Know Your Environment. Protect Your Health.
EWG Home EWG’s Guide to Healthy Cleaning EWG’s Food Scores Healthy Living App Open menu

EWG's Skin Deep®
Find products and ingredients Learn how Skin Deep® works Meet our experts Discover EWG VERIFIED™
GET UPDATES DONATE
Score legend
HOW WE DETERMINE SCORES Learn more About EWG VERIFIED™

Data: Fair

Stearic Acid

IMAGE SOURCE: PubChem

SEARCH PRODUCTS

Other Concerns

Multiple, additive exposure sources (low)

SYNONYMS

N-OCTADECANOIC ACID, OCTADECANOIC ACID, and 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

Expand content Collapse content
moisturizer689 products
mascara411 products
facial moisturizer/treatment399 products
foundation389 products
body wash/cleanser230 products
hand cream220 products
brow liner197 products
daily use with SPF184 products
bar soap162 products
facial cleanser153 products
exfoliant/scrub148 products
recreational sunscreen139 products
mask135 products
shaving cream117 products
lip balm112 products
around-eye cream97 products
body firming lotion91 products
concealer72 products
lipstick71 products
shaving cream (men's)68 products
BB cream61 products
baby lotion60 products
blush57 products
antiperspirant/deodorant56 products
eye liner54 products
liquid hand soap41 products
anti-aging39 products
serums & essences39 products
shampoo32 products
makeup primer32 products
foot moisturizer30 products
sunless tanning30 products
conditioner29 products
eye shadow29 products
hair styling aide29 products
hair treatment/serum27 products
hair color and bleaching25 products
antiperspirant/deodorant (men's)22 products
after shave21 products
lip liner21 products
setting powder/spray21 products
baby sunscreen18 products
CC cream17 products
styling gel/lotion15 products
lip balm with SPF14 products
bronzer/highlighter13 products
13 products
muscle/joint soreness12 products
after sun product10 products
baby soap10 products
baby shampoo9 products
hand sanitizer8 products
bath oil/salts/soak7 products
beard care7 products
lip plumper6 products
damaged skin treatment6 products
lip gloss5 products
skin fading/lightener5 products
makeup remover5 products
foot cleansing4 products
cuticle treatment4 products
foot odor control4 products
bubble bath4 products
toners/astringents3 products
diaper cream3 products
nail treatment2 products
toothpaste2 products
tanning oil1 products
baby bubble bath1 products
glitter1 products
other eye makeup1 products
tooth whitening1 products
styling mousse/foam1 products
facial powder1 products
body oil1 products
body spray1 products
body art1 products
mouthwash1 products
beard oil1 products

Multiple, additive exposure sources

Expand content Collapse content
CONCERN REFERENCE
Used in food or as an additive with limited or no toxicity information availableOpen scientific literature
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

Ecotoxicology

Expand content Collapse content
CONCERN REFERENCE
Suspected to be an environmental toxinEnvironment Canada Domestic Substance List

Data gaps

Expand content Collapse content
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
4584 studies in PubMed science library may include information on the toxicity of this chemicalNLM PubMed

Informational

Expand content Collapse content
CONCERN REFERENCE
Industry or government recommendations for safe use: restrictions on concentration, impurities, product types, or manufacturing methods - anyCosmetic Ingredient Review Assessments

Cancer

Expand content Collapse content
CONCERN REFERENCE
Not likely to be carcinogenic in humansEPA Water Disinfection By-Products Carcinogenicity

Organ system toxicity (non-reproductive)

Expand content Collapse content
CONCERN REFERENCE
Classified as not expected to be potentially toxic or harmfulEnvironment Canada Domestic Substance List
Classified as a low human health priorityEnvironment Canada Domestic Substance List

Persistence and bioaccumulation

Expand content Collapse content
CONCERN REFERENCE
Not suspected to be persistentEnvironment Canada Domestic Substance List
Not suspected to be bioaccumulativeEnvironment 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.

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.

BUILD YOUR OWN REPORT

News & updates

Big Market for Black Cosmetics, but Less-Hazardous Choices Limited
RESEARCH
Big Market for Black Cosmetics, but Less-Hazardous Choices Limited
K-Beauty Trends: Serums, Essences and EWG’s Best Bets
RESEARCH
K-Beauty Trends: Serums, Essences and EWG’s Best Bets
FDA Asks Women To Protect Themselves From Products The Agency Refused To Ban
NEWS RELEASE
FDA Asks Women To Protect Themselves From Products The Agency Refused To Ban
Study Highlights Importance of Cosmetics Ingredient Safety Tests
NEWS RELEASE
Study Highlights Importance of Cosmetics Ingredient Safety Tests
READ ALL ARTICLES

EWG research
on the go

Find personal care, cleaning, and food products on the EWG Healthy Living app.

DOWNLOAD THE APP