EWG Skin Deep® | What is SYNTHETIC WAX

HOW WE DETERMINE SCORES Learn more About EWG VERIFIED™

Data: Fair

Synthetic Wax

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Other Concerns

SYNONYMS

PARAFFIN WAXES AND HYDROCARBON WAXES, PARAFFIN; PARAFFIN; PARAFFIN WAX; PARAFFIN WAX; PARAFFIN WAXES; PARAFFIN WAX (PETROLEUM); POLY(METHYLENE)WAX; SYNTHETIC PARAFFIN WAX, FISCHER-TROPSCH; WAX EXTRACT, and SYNTHETIC WAX

Restricted

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

Synthetic wax is a hydrocarbon wax produced from fossil fuel materials such as natural gas.

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

lipstick	504 products
lip liner	257 products
eye liner	233 products
eye shadow	188 products
lip balm	149 products
brow liner	149 products
foundation	112 products
blush	101 products
concealer	95 products
lip gloss	95 products
bronzer/highlighter	84 products
mascara	67 products
exfoliant/scrub	46 products
CC cream	21 products
mask	15 products
facial cleanser	13 products
lip plumper	12 products
BB cream	11 products
facial powder	11 products
recreational sunscreen	11 products
antiperspirant/deodorant	8 products
makeup primer	8 products
antiperspirant/deodorant (men's)	7 products
makeup remover	7 products
facial moisturizer/treatment	5 products
body wash/cleanser	5 products
glitter	4 products
	3 products
hair styling aide	3 products
moisturizer	2 products
hair removal waxes	1 products
lip balm with SPF	1 products
body art	1 products
bath oil/salts/soak	1 products
baby sunscreen	1 products
anti-aging	1 products

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
2794 studies in PubMed science library may include information on the toxicity of this chemical	NLM PubMed

Ecotoxicology

CONCERN	REFERENCE
Not suspected to be an environmental toxin	Environment Canada Domestic Substance List

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

Multiple, additive exposure sources

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

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.
NLM (National Library of Medicine). 2012. PubMed online scientific bibliography data. http://www.pubmed.gov.
EC (Environment Canada). 2008. Domestic Substances List Categorization. Canadian Environmental Protection Act (CEPA) Environmental Registry.
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