EWG Skin Deep® | What is SALICYLIC ACID

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, and SALICYLIC ACID

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

facial cleanser	159 products
shampoo	121 products
mask	106 products
facial moisturizer/treatment	103 products
exfoliant/scrub	93 products
serums & essences	67 products
toners/astringents	47 products
body wash/cleanser	37 products
conditioner	25 products
foundation	23 products
moisturizer	22 products
hair treatment/serum	20 products
concealer	17 products
foot moisturizer	15 products
BB cream	13 products
foot cleansing	12 products
facial powder	11 products
bar soap	10 products
body powder	10 products
after shave	9 products
around-eye cream	8 products
	8 products
daily use with SPF	8 products
makeup remover	8 products
foot odor control	8 products
antiperspirant/deodorant	7 products
bronzer/highlighter	7 products
recreational sunscreen	6 products
styling gel/lotion	6 products
liquid hand soap	6 products
makeup primer	6 products
hair color and bleaching	6 products
hair styling aide	5 products
body firming lotion	5 products
oil controller	5 products
anti-aging	5 products
lip balm	4 products
hand cream	3 products
shaving cream	2 products
damaged skin treatment	2 products
brow liner	2 products
beard care	2 products
skin fading/lightener	1 products
after sun product	1 products
cuticle treatment	1 products
pore strips	1 products
fragrance for men	1 products
eye makeup remover	1 products
lip balm with SPF	1 products
beard oil	1 products
sunless tanning	1 products
beard cleanser	1 products
body spray	1 products

Enhanced skin absorption

CONCERN	REFERENCE
Penetration enhancer	Cosmetic Ingredient Review Assessments

Use restrictions

CONCERN	REFERENCE
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
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
Not likely to be carcinogenic in humans	Open scientific literature

Data gaps

CONCERN	REFERENCE
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 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

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Moderate Availability

High Availability