EWG Skin Deep® | What is TRIETHANOLAMINE

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Data: Good

Triethanolamine

IMAGE SOURCE: PubChem

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Other Concerns

Use restrictions (high), Non-reproductive organ system toxicity (moderate), and Contamination concerns (high)

SYNONYMS

● 2,2',2"-NITRILOTRIS[ETHANOL]

● 2,2',2''-NITRILOTRIETHANOL

● ETHANOL, 2,2 ,2 NITRILOTRIS

● ETHANOL, 2,2',2"-NITRILOTRIS-

● TEA

● TRIETHANOLAMINE

● TROLAMINE

Unacceptable

Unacceptable: EWG VERIFIED products cannot contain this ingredient

Triethanolamine is a strongly alkaline substance used as surfactant and pH adjusting chemical.

Common concerns

See how this product scores for common concerns.

LOW

Cancer
MODERATE

Allergies & Immunotoxicity
LOW

Developmental and Reproductive Toxicity
HIGH

Use Restrictions

Ingredient concerns

CONCERNS
DATA SOURCES

Products with this Ingredient

moisturizer	214 products
mascara	154 products
mask	102 products
facial moisturizer/treatment	98 products
shaving cream	76 products
hand sanitizer	74 products
hair styling aide	61 products
recreational sunscreen	58 products
styling gel/lotion	55 products
eye shadow	45 products
shaving cream (men's)	43 products
serums & essences	43 products
hand cream	42 products
after sun product	36 products
facial cleanser	35 products
exfoliant/scrub	34 products
foundation	34 products
around-eye cream	30 products
daily use with SPF	30 products
hair treatment/serum	28 products
eye liner	25 products
shampoo	19 products
hair color and bleaching	19 products
brow liner	18 products
body wash/cleanser	14 products
glitter	14 products
anti-aging	12 products
after shave	11 products
conditioner	10 products
bar soap	9 products
makeup primer	9 products
baby sunscreen	9 products
toners/astringents	8 products
foot moisturizer	7 products
body firming lotion	7 products
muscle/joint soreness	7 products
tooth whitening	7 products
hair spray	6 products
baby lotion	5 products
fragrance for women	5 products
body spray	5 products
eyelash glue	4 products
lip balm	3 products
concealer	3 products
lipstick	3 products
antiperspirant/deodorant (men's)	3 products
nail treatment	3 products
styling mousse/foam	3 products
bronzer/highlighter	3 products
BB cream	3 products
beard care	3 products
makeup remover	2 products
sunless tanning	2 products
cuticle treatment	2 products
	2 products
damaged skin treatment	2 products
setting powder/spray	2 products
skin fading/lightener	1 products
hair removal waxes	1 products
fragrance for men	1 products
detangler	1 products
tanning oil	1 products
baby soap	1 products
liquid hand soap	1 products
hair-loss treatment	1 products
hair relaxer	1 products
lip gloss	1 products
other eye makeup	1 products
antiperspirant/deodorant	1 products
pore strips	1 products
lip plumper	1 products

Contamination concerns

Chemical
NITROSAMINES

Use restrictions

CONCERN	REFERENCE
Violation of government restrictions - Restricted in cosmetics; use, concentration, or manufacturing restrictions - any	Open scientific literature
Restricted in cosmetics (recommendations or requirements) - use, concentration, or manufacturing restrictions - any	CosIng
Determined safe for use in cosmetics, subject to concentration or use limitations - Safe for use in cosmetics with some qualifications	Cosmetic Ingredient Review Assessments

Allergies/immunotoxicity

CONCERN	REFERENCE
Human immune and respiratory toxicant or allergen - strong evidence	Association of Occupational and Environmental Clinics
Human skin toxicant or allergen - strong evidence	Cosmetic Ingredient Review Assessments
Limited evidence of immune system toxicity or allergies	National Library of Medicine HazMap

Organ system toxicity (non-reproductive)

CONCERN	REFERENCE
Classified as expected to be toxic or harmful	Environment Canada Domestic Substance List
Classified as medium human health priority	Environment Canada Domestic Substance List
One or more animal studies show any effects at moderate doses (low dose studies may be unavailable for this ingredient)	EPA Categorized List of Inert Pesticide Ingredients

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
22829 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

Persistence and bioaccumulation

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

Cancer

CONCERN	REFERENCE
Limited or incomplete evidence of cancer according to safety/hazard data – government assessment cannot classify as human carcinogen due to data gaps	Int'l Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) - Carcinogens
Not likely to be carcinogenic in humans	Open scientific literature

Open scientific/peer reviewed literature
European Commission. 2013. Cosing, the European Commission database with information on cosmetic substances and ingredients. Accessed on March 1, 2013 at http://ec.europa.eu/consumers/cosmetics/cosing/ .
CIR (Cosmetic Ingredient Review). 2006. CIR Compendium, containing abstracts, discussions, and conclusions of CIR cosmetic ingredient safety assessments. Washington DC.
AOEC (Association of Occupational and Environmental Clinics). 2009. AEOC exposures codes and asthmagen designation.
NLM (National Library of Medicine). 2006. HazMap — Occupational Exposure to Hazardous Agents.
EC (Environment Canada). 2008. Domestic Substances List Categorization. Canadian Environmental Protection Act (CEPA) Environmental Registry.
EPA (U.S. Environmental Protection Agency). 1987 & 2005. Office of Pesticide Programs. Inert (other) Pesticide Ingredients in Pesticide Products - Categorized List of Inert (other) Pesticide Ingredients.
NLM (National Library of Medicine). 2012. PubMed online scientific bibliography data. http://www.pubmed.gov.
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.
IARC (International Agency for Research on Cancer). 2008. Overall Evaluations of Carcinogenicity to Humans, as evaluated in IARC Monographs Volumes 1-99 (a total of 935 agents, mixtures and exposures).

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