EWG Skin Deep® | What is STEARETH-2

HOW WE DETERMINE SCORES Learn more About EWG VERIFIED®

Data: Limited

Steareth 2

Products with the EWG VERIFIED mark have met the program’s impurity and use restrictions based on EWG's review of the company's data.

IMAGE SOURCE: PubChem

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Other Concerns

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

SYNONYMS

● 2-[2-(OCTADECYLOXY)ETHOXY]ETHANOL

● 2-[2-OCTADECYLOXY)ETHOXY]- ETHANOL

● ETHANOL, 2-[2-OCTADECYLOXY)ETHOXY]-

● PEG-2 STEARYL ETHER

● POLYETHYLENE GLYCOL (100) STEARYL ETHER

● POLYOXYETHYLENE (2) STEARYL ETHER

● STEARETH-2

Restricted

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

Steareth-2 is a surfactant composed of polyethylene glycol polymer and stearyl alcohol.

Common concerns

See how this product scores for common concerns.

LOW

Cancer
LOW

Allergies & Immunotoxicity
LOW

Developmental and Reproductive Toxicity
LOW

Use Restrictions

Ingredient concerns

CONCERNS
DATA SOURCES

Products with this Ingredient

moisturizer	52 products
mascara	44 products
facial moisturizer/treatment	30 products
daily use with SPF	26 products
antiperspirant/deodorant	19 products
sunless tanning	19 products
mask	14 products
hair styling aide	13 products
brow liner	12 products
hand cream	12 products
facial cleanser	8 products
conditioner	8 products
hair treatment/serum	8 products
around-eye cream	7 products
recreational sunscreen	7 products
exfoliant/scrub	5 products
styling gel/lotion	4 products
body firming lotion	4 products
after shave	3 products
serums & essences	3 products
BB cream	3 products
anti-aging	2 products
styling mousse/foam	2 products
eye liner	2 products
bronzer/highlighter	2 products
hair color and bleaching	2 products
eye makeup remover	1 products
makeup remover	1 products
baby oil	1 products
makeup primer	1 products
lip balm	1 products
tanning oil	1 products
damaged skin treatment	1 products
foot moisturizer	1 products
antiperspirant/deodorant (men's)	1 products
skin fading/lightener	1 products
shaving cream	1 products
detangler	1 products
foot odor control	1 products

Contamination concerns

Chemical
ETHYLENE OXIDE
1,4-DIOXANE

Organ system toxicity (non-reproductive)

CONCERN	REFERENCE
Limited evidence of sense organ toxicity	Scorecard.org Toxicity Information
Classified as not expected to be potentially toxic or harmful	Environment Canada Domestic Substance List

Use restrictions

CONCERN	REFERENCE
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

Ecotoxicology

CONCERN	REFERENCE
Suspected to be an environmental toxin	Environment Canada Domestic Substance List

Data gaps

CONCERN	REFERENCE
Safety assessment was based on related chemical	Cosmetic Ingredient Review Assessments
35 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

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

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