EWG Skin Deep® | What is BUTYLPARABEN

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Data: Fair

Butylparaben

IMAGE SOURCE: PubChem

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Other Concerns

Use restrictions (moderate), Endocrine disruption (high), and Biochemical or cellular level changes (moderate)

SYNONYMS

4-HYDROXY- BUTYL ESTER BENZOIC ACID, 4-HYDROXYBENZOIC ACID, BUTYL ESTER, SODIUM SALT, BENZOIC ACID, 4-HYDROXY-, BUTYL ESTER, BENZOIC ACID, 4-HYDROXY-, BUTYL ESTER, SODIUM SALT, BENZOIC ACID, 4HYDROXY, BUTYL ESTER, BUTYL 4-HYDROXYBENZOATE, BUTYL ESTER BENZOIC ACID, 4-HYDROXY-, BUTYL ESTER SODIUM SALT 4-HYDROXYBENZOIC ACID, BUTYL ESTER SODIUM SALT BENZOIC ACID, 4-HYDROXY-, BUTYL P-HYDROXY BENZOATE, BUTYL P-HYDROXYBENZOATE, BUTYL PARAHYDROXYBENZOATE, BUTYLPARABEN, BUTYLPARABEN, POTASSIUM SALT, BUTYLPARABEN, SODIUM SALT, P-HYDROXYBENZOIC ACID, BUTYL ESTER, PARAHYDROXYBENZOATE ESTER, POTASSIUM BUTYLPARABEN, POTASSIUM SALT BUTYLPARABEN, SODIUM BUTYL 4-HYDROXYBENZOATE, SODIUM BUTYLPARABEN, SODIUM SALT 4-HYDROXYBENZOIC ACID, BUTYL ESTER, SODIUM SALT BENZOIC ACID, 4-HYDROXY-, BUTYL ESTER, and SODIUM SALT BUTYLPARABEN

Restricted

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

Butylparaben is in the paraben family of preservatives used by the food, pharmaceutical, and personal care product industries. Parabens mimic estrogen and can act as potential hormone (endocrine) system disruptors.

Common concerns

See how this product scores for common concerns.

LOW

Cancer
MODERATE

Allergies & Immunotoxicity
MODERATE

Developmental and Reproductive Toxicity
MODERATE

Use Restrictions

Ingredient concerns

CONCERNS
DATA SOURCES

Products with this Ingredient

foundation	78 products
concealer	47 products
eye liner	22 products
lipstick	20 products
facial powder	18 products
blush	17 products
mascara	12 products
bronzer/highlighter	11 products
eye shadow	10 products
lip liner	7 products
setting powder/spray	7 products
conditioner	6 products
facial cleanser	5 products
moisturizer	5 products
brow liner	5 products
after shave	4 products
sunless tanning	3 products
styling mousse/foam	3 products
daily use with SPF	3 products
hair treatment/serum	3 products
hair-loss treatment	3 products
facial moisturizer/treatment	2 products
hair color and bleaching	2 products
styling gel/lotion	2 products
mask	2 products
hair styling aide	2 products
anti-aging	1 products
hair spray	1 products
baby lotion	1 products
makeup remover	1 products
lip gloss	1 products
foot moisturizer	1 products
toners/astringents	1 products
makeup primer	1 products
body powder	1 products
baby sunscreen	1 products
recreational sunscreen	1 products
lip balm with SPF	1 products
polish remover	1 products
damaged skin treatment	1 products

Endocrine disruption

CONCERN	REFERENCE
Known human any disruptor	Open scientific literature
Human endocrine disruptor - strong evidence	European Commission on Endocrine Disruption
Limited evidence of endocrine disruption	Open scientific literature
One or more studies show significant wildlife and the environment disruption	European Commission on Endocrine Disruption
One or more studies show weak endocrine disruption	Open scientific literature
One or more studies show weak endocrine disruption	EWG Assessment of Open Scientific Literature

Developmental/reproductive toxicity

CONCERN	REFERENCE
Possible human reproductive or developmental toxin	Open scientific literature
One or more animal studies show any effects at very low doses	Open scientific literature
One or more animal studies show any effects at low doses	Open scientific literature

Allergies/immunotoxicity

CONCERN	REFERENCE
Human skin toxicant or allergen - strong evidence	EWG Assessment of Open Scientific Literature
One or more human case studies show possible immune or allergenic effects	Open scientific literature

Use restrictions

CONCERN	REFERENCE
Restricted in cosmetics (recommendations or requirements) - use, concentration, or manufacturing restrictions - any	Open scientific literature
Determined safe for use in cosmetics, subject to concentration or use limitations - any	Cosmetic Ingredient Review Assessments
Determined safe for use in cosmetics, subject to concentration or use limitations - any	Open scientific literature

Biochemical or cellular level changes

CONCERN	REFERENCE
Interferes with gene expresion	Open scientific literature

Data gaps

CONCERN	REFERENCE
Risk assessment method deficiencies and data gaps - Maximum reported "as used" concentration is basis of safety assessment by industry safety panel (Cosmetic Ingredient Review, CIR) - implicit safe concentration limit in product	Cosmetic Ingredient Review Assessments
Safety assessment was based on related chemical	Cosmetic Ingredient Review Assessments
308 studies in PubMed science library may include information on the toxicity of this chemical	NLM PubMed

Organ system toxicity (non-reproductive)

CONCERN	REFERENCE
Classified as not expected to be potentially toxic or harmful	Environment Canada Domestic Substance List

Persistence and bioaccumulation

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

Ecotoxicology

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

Multiple, additive exposure sources

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

Informational

CONCERN	REFERENCE
Industry or government recommendations for safe use: restrictions on concentration, impurities, product types, or manufacturing methods - any	Cosmetic Ingredient Review Assessments

Open scientific/peer reviewed literature
EU (European Union)- Strategy for Endocrine Disrupters 2007. Commision on endocrin disruption requested by the European Parliament in 1998.
EWG Assessment of Open Scientific 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.
EC (Environment Canada). 2008. Domestic Substances List Categorization. Canadian Environmental Protection Act (CEPA) Environmental Registry.
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