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HOW WE DETERMINE SCORES Learn more About EWG VERIFIED®

Data: Limited

Sodium C14 16 Olefin Sulfonate

  • Products with the EWG VERIFIED mark have met the program’s impurity and use restrictions based on EWG's review of the company's data.

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Other Concerns

Use restrictions (low), Non-reproductive organ system toxicity (moderate), and Contamination concerns (high)

SYNONYMS

● SODIUM C14-16 OLEFIN SULFONATE
● SODIUM TETRADECENESULFONATE
● SULFONIC ACIDS, C-16-16-ALKANE, SODIUM SALTS
● SULFONIC ACIDS, C1416ALKANE HYDROXY AND C1416ALKENE, SODIUM SALTS

Restricted

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

Sodium C14-16 Olefin Sulfonate is a mixture of long chain sulfonate salts prepared bysulfonation of C14-16 alpha olefins. It consists chiefly of sodium alkene sulfonates and sodiumhydroxyalkane sulfonates.

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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shampoo437 products
body wash/cleanser152 products
liquid hand soap117 products
facial cleanser90 products
bar soap44 products
conditioner31 products
exfoliant/scrub30 products
bath oil/salts/soak18 products
bubble bath17 products
beard cleanser9 products
baby bubble bath5 products
mask4 products
4 products
styling mousse/foam3 products
hair treatment/serum3 products
anti-aging2 products
baby shampoo1 products
baby soap1 products
hair color and bleaching1 products
glitter1 products
detangler1 products
daily use with SPF1 products
beard care1 products
serums & essences1 products
mascara1 products

Contamination concerns

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Chemical
GAMMA SULTONE

Organ system toxicity (non-reproductive)

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CONCERN REFERENCE
Classified as expected to be toxic or harmfulEnvironment Canada Domestic Substance List

Use restrictions

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CONCERN REFERENCE
Determined safe for use in cosmetics, subject to concentration or use limitations - Safe for use in cosmetics with some qualificationsCosmetic Ingredient Review Assessments

Data gaps

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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 productCosmetic Ingredient Review Assessments
0 studies in PubMed science library may include information on the toxicity of this chemicalNLM PubMed
  • EC (Environment Canada). 2008. Domestic Substances List Categorization. Canadian Environmental Protection Act (CEPA) Environmental Registry.
  • 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.

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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