EWG Skin Deep® | What is PAPAIN

HOW WE DETERMINE SCORES Learn more About EWG VERIFIED®

Data: Fair

Papain

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 that are inhalable (e.g., sprays, powders) because of respiratory concerns.

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Other Concerns

Irritation (skin, eyes, or lungs) (high)

SYNONYMS

● PAPAIN

● PAPAINASE

● PAPAINE

Restricted

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

Papain is a proteolytic enzyme isolated from the latex of the green fruit and leaves of Caricapapaya.

Common concerns

See how this product scores for common concerns.

LOW

Cancer
MODERATE

Allergies & Immunotoxicity
LOW

Developmental and Reproductive Toxicity
LOW

Use Restrictions

Ingredient concerns

CONCERNS
DATA SOURCES

Products with this Ingredient

exfoliant/scrub	40 products
mask	25 products
toothpaste	21 products
facial cleanser	14 products
facial moisturizer/treatment	13 products
foundation	10 products
lip balm	5 products
serums & essences	5 products
body wash/cleanser	4 products
liquid hand soap	3 products
tooth whitening	2 products
around-eye cream	2 products
foot moisturizer	2 products
body oil	1 products
damaged skin treatment	1 products
toners/astringents	1 products
makeup remover	1 products
hair treatment/serum	1 products
antiperspirant/deodorant	1 products
skin fading/lightener	1 products
mouthwash	1 products
body firming lotion	1 products
moisturizer	1 products
shampoo	1 products
bar soap	1 products

Irritation (skin, eyes, or lungs)

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

Allergies/immunotoxicity

CONCERN	REFERENCE
Human immune and respiratory toxicant or allergen - strong evidence	Association of Occupational and Environmental Clinics
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

Ecotoxicology

CONCERN	REFERENCE
Uncertain environmental toxin and uncertain persistent or bioaccumulative	Environment Canada Domestic Substance List

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

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

Data gaps

CONCERN	REFERENCE
9840 studies in PubMed science library may include information on the toxicity of this chemical	NLM PubMed

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.
AOEC (Association of Occupational and Environmental Clinics). 2009. AEOC exposures codes and asthmagen designation.
NLM (National Library of Medicine). 2006. HazMap — Occupational Exposure to Hazardous Agents.
EC (Environment Canada). 2008. Domestic Substances List Categorization. Canadian Environmental Protection Act (CEPA) Environmental Registry.
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.
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