synthetically produced beta hydroxy acid used in skin treatment products.

Common concerns

See how this product scores for common concerns.

  • LOW
    Cancer
  • LOW
    Allergies & Immunotoxicity
  • LOW
    Developmental and Reproductive Toxicity
  • MODERATE
    Use Restrictions

Ingredient concerns

  • CONCERNS
  • DATA SOURCES

Products with this Ingredient

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shampoo171 products
facial cleanser167 products
facial moisturizer/treatment109 products
exfoliant/scrub107 products
mask98 products
serums & essences77 products
toners/astringents57 products
body wash/cleanser40 products
foundation40 products
conditioner34 products
hair treatment/serum28 products
concealer23 products
hair color and bleaching21 products
moisturizer19 products
BB cream16 products
bar soap14 products
facial powder12 products
antiperspirant/deodorant12 products
foot cleansing11 products
foot moisturizer10 products
after shave9 products
body powder9 products
foot odor control8 products
makeup remover7 products
makeup primer7 products
around-eye cream7 products
bronzer/highlighter6 products
recreational sunscreen5 products
daily use with SPF5 products
lip balm5 products
5 products
liquid hand soap4 products
shaving cream4 products
facial cleansing wipes4 products
hand cream4 products
anti-aging3 products
beard care2 products
damaged skin treatment2 products
makeup removing wipes2 products
beard oil2 products
pore strips2 products
hair styling aide2 products
antiperspirant/deodorant (men's)1 products
eye makeup remover1 products
after sun product1 products
hair spray1 products
beard cleanser1 products
brow liner1 products
hair relaxer1 products
bath oil/salts/soak1 products
skin fading/lightener1 products
body firming lotion1 products
lip balm with SPF1 products
body spray1 products
sunless tanning1 products
cuticle treatment1 products
styling gel/lotion1 products
oil controller1 products
detangler1 products

Enhanced skin absorption

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CONCERN REFERENCE
Penetration enhancerCosmetic Ingredient Review Assessments

Use restrictions

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CONCERN REFERENCE
Restricted in cosmetics (recommendations or requirements) - use, concentration, or manufacturing restrictions - anyCosIng
Restricted in cosmetics (recommendations or requirements) - use, concentration, or manufacturing restrictions - Japan - restricted for use in cosmetics (concentration limit)Japan's Standards for Cosmetics
Restricted in cosmetics (recommendations or requirements) - use, concentration, or manufacturing restrictions - Use is restricted in Canadian cosmeticsCanada - Prohibited and Restricted Cosmetics Ingredients
Determined safe for use in cosmetics, subject to concentration or use limitations - Safe for use in cosmetics with some qualificationsCosmetic Ingredient Review Assessments

Irritation (skin, eyes, or lungs)

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CONCERN REFERENCE
Limited evidence of skin irritationOpen scientific literature

Multiple, additive exposure sources

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CONCERN REFERENCE
Used in food or as an additive with limited or no toxicity information availableFDA Everything Added to Food
Designated as safe for general or specific, limited use in foodFDA Food Additive Status

Cancer

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CONCERN REFERENCE
Not likely to be carcinogenic in humansOpen scientific literature

Data gaps

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CONCERN REFERENCE
32066 studies in PubMed science library may include information on the toxicity of this chemicalNLM PubMed
  • 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/ .
  • Japan Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare. 2006. Standards for Cosmetics. Evaluation and Licensing Division. Pharmaceutical and Food Safety Bureau.
  • Health Canada. 2007. List of Prohibited and Restricted Cosmetic Ingredients. Canada's Cosmetic Ingredient Hotlist. March 2007.
  • Open scientific/peer reviewed literature
  • 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.
  • 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.

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?

Enter the ingredients in EWG’s Build Your Own Report tool to get an approximate score for that product.

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September 23, 2023 | Los Angeles, CA

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