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HOW WE DETERMINE SCORES Learn more About EWG VERIFIED®

Data: Fair

Serine

IMAGE SOURCE: PubChem

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Other Concerns

SYNONYMS

● 2-AMINO-3-HYDROXYPROPIONIC ACID
● 3-HYDROXY ALANINE
● ALANINE, 3-HYDROXY
● DL-SERINE
● DLSERINE
● L-SERINE
● SERINE

Restricted

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

Serine is an amino acid.

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

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facial moisturizer/treatment55 products
shampoo51 products
foundation44 products
serums & essences44 products
conditioner39 products
mask34 products
hair treatment/serum33 products
moisturizer18 products
facial cleanser16 products
around-eye cream13 products
hair styling aide12 products
body wash/cleanser12 products
mascara10 products
exfoliant/scrub7 products
toners/astringents6 products
liquid hand soap5 products
hair spray5 products
lip balm3 products
makeup remover3 products
nail treatment3 products
hair color and bleaching3 products
anti-aging3 products
styling gel/lotion3 products
bar soap2 products
recreational sunscreen2 products
hair-loss treatment2 products
daily use with SPF2 products
styling mousse/foam2 products
other eye makeup2 products
body firming lotion2 products
after sun product1 products
skin fading/lightener1 products
blush1 products
hand cream1 products
shaving cream1 products
detangler1 products
beard care1 products
nail polish1 products

Multiple, additive exposure sources

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

Data gaps

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CONCERN REFERENCE
138723 studies in PubMed science library may include information on the toxicity of this chemicalNLM PubMed

Ecotoxicology

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CONCERN REFERENCE
Not suspected to be an environmental toxinEnvironment Canada Domestic Substance List

Organ system toxicity (non-reproductive)

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CONCERN REFERENCE
Classified as not expected to be potentially toxic or harmfulEnvironment Canada Domestic Substance List

Persistence and bioaccumulation

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CONCERN REFERENCE
Not suspected to be persistentEnvironment Canada Domestic Substance List
Not suspected to be bioaccumulativeEnvironment Canada Domestic Substance List
  • 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.
  • 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.
  • NLM (National Library of Medicine). 2012. PubMed online scientific bibliography data. http://www.pubmed.gov.
  • EC (Environment Canada). 2008. Domestic Substances List Categorization. Canadian Environmental Protection Act (CEPA) Environmental Registry.

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.

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