EWG Skin Deep® | What is TURPENTINE OIL

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Data: Good

Turpentine Oil

Products with this ingredient are allowed for use in EWG VERIFIED but must meet use restrictions and warnings based on EWG review of company data.
Products with this ingredient are allowed for use in EWG VERIFIED but must meet use restrictions and warnings based on EWG review of company data.
This ingredient’s score is higher if used in products intended for use around mouth due to increased risk of ingestion and absorption.
This ingredient’s score is higher if used in products intended for use on lips due to increased risk of ingestion and absorption.
This ingredient’s score is higher if used in products that are inhalable (e.g., sprays, powders) because of respiratory concerns.
Products with the EWG VERIFIED mark have met use restrictions and warnings based on EWG review of company data.

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Other Concerns

Use restrictions (high), Non-reproductive organ system toxicity (moderate), Multiple, additive exposure sources (low), Ecotoxicology (low), Irritation (skin, eyes, or lungs) (high), and Occupational hazards (high)

SYNONYMS

OIL OF TURPENTINE, DISTILLATION RESIDUE; SULFATE TURPENTINE; SULFATE TURPENTINE, STEAM DISTILLED (PINUS SPP.) TURPENTINE, TURPENTINE, TURPENTINE GUM (PINUS SPP.), TURPENTINE OIL, TURPENTINE OIL RECTIFIED, and TURPENTINE, STEAM DISTILLED (PINUS SPP.)

Restricted - Unaccpetable

The score of this ingredient can vary from Restricted to Unacceptable based on the method of product consumption. For instance, when used in aerosol-based products, this ingredient may pose a risk to respiratory health, leading to a higher score

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Turpentine is a mixture of terpene hydrocarbons obtained from various species of Pinus.

Common concerns

See how this product scores for common concerns.

LOW

Cancer
HIGH

Allergies & Immunotoxicity
LOW

Developmental and Reproductive Toxicity
HIGH

Use Restrictions

Ingredient concerns

CONCERNS
DATA SOURCES

Products with this Ingredient

Allergies/immunotoxicity

CONCERN	REFERENCE
Known human any toxicant or allergen	Open scientific literature
Human immune and respiratory toxicant or allergen - strong evidence	Association of Occupational and Environmental Clinics
Possible human any toxicant or allergen	Open scientific literature
Limited evidence of immune system toxicity or allergies	Scorecard.org Toxicity Information
Limited evidence of immune system toxicity or allergies	CPS&Q - Classification & Labelling
Limited evidence of immune system toxicity or allergies	National Library of Medicine HazMap

Irritation (skin, eyes, or lungs)

CONCERN	REFERENCE
Classified as irritant	CPS&Q - Classification & Labelling

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

Occupational hazards

CONCERN	REFERENCE
Allowed workplace exposures restricted to low doses	CPS&Q - Classification & Labelling

Organ system toxicity (non-reproductive)

CONCERN	REFERENCE
Classified as medium human health priority	Environment Canada Domestic Substance List
Classified as expected to be toxic or harmful	Environment Canada Domestic Substance List
Classified as toxic or harmful	CPS&Q - Classification & Labelling
Limited evidence of cardiovascular or blood toxicity	Scorecard.org Toxicity Information
Classified as not expected to be potentially toxic or harmful	Environment Canada Domestic Substance List

Multiple, additive exposure sources

CONCERN	REFERENCE
Used in food or as an additive with limited or no toxicity information available	FDA Everything Added to Food
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

Ecotoxicology

CONCERN	REFERENCE
Wildlife and environmental toxicity	CPS&Q - Classification & Labelling
Not suspected to be an environmental toxin	Environment Canada Domestic Substance List

Miscellaneous

CONCERN	REFERENCE
Occupational hazards related to handling	CPS&Q - Classification & Labelling

Neurotoxicity

CONCERN	REFERENCE
nervous system - weight of evidence unknown/unassessed/unreview: published lit review or major tox study	National Library of Medicine HazMap

Persistence and bioaccumulation

CONCERN	REFERENCE
Not suspected to be persistent	Open scientific literature
Not suspected to be bioaccumulative	Open scientific literature

Data gaps

CONCERN	REFERENCE
1821 studies in PubMed science library may include information on the toxicity of this chemical	NLM PubMed

Open scientific/peer reviewed literature
AOEC (Association of Occupational and Environmental Clinics). 2009. AEOC exposures codes and asthmagen designation.
ED (Environmental Defense). 2006. Scorecard _ The Pollution Information Site. http://www.scorecard.org.
CPS&Q (Consumer Products Safety & Quality) formely known as ECB (European Chemicals Bureau). 2008. Classification and Labelling: Chemicals: Annex VI of Directive 67/548/EEC through the 31st ATP.
NLM (National Library of Medicine). 2006. HazMap — Occupational Exposure to Hazardous Agents.
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/ .
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.
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.
NLM (National Library of Medicine). 2012. PubMed online scientific bibliography data. http://www.pubmed.gov.

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.

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Low Availability

Moderate Availability

High Availability