Tocopherol
- Products with the EWG VERIFIED mark have met the program’s impurity restrictions based on EWG review of company data.
Other Concerns
Endocrine disruption (low) and Contamination concerns (high)SYNONYMS
Restricted
Restricted: EWG VERIFIED products cannot contain this ingredient without adequate substantiation
Tocopherols are a class of naturally occurring chemical compounds related to Vitamin E
Common concerns
See how this product scores for common concerns.
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LOWCancer
-
LOWAllergies & Immunotoxicity
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LOWDevelopmental and Reproductive Toxicity
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LOWUse Restrictions
Ingredient concerns
- CONCERNS
- DATA SOURCES
Products with this Ingredient
foundation | 1437 products |
lipstick | 1435 products |
facial moisturizer/treatment | 1005 products |
moisturizer | 864 products |
lip balm | 826 products |
concealer | 713 products |
lip gloss | 660 products |
serums & essences | 516 products |
recreational sunscreen | 485 products |
eye shadow | 443 products |
eye liner | 437 products |
mask | 399 products |
conditioner | 379 products |
blush | 375 products |
brow liner | 367 products |
bronzer/highlighter | 333 products |
daily use with SPF | 302 products |
facial cleanser | 300 products |
shampoo | 297 products |
hair treatment/serum | 294 products |
exfoliant/scrub | 274 products |
around-eye cream | 263 products |
lip liner | 225 products |
antiperspirant/deodorant | 214 products |
body wash/cleanser | 200 products |
mascara | 197 products |
body oil | 193 products |
hand cream | 192 products |
hair styling aide | 133 products |
makeup primer | 112 products |
nail polish | 98 products |
liquid hand soap | 93 products |
beard oil | 91 products |
baby sunscreen | 90 products |
BB cream | 83 products |
lip balm with SPF | 82 products |
baby lotion | 80 products |
CC cream | 78 products |
lip plumper | 72 products |
bar soap | 68 products |
toners/astringents | 67 products |
setting powder/spray | 66 products |
anti-aging | 65 products |
makeup remover | 62 products |
facial powder | 59 products |
fragrance for women | 59 products |
styling gel/lotion | 51 products |
44 products | |
sunless tanning | 40 products |
bath oil/salts/soak | 39 products |
beard care | 39 products |
diaper cream | 38 products |
body firming lotion | 34 products |
hair spray | 29 products |
hand sanitizer | 29 products |
cuticle treatment | 24 products |
muscle/joint soreness | 24 products |
antiperspirant/deodorant (men's) | 23 products |
nail treatment | 22 products |
bubble bath | 22 products |
damaged skin treatment | 22 products |
shaving cream | 20 products |
after sun product | 19 products |
baby soap | 19 products |
styling mousse/foam | 19 products |
detangler | 19 products |
baby oil | 18 products |
body spray | 18 products |
foot moisturizer | 17 products |
shaving cream (men's) | 15 products |
after shave | 14 products |
baby shampoo | 14 products |
fragrance for men | 14 products |
body powder | 13 products |
hair color and bleaching | 11 products |
skin fading/lightener | 11 products |
beard cleanser | 9 products |
hair removal waxes | 7 products |
tanning oil | 7 products |
baby wipes | 7 products |
baby powder | 7 products |
eyelash glue | 7 products |
toothpaste | 7 products |
eye makeup remover | 5 products |
oil controller | 4 products |
baby bubble bath | 4 products |
hair-loss treatment | 4 products |
mouthwash | 4 products |
other eye makeup | 4 products |
polish remover | 3 products |
nail glue | 3 products |
glitter | 3 products |
tooth whitening | 3 products |
depilatory | 2 products |
vapor rubs | 2 products |
hair relaxer | 2 products |
facial cleansing wipes | 2 products |
body cleansing wipes | 2 products |
foot cleansing | 1 products |
foot odor control | 1 products |
makeup removing wipes | 1 products |
exfoliant/scrub - large particle | 1 products |
Contamination concerns
Chemical |
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HYDROQUINONE |
Allergies/immunotoxicity
CONCERN | REFERENCE |
---|---|
Limited evidence of any toxicity or allergies | Open scientific literature |
One or more human case studies show equivocal any or allergenic effects | Open scientific literature |
Cancer
CONCERN | REFERENCE |
---|---|
Cancer - weight of evidence unknown/unassessed | Open scientific literature |
One or more animal studies show tumor formation at high doses | Open scientific literature |
Endocrine disruption
CONCERN | REFERENCE |
---|---|
Associated with endocrine disruption | Open scientific literature |
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 |
43489 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 |
Designated as safe for general or specific, limited use in food | FDA Food Additive Status |
Informational
CONCERN | REFERENCE |
---|---|
Industry or government recommendations for safe use: restrictions on concentration, impurities, product types, or manufacturing methods - any | Cosmetic Ingredient Review Assessments |
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 |
Persistence and bioaccumulation
CONCERN | REFERENCE |
---|---|
Not suspected to be bioaccumulative | Environment Canada Domestic Substance List |
- Open scientific/peer reviewed literature
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- EC (Environment Canada). 2008. Domestic Substances List Categorization. Canadian Environmental Protection Act (CEPA) Environmental Registry.
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 SCORESHazard 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.