EWG Skin Deep® | What is STEARYL ALCOHOL

HOW WE DETERMINE SCORES Learn more About EWG VERIFIED™

Data: Limited

Stearyl Alcohol

IMAGE SOURCE: PubChem

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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

conditioner	495 products
antiperspirant/deodorant	247 products
moisturizer	246 products
facial moisturizer/treatment	199 products
hair treatment/serum	132 products
antiperspirant/deodorant (men's)	122 products
foundation	85 products
hand cream	80 products
shampoo	62 products
daily use with SPF	61 products
hair color and bleaching	61 products
hair styling aide	58 products
mask	57 products
around-eye cream	50 products
facial cleanser	46 products
body firming lotion	39 products
exfoliant/scrub	31 products
recreational sunscreen	30 products
baby lotion	25 products
shaving cream	20 products
concealer	20 products
serums & essences	19 products
hair-loss treatment	18 products
anti-aging	16 products
CC cream	13 products
mascara	13 products
styling gel/lotion	12 products
after shave	11 products
detangler	10 products
beard care	10 products
foot moisturizer	9 products
bar soap	9 products
	7 products
BB cream	6 products
sunless tanning	6 products
baby sunscreen	5 products
toners/astringents	4 products
makeup primer	4 products
body wash/cleanser	4 products
lipstick	4 products
shaving cream (men's)	3 products
styling mousse/foam	3 products
after sun product	3 products
lip balm	3 products
damaged skin treatment	2 products
makeup remover	2 products
cuticle treatment	2 products
hair spray	2 products
lip balm with SPF	1 products
hair relaxer	1 products
hand sanitizer	1 products
setting powder/spray	1 products
foot cleansing	1 products
beard cleanser	1 products
diaper cream	1 products
oil controller	1 products
nail treatment	1 products
skin fading/lightener	1 products

Irritation (skin, eyes, or lungs)

CONCERN	REFERENCE
Human any irritant - strong evidence	Cosmetic Ingredient Review Assessments

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

Multiple, additive exposure sources

CONCERN	REFERENCE
Designated as safe for general or specific, limited use in food	FDA Everything Added to Food

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

Informational

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

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