EWG Skin Deep® | What is MAGNESIUM HYDROXIDE

HOW WE DETERMINE SCORES Learn more About EWG VERIFIED™

Data: Fair

Magnesium Hydroxide

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 the EWG VERIFIED mark have met use restrictions and warnings based on EWG review of company data.

IMAGE SOURCE: PubChem

SEARCH PRODUCTS

FIND PRODUCTS WITH THIS INGREDIENT

Other Concerns

Enhanced skin absorption, Use restrictions (high), and Irritation (skin, eyes, or lungs) (low)

SYNONYMS

● MAGNESIUM HYDROXIDE

● MAGNESIUM HYDROXIDE (MG(OH)2)

Restricted

Restricted: EWG VERIFIED products cannot contain this ingredient without adequate substantiation

Magnesium Hydroxide is an inorganic base.

Common concerns

See how this product scores for common concerns.

LOW

Cancer
LOW

Allergies & Immunotoxicity
LOW

Developmental and Reproductive Toxicity
HIGH

Use Restrictions

Ingredient concerns

CONCERNS
DATA SOURCES

Products with this Ingredient

antiperspirant/deodorant	261 products
antiperspirant/deodorant (men's)	22 products
BB cream	17 products
exfoliant/scrub	7 products
moisturizer	2 products
body wash/cleanser	2 products
eye shadow	2 products
after shave	2 products
hair color and bleaching	1 products
daily use with SPF	1 products
serums & essences	1 products

Enhanced skin absorption

CONCERN	REFERENCE
Nano-scale ingredients with potential to absorb into the skin	Open scientific literature
Suspected nano-scale ingredients with potential to absorb into the skin	Nanomaterial Database

Use restrictions

CONCERN	REFERENCE
Violation of industry recommendations - Restricted in cosmetics; use, concentration, or manufacturing restrictions - Avoid or minimize skin exposure: recommendation from industry safety panel (Cosmetic Ingredient Review, CIR)	Cosmetic Ingredient Review Assessments
Determined safe for use in cosmetics, subject to concentration or use limitations - Safe for use in cosmetics with some qualifications	Cosmetic Ingredient Review Assessments

Irritation (skin, eyes, or lungs)

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

Multiple, additive exposure sources

CONCERN	REFERENCE
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
Not suspected to be an environmental toxin	Environment Canada Domestic Substance List

Organ system toxicity (non-reproductive)

CONCERN	REFERENCE
Classified as not expected to be potentially toxic or harmful	Environment Canada Domestic Substance List
Classified as a low human health priority	Environment Canada Domestic Substance List

Persistence and bioaccumulation

CONCERN	REFERENCE
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 - Avoid or minimize skin exposure: recommendation from industry safety panel (Cosmetic Ingredient Review, CIR)	Cosmetic Ingredient Review Assessments

Data gaps

CONCERN	REFERENCE
1103 studies in PubMed science library may include information on the toxicity of this chemical	NLM PubMed

Open scientific/peer reviewed literature
NanoWerk. 2007. Nanomaterial Database. Available online: http://www.nanowerk.com/phpscripts/n_dbsearch.php
CIR (Cosmetic Ingredient Review). 2006. CIR Compendium, containing abstracts, discussions, and conclusions of CIR cosmetic ingredient safety assessments. Washington DC.
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.
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