EWG Skin Deep® | What is STEARIC ACID

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Data: Fair

Stearic Acid

IMAGE SOURCE: PubChem

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Other Concerns

Multiple, additive exposure sources (low)

SYNONYMS

● N-OCTADECANOIC ACID

● OCTADECANOIC ACID

● STEARIC ACID

This ingredient is not currently on EWG's Skin Deep Restricted or Unacceptable Lists.

Stearic acid is a naturally occurring fatty acid. It is listed in the PETA's Caring Consumer guide as a substance of animal origin, since stearic acid is primarily derived from rendered fat of farm and domestic animals.

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

moisturizer	780 products
mascara	456 products
foundation	444 products
facial moisturizer/treatment	424 products
hand cream	250 products
brow liner	234 products
body wash/cleanser	221 products
bar soap	167 products
facial cleanser	160 products
exfoliant/scrub	147 products
mask	137 products
daily use with SPF	113 products
recreational sunscreen	108 products
shaving cream	107 products
around-eye cream	99 products
lip balm	97 products
shaving cream (men's)	69 products
concealer	67 products
blush	65 products
lipstick	62 products
antiperspirant/deodorant	58 products
eye liner	51 products
baby lotion	47 products
shampoo	44 products
serums & essences	43 products
liquid hand soap	42 products
BB cream	37 products
hair styling aide	37 products
anti-aging	36 products
conditioner	36 products
hair treatment/serum	32 products
makeup primer	31 products
sunless tanning	30 products
eye shadow	30 products
foot moisturizer	27 products
body firming lotion	27 products
hair color and bleaching	25 products
setting powder/spray	22 products
antiperspirant/deodorant (men's)	19 products
after shave	18 products
styling gel/lotion	17 products
lip gloss	15 products
muscle/joint soreness	13 products
bronzer/highlighter	13 products
lip liner	11 products
lip balm with SPF	11 products
	11 products
baby soap	10 products
hand sanitizer	10 products
after sun product	9 products
baby shampoo	9 products
baby sunscreen	9 products
beard care	9 products
makeup remover	6 products
lip plumper	6 products
damaged skin treatment	6 products
bubble bath	6 products
skin fading/lightener	5 products
CC cream	5 products
cuticle treatment	4 products
foot cleansing	3 products
toners/astringents	3 products
diaper cream	3 products
bath oil/salts/soak	3 products
foot odor control	3 products
nail treatment	2 products
tanning oil	2 products
other eye makeup	2 products
facial powder	2 products
detangler	2 products
baby bubble bath	1 products
glitter	1 products
tooth whitening	1 products
styling mousse/foam	1 products
body oil	1 products
body spray	1 products
toothpaste	1 products
mouthwash	1 products
beard oil	1 products
beard cleanser	1 products
other men's products	1 products
nail glue	1 products

Multiple, additive exposure sources

CONCERN	REFERENCE
Used in food or as an additive with limited or no toxicity information available	Open scientific literature
Designated as safe for general or specific, limited use in food	FDA Food Additive Status
Designated as safe for general or specific, limited use in food	FDA Everything Added to Food

Ecotoxicology

CONCERN	REFERENCE
Suspected to be an environmental toxin	Environment Canada Domestic Substance List

Data gaps

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 product	Cosmetic Ingredient Review Assessments
4584 studies in PubMed science library may include information on the toxicity of this chemical	NLM PubMed

Informational

CONCERN	REFERENCE
Industry or government recommendations for safe use: restrictions on concentration, impurities, product types, or manufacturing methods - any	Cosmetic Ingredient Review Assessments

Cancer

CONCERN	REFERENCE
Not likely to be carcinogenic in humans	EPA Water Disinfection By-Products Carcinogenicity

Organ system toxicity (non-reproductive)

CONCERN	REFERENCE
Classified as not expected to be potentially toxic or harmful	Environment Canada Domestic Substance List
Classified as a low human health priority	Environment Canada Domestic Substance List

Persistence and bioaccumulation

CONCERN	REFERENCE
Not suspected to be persistent	Environment Canada Domestic Substance List
Not suspected to be bioaccumulative	Environment Canada Domestic Substance List

Open scientific/peer reviewed literature
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.
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.
EPA (U.S. Environmental Protection Agency). 2006. EPA Water Disinfection By-Products with Carcinogenicity Estimates. Last updated: 10 April 2006.

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

Low Availability

Moderate Availability

High Availability