EWG Skin Deep® | What is ETHYLENE OXIDE

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Data: Robust

Ethylene Oxide

IMAGE SOURCE: PubChem

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Other Concerns

Use restrictions (high), Non-reproductive organ system toxicity (high), Irritation (skin, eyes, or lungs) (high), and Occupational hazards (high)

SYNONYMS

● ETHYLENE OXIDE

● OXIRANE

Unacceptable

Unacceptable: EWG VERIFIED products cannot contain this ingredient

Common concerns

See how this product scores for common concerns.

HIGH

Cancer
LOW

Allergies & Immunotoxicity
MODERATE

Developmental and Reproductive Toxicity
HIGH

Use Restrictions

Ingredient concerns

CONCERNS
DATA SOURCES

Products with this Ingredient

Cancer

CONCERN	REFERENCE
Known human carcinogen	Int'l Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) - Carcinogens
Known human carcinogen	NTP Report on Carcinogens, 11th Edition
Possible human carcinogen	Amer Conf of Gov't Industrial Hygienists - Carcinogens
Possible human carcinogen	NTP - Tumor Induction in Mammary Gland
Limited evidence of carcinogenicity	NIOSH Occupational Carcinogens
One or more human case studies show possible cancer findings	NTP - Tumor Induction in Mammary Gland
Possible mutagen	Open scientific literature
Cancer - limited evidence	Silent Spring's Mammary Carcinogens Reviews Database

Use restrictions

CONCERN	REFERENCE
Violation of industry recommendations - Unsafe for use in cosmetics	Open scientific literature
Violation of government restrictions - Banned or found unsafe for use in cosmetics	Canada - Prohibited and Restricted Cosmetics Ingredients

Organ system toxicity (non-reproductive)

CONCERN	REFERENCE
Known human respiratory toxicant	EPA Hazardous Air Pollutants
Limited evidence of kidney toxicity	Scorecard.org Toxicity Information
One or more animal studies show classified as toxic effects at moderate doses (low dose studies may be unavailable for this ingredient)	EPA Toxic Release Inventory PBTs
Classified as a low human health priority	Environment Canada Domestic Substance List
Classified as not expected to be potentially toxic or harmful	Environment Canada Domestic Substance List
any - weight of evidence unknown/unassessed/unreview: published lit review or major tox study	Open scientific literature

Irritation (skin, eyes, or lungs)

CONCERN	REFERENCE
Classified as eye, lung, and skin irritant	CPS&Q - Classification & Labelling
Human any irritant - strong evidence	Open scientific literature
Limited evidence of any irritation	Open scientific literature

Occupational hazards

CONCERN	REFERENCE
Allowed workplace exposures restricted to low doses	Open scientific literature
Allowed workplace exposures restricted to high doses	National Library of Medicine HazMap
Single case study detailing occupational hazards	National Library of Medicine HazMap

Developmental/reproductive toxicity

CONCERN	REFERENCE
Possible human developmental toxicant	California EPA Proposition 65
Limited evidence of developmental toxicity	Scorecard.org Toxicity Information

Allergies/immunotoxicity

CONCERN	REFERENCE
Human immune and respiratory toxicant or allergen - strong evidence	Association of Occupational and Environmental Clinics
Limited evidence of any toxicity or allergies	Open scientific literature

Miscellaneous

CONCERN	REFERENCE
Occupational hazards related to handling	CPS&Q - Classification & Labelling

Data gaps

CONCERN	REFERENCE
8483 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
Designated as safe for general or specific, limited use in food	FDA Everything Added to Food

Persistence and bioaccumulation

CONCERN	REFERENCE
Not suspected to be bioaccumulative	Environment Canada Domestic Substance List

Ecotoxicology

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

Neurotoxicity

CONCERN	REFERENCE
any - weight of evidence unknown/unassessed/unreview: published lit review or major tox study	Open scientific literature

IARC (International Agency for Research on Cancer). 2008. Overall Evaluations of Carcinogenicity to Humans, as evaluated in IARC Monographs Volumes 1-99 (a total of 935 agents, mixtures and exposures).
NTP (National Toxicology Program). 2005. Report on Carcinogens, Eleventh Edition; U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Public Health Service, National Toxicology Program.
ACGIH (American Conference of Governmental Industrial Hygienists) 2008. ACGIH cancer classification system. www.acgih.org.
NTP (National Toxicology Program) 2006. Chemicals Associated with Site-Specific Tumor Induction in Mammary Gland.
NIOSH (National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health). 2006. NIOSH Carcinogens List (Potential occupational carcinogens). http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/npotocca.html.
Open scientific/peer reviewed literature
Rudel RA, KR Attfield, JN Schifano and JG Brody. Chemicals Causing Mammary Gland Tumors in Animals Signal New Directions for Epidemiology, Chemicals Testing, and Risk Assessment for Breast Cancer Prevention. CANCER Supplement. 2007 Jun 15;109(12):2635-2666.
Health Canada. 2007. List of Prohibited and Restricted Cosmetic Ingredients. Canada's Cosmetic Ingredient Hotlist. March 2007.
EPA (U.S. Environmental Protection Agency). 2005. Office of Air. The 112(b)1 Hazardous Air Pollutants List (as modified). Last modified: 12 Dec 2005.
ED (Environmental Defense). 2006. Scorecard _ The Pollution Information Site. http://www.scorecard.org.
EPA (U.S. Environmental Protection Agency). 1999. Toxics Release Inventory Program. PBT Chemical Rule.
EC (Environment Canada). 2008. Domestic Substances List Categorization. Canadian Environmental Protection Act (CEPA) Environmental Registry.
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.
NLM (National Library of Medicine). 2006. HazMap — Occupational Exposure to Hazardous Agents.
California EPA (California Environmental Protection Agency). 9/2008. Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment. Safe Drinking Water and Toxic Enforcement Act of 1986. Chemicals known to the State to cause cancer or reproductive toxicity.
AOEC (Association of Occupational and Environmental Clinics). 2009. AEOC exposures codes and asthmagen designation.
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.
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.

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