EWG Skin Deep® | What is PERFLUOROHEXANE

HOW WE DETERMINE SCORES Learn more About EWG VERIFIED®

Data: Limited

Perfluorohexane

IMAGE SOURCE: PubChem

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Other Concerns

Use restrictions (high), Endocrine disruption (moderate), Persistence and bioaccumulation (high), and Non-reproductive organ system toxicity (moderate)

SYNONYMS

● HEXANE, TETRADECAFLUORO-

● PERFLUORO-N-HEXANE

● PERFLUOROHEXANE

● PERFLUOROHEXANE; PERFLUORO-N-HEXANE; TETRADECAFLUOROHEXANE

● TETRADECAFLUORO- HEXANE

● TETRADECAFLUOROHEXANE

Unacceptable

Unacceptable: EWG VERIFIED products cannot contain this ingredient

This ingredient is a member of a class of compounds called per- and polyfluoralkyl substances, or PFAS. With the many health effects noted for the few well studied PFAS substances, and hundreds of other PFAS in commerce lacking toxicity data, an appropriate degree of precaution is required to protect human health. EWG consumer database now includes a category rating for all PFAS ingredients.

Common concerns

See how this product scores for common concerns.

MODERATE

Cancer
HIGH

Allergies & Immunotoxicity
HIGH

Developmental and Reproductive Toxicity
HIGH

Use Restrictions

Ingredient concerns

CONCERNS
DATA SOURCES

Products with this Ingredient

mask	4 products
facial moisturizer/treatment	2 products
around-eye cream	1 products

Developmental/reproductive toxicity

CONCERN	REFERENCE
Known human reproduvtive or developmental toxin	Open scientific literature

Allergies/immunotoxicity

CONCERN	REFERENCE
Known human any toxicant or allergen	Open scientific literature

Persistence and bioaccumulation

CONCERN	REFERENCE
Persistent, bioaccumulative in wildlife and humans	Open scientific literature
Persistent or bioaccumulative and moderate to high toxicity concern in humans	Open scientific literature
Persistent, bioaccumulative in wildlife	OSPAR PBTs - Substances of Possible Concern

Use restrictions

CONCERN	REFERENCE
Violation of government restrictions - Banned or found unsafe for use in cosmetics	Open scientific literature

Miscellaneous

CONCERN	REFERENCE
Chemical class of concern	Open scientific literature

Endocrine disruption

CONCERN	REFERENCE
Possible human any disruptor	Open scientific literature

Cancer

CONCERN	REFERENCE
Possible human carcinogen	Open scientific literature

Organ system toxicity (non-reproductive)

CONCERN	REFERENCE
Possible human any toxicant	Open scientific literature

Data gaps

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

Multiple, additive exposure sources

CONCERN	REFERENCE
Designated as safe for general or specific, limited use in food	FDA Food Additive Status

Open scientific/peer reviewed literature
OSPAR (Oslo-Paris). 2002. OSPAR List of Substances of Possible Concern. Secondary OSPAR List of Substances of Possible Concern. Secondary OSPAR. Place Published, OSPAR Convention for the Protection of the Marine Environement of North-East Atlanic.
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.

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