Other Concerns
Use restrictions (high), Non-reproductive organ system toxicity (moderate), and Contamination concerns (high)SYNONYMS
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.
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LOWCancer
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MODERATEAllergies & Immunotoxicity
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LOWDevelopmental and Reproductive Toxicity
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HIGHUse Restrictions
Ingredient concerns
- CONCERNS
- DATA SOURCES
Products with this Ingredient
moisturizer | 174 products |
mascara | 138 products |
hand sanitizer | 111 products |
mask | 106 products |
facial moisturizer/treatment | 104 products |
shaving cream | 85 products |
recreational sunscreen | 61 products |
hair styling aide | 59 products |
styling gel/lotion | 45 products |
eye shadow | 43 products |
serums & essences | 41 products |
foundation | 40 products |
body firming lotion | 36 products |
shaving cream (men's) | 35 products |
daily use with SPF | 32 products |
exfoliant/scrub | 31 products |
hand cream | 31 products |
around-eye cream | 31 products |
facial cleanser | 30 products |
hair treatment/serum | 30 products |
after sun product | 28 products |
eye liner | 25 products |
hair color and bleaching | 24 products |
shampoo | 18 products |
glitter | 17 products |
brow liner | 16 products |
anti-aging | 13 products |
conditioner | 11 products |
makeup primer | 11 products |
baby sunscreen | 10 products |
after shave | 9 products |
tooth whitening | 9 products |
bar soap | 9 products |
baby lotion | 8 products |
body wash/cleanser | 8 products |
toners/astringents | 8 products |
muscle/joint soreness | 8 products |
foot moisturizer | 7 products |
hair spray | 6 products |
fragrance for women | 5 products |
body spray | 5 products |
concealer | 4 products |
beard care | 4 products |
foot cleansing | 3 products |
lipstick | 3 products |
antiperspirant/deodorant (men's) | 3 products |
nail treatment | 3 products |
bronzer/highlighter | 3 products |
BB cream | 3 products |
damaged skin treatment | 3 products |
lip balm | 2 products |
makeup remover | 2 products |
sunless tanning | 2 products |
styling mousse/foam | 2 products |
other eye makeup | 2 products |
eyelash glue | 2 products |
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 |
cuticle treatment | 1 products |
lip gloss | 1 products |
antiperspirant/deodorant | 1 products |
foot odor control | 1 products |
polish remover | 1 products |
pore strips | 1 products |
lip plumper | 1 products |
Contamination concerns
Chemical |
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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 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.