EWG Skin Deep® | What is BASIC BLUE 9

HOW WE DETERMINE SCORES Learn more About EWG VERIFIED™

Data: Good

Basic Blue 9

IMAGE SOURCE: PubChem

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Other Concerns

Use restrictions (high), Non-reproductive organ system toxicity (low), and Irritation (skin, eyes, or lungs) (low)

SYNONYMS

3,7-BIS(DIMETHYLAMINO)- CHLORIDE PHENOTHIAZIN-5-IUM, 3,7-BIS(DIMETHYLAMINO)PHENOTHIAZIN-5-IUM CHLORIDE, 7-(DIMETHYLAMINO)-3-(METHYLIMINO)-3H-PHENOTHIAZINE, 3-METHOCHLORIDE, BASIC BLUE 9, CHLORIDE PHENOTHIAZIN-5-IUM, 3,7-BIS(DIMETHYLAMINO)-, CI 52015, METHYLENE BLUE, METHYLENIUM CERULEUM, METHYLTHIONINE CHLORIDE, METHYLTHIONINIUM CHLORIDE, PHENOTHIAZIN-5-IUM, 3,7-BIS(DIMETHYLAMINO)-, CHLORIDE, PHENOTHIAZIN5IUM, 3,7BIS(DIMETHYLAMINO), CHLORIDE, SOLVENT BLUE 8, and TETRAMETHYLTHIONI NE CHLOIDE

Unacceptable

Unacceptable: EWG VERIFIED products cannot contain this ingredient

Basic Blue 9 is a thiazine color.

Common concerns

See how this product scores for common concerns.

MODERATE

Cancer
LOW

Allergies & Immunotoxicity
LOW

Developmental and Reproductive Toxicity
HIGH

Use Restrictions

Ingredient concerns

CONCERNS
DATA SOURCES

Products with this Ingredient

conditioner	44 products
hair color and bleaching	12 products

Use restrictions

CONCERN	REFERENCE
Violation of government restrictions - Banned or found unsafe for use in cosmetics	CosIng
Determined safe for use in cosmetics, subject to concentration or use limitations - any	CTFA International Cosmetic Ingredient Dictionary and Handbook

Cancer

CONCERN	REFERENCE
Limited evidence of carcinogenicity	Open scientific literature
Cancer - limited evidence	CTFA International Cosmetic Ingredient Dictionary and Handbook
Not likely to be carcinogenic in humans	Open scientific literature
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

Irritation (skin, eyes, or lungs)

CONCERN	REFERENCE
Limited evidence of skin irritation	National Library of Medicine HazMap

Organ system toxicity (non-reproductive)

CONCERN	REFERENCE
Limited evidence of cardiovascular or blood toxicity	National Library of Medicine HazMap
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

Data gaps

CONCERN	REFERENCE
12556 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 persistent	Environment Canada Domestic Substance List
Not suspected to be bioaccumulative	Environment Canada Domestic Substance List

Informational

CONCERN	REFERENCE
Industry or government recommendations for safe use: restrictions on concentration, impurities, product types, or manufacturing methods - any	Open scientific 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/ .
CTFA (Cosmetic, Toiletry and Fragrance Association). 2006. International Cosmetic Ingredient Dictionary and Handbook, 11th Edition. Color Additive Information. Washington, DC.
Open scientific/peer reviewed literature
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).
NLM (National Library of Medicine). 2006. HazMap — Occupational Exposure to Hazardous Agents.
ED (Environmental Defense). 2006. Scorecard _ The Pollution Information Site. http://www.scorecard.org.
EC (Environment Canada). 2008. Domestic Substances List Categorization. Canadian Environmental Protection Act (CEPA) Environmental Registry.
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.

NONE LIMITED FAIR GOOD ROBUST

Low Availability

Moderate Availability

High Availability