EWG Skin Deep® | What is ZINC STEARATE

HOW WE DETERMINE SCORES Learn more About EWG VERIFIED™

Data: Fair

Zinc Stearate

IMAGE SOURCE: PubChem

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Other Concerns

Persistence and bioaccumulation (moderate), Non-reproductive organ system toxicity (moderate), and Ecotoxicology (low)

SYNONYMS

● OCTADECANOIC ACID, ZINC SALT

● OCTADECANOIC ACID, ZINC SALT; STEARIC ACID, ZINC SALT; STEARIC ACID, ZINC SALT

● ZINC DISTEARATE

● ZINC OCTADECANOATE

● ZINC SALT OCTADECANOIC ACID

● ZINC STEARATE

This ingredient is not currently on EWG's Skin Deep Restricted or Unacceptable Lists.

Zinc Stearate is a zinc salt of stearic acid, a naturally occurring fatty acid.

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

eye shadow	458 products
foundation	294 products
blush	193 products
bronzer/highlighter	192 products
facial powder	139 products
brow liner	136 products
setting powder/spray	84 products
concealer	25 products
	19 products
daily use with SPF	18 products
makeup primer	13 products
body powder	10 products
eye liner	8 products
facial moisturizer/treatment	4 products
moisturizer	3 products
lipstick	3 products
hair color and bleaching	2 products
hair treatment/serum	1 products
eyelash glue	1 products
hair styling aide	1 products
foot moisturizer	1 products
baby lotion	1 products
oil controller	1 products
around-eye cream	1 products
hand cream	1 products
lip liner	1 products

Persistence and bioaccumulation

CONCERN	REFERENCE
Persistent or bioaccumulative and moderate to high toxicity concern in humans	Environment Canada Domestic Substance List
Persistent, bioaccumulative in wildlife	Canada PBTs - Accelerated Reduction/Elimination of Toxics (ARET)
Not suspected to be bioaccumulative	Environment Canada Domestic Substance List

Organ system toxicity (non-reproductive)

CONCERN	REFERENCE
Classified as expected to be toxic or harmful	Environment Canada Domestic Substance List
Limited evidence of any toxicity	Scorecard.org Toxicity Information
One or more animal studies show classified as toxic effects at moderate doses (low dose studies may be unavailable for this ingredient)	EPA Toxic Release Inventory PBTs
Classified as a low human health priority	Environment Canada Domestic Substance List

Ecotoxicology

CONCERN	REFERENCE
Suspected to be an environmental toxin and be persistent or bioaccumulative	Environment Canada Domestic Substance List
Suspected to be an environmental toxin	Environment Canada Domestic Substance List

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
Safety assessment was based on related chemical	Cosmetic Ingredient Review Assessments
248 studies in PubMed science library may include information on the toxicity of this chemical	NLM PubMed

Informational

CONCERN	REFERENCE
Industry or government recommendations for safe use: restrictions on concentration, impurities, product types, or manufacturing methods - any	Cosmetic Ingredient Review Assessments

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

EC (Environment Canada). 2008. Domestic Substances List Categorization. Canadian Environmental Protection Act (CEPA) Environmental Registry.
EC (Environment Canada). 1994. Accelerated Reduction/Elimination of Toxics (ARET). ARET substance list of persistent, bioaccumulative and toxic chemicals.
ED (Environmental Defense). 2006. Scorecard _ The Pollution Information Site. http://www.scorecard.org.
EPA (U.S. Environmental Protection Agency). 1999. Toxics Release Inventory Program. PBT Chemical Rule.
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) 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.

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