EWG Skin Deep® | What is STEARETH-20

HOW WE DETERMINE SCORES Learn more About EWG VERIFIED®

Data: Limited

Steareth 20

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

● PEG-20 STEARYL ETHER

● POLYETHYLENE GLYCOL 1000 STEARYL ETHER

● POLYOXYETHYLENE (20) STEARYL ETHER

● STEARETH-20

Restricted

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

Steareth-20 is a synthetic polymer composed of PEG (polyethylene glycol) and stearyl alcohol. Due to the presence of PEG, this ingredient may contain potentially toxic manufacturing impurities such as 1,4-dioxane.

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

around-eye cream	64 products
conditioner	49 products
mascara	37 products
hair color and bleaching	34 products
brow liner	32 products
serums & essences	27 products
moisturizer	26 products
mask	22 products
concealer	20 products
eye liner	17 products
hair treatment/serum	15 products
antiperspirant/deodorant	14 products
hand cream	14 products
hair styling aide	13 products
eye shadow	13 products
facial moisturizer/treatment	13 products
daily use with SPF	8 products
styling gel/lotion	7 products
exfoliant/scrub	6 products
anti-aging	5 products
bronzer/highlighter	4 products
other eye makeup	4 products
foot moisturizer	3 products
sunless tanning	3 products
body firming lotion	2 products
shampoo	2 products
setting powder/spray	2 products
makeup primer	2 products
hand sanitizer	1 products
baby lotion	1 products
	1 products
damaged skin treatment	1 products
facial cleanser	1 products
baby oil	1 products
makeup remover	1 products
lip balm	1 products
styling mousse/foam	1 products
body wash/cleanser	1 products
detangler	1 products
toners/astringents	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

Irritation (skin, eyes, or lungs)

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

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

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
43 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.
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.
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