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: Limited

Stearyl Alcohol

IMAGE SOURCE: PubChem

SEARCH PRODUCTS

Other Concerns

Irritation (skin, eyes, or lungs) (moderate)

SYNONYMS

● 1-OCTADECANOL
● OCTADECAN-1-OL
● STEARYL ALCOHOL

Restricted

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

Stearyl alcohol is a compound produced from stearic acid, a naturally occurring fatty 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

Expand content Collapse content
conditioner519 products
antiperspirant/deodorant281 products
moisturizer271 products
facial moisturizer/treatment186 products
hair treatment/serum140 products
antiperspirant/deodorant (men's)117 products
hand cream82 products
mask66 products
shampoo64 products
hair styling aide62 products
daily use with SPF57 products
hair color and bleaching52 products
facial cleanser51 products
around-eye cream49 products
exfoliant/scrub38 products
recreational sunscreen29 products
serums & essences23 products
concealer22 products
foundation21 products
baby lotion20 products
hair-loss treatment20 products
shaving cream19 products
anti-aging12 products
body firming lotion12 products
styling gel/lotion12 products
CC cream12 products
brow liner12 products
after shave10 products
detangler10 products
foot moisturizer9 products
bar soap9 products
mascara8 products
BB cream7 products
sunless tanning6 products
6 products
beard care6 products
toners/astringents5 products
baby sunscreen5 products
shaving cream (men's)4 products
lipstick4 products
body wash/cleanser3 products
lip balm3 products
after sun product3 products
styling mousse/foam3 products
damaged skin treatment3 products
hand sanitizer3 products
makeup remover2 products
cuticle treatment2 products
makeup primer2 products
hair spray2 products
oil controller1 products
muscle/joint soreness1 products
nail treatment1 products
lip balm with SPF1 products
hair relaxer1 products
setting powder/spray1 products
beard cleanser1 products
foot cleansing1 products
other men's products1 products
tanning oil1 products
facial cleansing wipes1 products

Irritation (skin, eyes, or lungs)

Expand content Collapse content
CONCERN REFERENCE
Human any irritant - strong evidenceCosmetic Ingredient Review Assessments

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
255 studies in PubMed science library may include information on the toxicity of this chemicalNLM PubMed

Multiple, additive exposure sources

Expand content Collapse content
CONCERN REFERENCE
Designated as safe for general or specific, limited use in foodFDA Everything Added to Food

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

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
  • CIR (Cosmetic Ingredient Review). 2006. CIR Compendium, containing abstracts, discussions, and conclusions of CIR cosmetic ingredient safety assessments. Washington DC.
  • EC (Environment Canada). 2008. Domestic Substances List Categorization. Canadian Environmental Protection Act (CEPA) Environmental Registry.
  • NLM (National Library of Medicine). 2012. PubMed online scientific bibliography data. http://www.pubmed.gov.
  • 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.

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
Skindeep Healthy Living App

Discover a curated selection of healthier beauty and personal care products. Donate today to get your EWG VERIFIED® holiday gift set!

GET IT NOW