Salicylic Acid
- Products with the EWG VERIFIED mark have met use restrictions and warnings based on EWG review of company data.
Other Concerns
Enhanced skin absorption, Use restrictions (moderate), Multiple, additive exposure sources (low), and Irritation (skin, eyes, or lungs) (moderate)SYNONYMS
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.
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LOWCancer
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LOWAllergies & Immunotoxicity
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LOWDevelopmental and Reproductive Toxicity
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MODERATEUse Restrictions
Ingredient concerns
- CONCERNS
- DATA SOURCES
Products with this Ingredient
shampoo | 171 products |
facial cleanser | 167 products |
facial moisturizer/treatment | 109 products |
exfoliant/scrub | 107 products |
mask | 98 products |
serums & essences | 77 products |
toners/astringents | 57 products |
body wash/cleanser | 40 products |
foundation | 40 products |
conditioner | 34 products |
hair treatment/serum | 28 products |
concealer | 23 products |
hair color and bleaching | 21 products |
moisturizer | 19 products |
BB cream | 16 products |
bar soap | 14 products |
facial powder | 12 products |
antiperspirant/deodorant | 12 products |
foot cleansing | 11 products |
foot moisturizer | 10 products |
after shave | 9 products |
body powder | 9 products |
foot odor control | 8 products |
makeup remover | 7 products |
makeup primer | 7 products |
around-eye cream | 7 products |
bronzer/highlighter | 6 products |
recreational sunscreen | 5 products |
daily use with SPF | 5 products |
lip balm | 5 products |
5 products | |
liquid hand soap | 4 products |
shaving cream | 4 products |
facial cleansing wipes | 4 products |
hand cream | 4 products |
anti-aging | 3 products |
beard care | 2 products |
damaged skin treatment | 2 products |
makeup removing wipes | 2 products |
beard oil | 2 products |
pore strips | 2 products |
hair styling aide | 2 products |
antiperspirant/deodorant (men's) | 1 products |
eye makeup remover | 1 products |
after sun product | 1 products |
hair spray | 1 products |
beard cleanser | 1 products |
brow liner | 1 products |
hair relaxer | 1 products |
bath oil/salts/soak | 1 products |
skin fading/lightener | 1 products |
body firming lotion | 1 products |
lip balm with SPF | 1 products |
body spray | 1 products |
sunless tanning | 1 products |
cuticle treatment | 1 products |
styling gel/lotion | 1 products |
oil controller | 1 products |
detangler | 1 products |
Enhanced skin absorption
CONCERN | REFERENCE |
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Penetration enhancer | Cosmetic Ingredient Review Assessments |
Use restrictions
CONCERN | REFERENCE |
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Restricted in cosmetics (recommendations or requirements) - use, concentration, or manufacturing restrictions - any | CosIng |
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 cosmetics | Canada - Prohibited and Restricted Cosmetics Ingredients |
Determined safe for use in cosmetics, subject to concentration or use limitations - Safe for use in cosmetics with some qualifications | Cosmetic Ingredient Review Assessments |
Irritation (skin, eyes, or lungs)
CONCERN | REFERENCE |
---|---|
Limited evidence of skin irritation | Open scientific literature |
Multiple, additive exposure sources
CONCERN | REFERENCE |
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Used in food or as an additive with limited or no toxicity information available | FDA Everything Added to Food |
Designated as safe for general or specific, limited use in food | FDA Food Additive Status |
Cancer
CONCERN | REFERENCE |
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Not likely to be carcinogenic in humans | Open scientific literature |
Data gaps
CONCERN | REFERENCE |
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32066 studies in PubMed science library may include information on the toxicity of this chemical | NLM 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 SCORESHazard 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.