EWG Skin Deep® | What is CETRIMONIUM BROMIDE

HOW WE DETERMINE SCORES Learn more About EWG VERIFIED™

Data: Fair

Cetrimonium Bromide

IMAGE SOURCE: PubChem

SEARCH PRODUCTS

FIND PRODUCTS WITH THIS INGREDIENT

Other Concerns

Use restrictions (high), Neurotoxicity (low), Endocrine disruption (low), Non-reproductive organ system toxicity (moderate), Ecotoxicology (low), and Irritation (skin, eyes, or lungs) (low)

SYNONYMS

● 1-HEXADECANAMINIUM, N,N,N-TRIMETHYL-, BROMIDE

● 1HEXADECANAMINIUM, N,N,NTRIMETHYL, BROMIDE

● BROMIDE 1-HEXADECANAMINIUM, N,N,N-TRIMETHYL-

● CETAB

● CETRIMONIUM BROMIDE

● CETYL TRIMETHYL AMMONIUM BROMIDE

● CETYLTRIMETHYLAMMONIUM BROMIDE POWDER

● HEXADECYLTRIMETHYLAMINE BROMIDE

● HEXADECYLTRIMETHYLAMMONIUM BROMIDE

● N,N,N-TRIMETHYL- BROMIDE 1-HEXADECANAMINIUM

● N,N,N-TRIMETHYL-1-HEXADECANAMINIUM BROMIDE

Unacceptable

Unacceptable: EWG VERIFIED products cannot contain this ingredient

Cetrimonium Bromide is a quaternary ammonium salt.

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

makeup remover	11 products
conditioner	10 products
hair treatment/serum	8 products
mask	4 products
styling mousse/foam	3 products
detangler	2 products
facial cleanser	2 products
facial moisturizer/treatment	2 products
exfoliant/scrub	2 products
body wash/cleanser	1 products
hair color and bleaching	1 products
shampoo	1 products

Allergies/immunotoxicity

CONCERN	REFERENCE
Known human any toxicant or allergen	Open scientific literature
Possible human any toxicant or allergen	Open scientific literature
Human skin toxicant or allergen - strong evidence	Cosmetic Ingredient Review Assessments

Use restrictions

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

Organ system toxicity (non-reproductive)

CONCERN	REFERENCE
Possible human any toxicant	Open scientific literature
Classified as expected to be toxic or harmful	Environment Canada Domestic Substance List

Irritation (skin, eyes, or lungs)

CONCERN	REFERENCE
any irritation - weight of evidence unknown/unassessed	Open scientific literature

Developmental/reproductive toxicity

CONCERN	REFERENCE
One or more animal studies show any effects at moderate doses	Open scientific literature

Neurotoxicity

CONCERN	REFERENCE
One or more in vitro tests on mammalian cells demonstrate neurotoxicity	Open scientific literature

Endocrine disruption

CONCERN	REFERENCE
Associated with endocrine disruption	Open scientific literature

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

Persistence and bioaccumulation

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

Data gaps

CONCERN	REFERENCE
3872 studies in PubMed science library may include information on the toxicity of this chemical	NLM PubMed

Open scientific/peer reviewed literature
CIR (Cosmetic Ingredient Review). 2006. CIR Compendium, containing abstracts, discussions, and conclusions of CIR cosmetic ingredient safety assessments. Washington DC.
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