POLYPROPYLENE GLYCOL
Solvent; SKIN CONDITIONING
Also listed as
PPG-3, POLYOXYPROPYLENE; POLY [OXY (METHYL-1,2-ETHANEDIYL) ] , .ALPHA.-HYDRO-.OMEGA.-HYDROXY-; POLY [OXY (METHYL1,2ETHANEDIYL) ] , αHYDROωHYDROXY; POLYPROPYLENE GLYCOL; PROPYLENE OXIDE, PROPYLENE GLYCOL POLYMER; ALKAPAL PPG-1200; ALKAPAL PPG-2000; ALKAPAL PPG-4000; JEFFOX PPG 400; P.P.G 2025; P.P.G 3025; P.P.G 4025
Given the incomplete information made available by companies and the government, EWG provides additional information on personal care product ingredients from the published scientific literature. The chart below indicates that research studies have found that exposure to this ingredient -- not the products containing it -- caused the indicated health effect(s) in the studies reviewed by Skin Deep researchers. Actual health risks, if any, will vary based on the level of exposure to the ingredient and individual susceptibility -- information not available in Skin Deep.
| This ingredient: | |
 | Cancer |
| Developmental/reproductive toxicity |
 | Violations, restrictions & warnings |
| Allergies/immunotoxicity |
| Contamination concerns |
 | Other moderate concerns for this ingredient: Neurotoxicity, Organ system toxicity (non-reproductive) |
| Lesser or emerging concerns for this ingredient: Irritation (skin, eyes, or lungs), Biochemical or cellular level changes |
|
See products containing POLYPROPYLENE GLYCOL | |
About POLYPROPYLENE GLYCOL: PPG-3 is the polymer of propylene oxide that conforms generally to the formula: where n has an average value of 3.
Neurotoxicity
| type of concern | product conditions | reference |
| One or more animal studies show brain and nervous system effects at low doses | RTECS®- Journal of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics 1951 | |
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Organ system toxicity (non-reproductive)
| type of concern | product conditions | reference |
| Classified as expected to be toxic or harmful | Environmental Canada Domestic Substance List | |
| Classified as medium human health priority | Environmental Canada Domestic Substance List | |
| show more | ||
Violations, restrictions & warnings
| type of concern | product conditions | 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 |
Biochemical or cellular level changes
| type of concern | product conditions | reference |
| One or more animal studies show biochemical changes at high doses where the human health implications are not yet well understood | RTECS®- Gigiena i Sanitariya 1981 |
Irritation (skin, eyes, or lungs)
| type of concern | product conditions | reference |
| One or more animal studies show skin irritation at moderate doses | RTECS®- "Toxicology of Drugs and Chemicals," Deichmann, W 1969 | |
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Data gaps
| type of concern | product conditions | reference |
| 86 studies in PubMed science library may include information on the toxicity of this chemical see search results -> | PubMed |
Multiple, additive exposure sources
| type of concern | product conditions | 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
| type of concern | product conditions | reference |
| Not suspected to be bioaccumulative | Environmental Canada Domestic Substance List |
Ecotoxicology
| type of concern | product conditions | reference |
| Not suspected to be an environmental toxin | Environmental Canada Domestic Substance List |
Government, industry, academic studies and classifications
| government/industry list/academic study | appears on list as | classification(s) |
| FDA Food Additive Status | POLYPROPYLENE GLYCOL | • Food additive: antifoaming (or defoaming) agent • Food additive: food additive for which a petition has been filed and a regulation issued • Defoaming agent component used in beet sugar and yeast - CFR173.34 |
| Cosmetic Ingredient Review Assessments | POLYPROPYLENE GLYCOLS | •Safe for use in cosmetics with some qualifications •Determined safe for use in cosmetics up to a specified concentration limit |
| FDA Everything Added to Food | POLYPROPYLENE GLYCOL (M W 1,200-3,000) | • Fully up-to-date toxicology information has been sought. |
| Environmental Canada Domestic Substance List | POLY[OXY(METHYL-1,2-ETHANEDIYL)], _-HYDRO-_-HYDROXY- | •This chemical was deemed a moderate human health priority and was flagged by CEPA for further attention. The chemical was flagged for suspected persistence. |
| IFRA Fragrance Ingredient List | ALPHA-HYDRO-OMEGA-HYDROXYPOLY(OXY(METHYL-1,2-ETHANEDIYL)) | •The chemical has been reported as used in fragrance compounds by IFRA affiliated member companies in 2008. |
| RTECS®- "Prehled Prumyslove Toxikologie; Organicke Latky," Marhold, J 1986 | POLYPROPYLENE GLYCOL | • broad systemic - Broad systemic toxicity (rat LD50) • sense organ - Primary eye irritant (rabbit ) • skin - Primary skin irritant (rabbit ) |
| RTECS®- "Toxicology of Drugs and Chemicals," Deichmann, W 1969 | POLYPROPYLENE GLYCOL | • broad systemic - Broad systemic toxicity (rat LD50) • skin - Primary skin irritant (rabbit ) |
| RTECS®- "Vrednie chemichescie veshestva, galogen I kislorod sodergashie organicheskie soedinenia" 1984 | POLYPROPYLENE GLYCOL | • broad systemic - Broad systemic toxicity (rat LD50) |
| RTECS®- AMA Archives of Industrial Hygiene and Occupational Medicine 1951 | POLYPROPYLENE GLYCOL | • brain and nervous system - Convulsions or effect on seizure threshold (rat LD50) • brain and nervous system - Tremor (rat LD50) |
| RTECS®- American Journal of Ophthalmology 1946 | POLYPROPYLENE GLYCOL | • sense organ - Primary eye irritant (rabbit ) |
| RTECS®- American Journal of Ophthalmology 1946 | POLYPROPYLENE GLYCOL | • sense organ - Primary eye irritant (rabbit ) |
| RTECS®- Dow Chemical Company Reports | POLYPROPYLENE GLYCOL | • broad systemic - Broad systemic toxicity (rat LD50) |
| RTECS®- Gigiena i Sanitariya 1981 | POLYPROPYLENE GLYCOL | • liver - Liver function tests impaired (rat TDLo) • biochemical - Multiple enzyme effects (rat TDLo) • blood - Normocytic anemia (rat TDLo) • brain and nervous system - Recordings from specific areas of CNS (guinea pig LD50) |
| RTECS®- Journal of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics 1951 | POLYPROPYLENE GLYCOL | • brain and nervous system - Convulsions or effect on seizure threshold (mouse LD50) • brain and nervous system - Excitement (mouse LD50) • brain and nervous system - Muscle contraction or spasticity (mouse LD50) |
| RTECS®- Union Carbide Data Sheet 1973 | POLYPROPYLENE GLYCOL | • broad systemic - Broad systemic toxicity (rat LD50) |
| RTECS®- Union Carbide Data Sheet 1969 | POLYPROPYLENE GLYCOL | • skin - Primary skin irritant (rabbit ) |
| RTECS®- Union Carbide Data Sheet 1969 | POLYPROPYLENE GLYCOL | • skin - Primary skin irritant (rabbit ) |
| RTECS®- Union Carbide Data Sheet 1960 | POLYPROPYLENE GLYCOL | • broad systemic - Broad systemic toxicity (rat LD50) • skin - Primary skin irritant (rabbit ) |
| RTECS®- Union Carbide Data Sheet 1970 | POLYPROPYLENE GLYCOL | • broad systemic - Broad systemic toxicity (rat LD50) • skin - Primary skin irritant (rabbit ) |
references
| government/industry list/academic study | reference |
| FDA Food Additive Status | 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. |
| Cosmetic Ingredient Review Assessments | CIR (Cosmetic Ingredient Review). 2006. CIR Compendium, containing abstracts, discussions, and conclusions of CIR cosmetic ingredient safety assessments. Washington DC. |
| FDA Everything Added to Food | 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. |
| Environmental Canada Domestic Substance List | EC (Environment Canada). 2008. Domestic Substances List Categorization. Canadian Environmental Protection Act (CEPA) Environmental Registry. |
| IFRA Fragrance Ingredient List | IFRA (International Fragrance Assocication). 2010. IFRA Fragrance Ingredient List based on 2008 Use Survey. Accessed online 01/04/2010: http://www.ifraorg.org/Home/News/Latest-News/page.aspx/66?xf_itemId=43&xf_selectionDatapartId=25 |
| RTECS®- "Prehled Prumyslove Toxikologie; Organicke Latky," Marhold, J 1986 | RTECS®- "Prehled Prumyslove Toxikologie; Organicke Latky," Marhold, J., Prague, Czechoslovakia, Avicenum, 1986 -,1413,1986 |
| RTECS®- "Toxicology of Drugs and Chemicals," Deichmann, W 1969 | RTECS®- "Toxicology of Drugs and Chemicals," Deichmann, W.B., New York, Academic Press, Inc., 1969 -,731,1969 |
| RTECS®- "Vrednie chemichescie veshestva, galogen I kislorod sodergashie organicheskie soedinenia" 1984 | RTECS®- "Vrednie chemichescie veshestva, galogen I kislorod sodergashie organicheskie soedinenia". (Hazardous substances. Galogen and oxygen containing substances), Bandman A.L. et al., Chimia, 1994 -,323,1984 |
| RTECS®- AMA Archives of Industrial Hygiene and Occupational Medicine 1951 | RTECS®- AMA Archives of Industrial Hygiene and Occupational Medicine. (Chicago, IL) V.2-10, 1950-54. For publisher information, see AEHLAU. 3,448,1951 |
| RTECS®- American Journal of Ophthalmology 1946 | RTECS®- American Journal of Ophthalmology. (Ophthalmic Pub. Co., 435 N. Michigan Ave., Suite 1415, Chicago, IL 60611) Series 3: V.1- 1918- 29,1363,1946 |
| RTECS®- American Journal of Ophthalmology 1946 | RTECS®- American Journal of Ophthalmology. (Ophthalmic Pub. Co., 435 N. Michigan Ave., Suite 1415, Chicago, IL 60611) Series 3: V.1- 29,1363,1946 |
| RTECS®- Dow Chemical Company Reports | RTECS®- Dow Chemical Company Reports. (Dow Chemical USA, Health and Environment Research, Toxicology Research Lab., Midland, MI 48640) MSD-395 |
| RTECS®- Gigiena i Sanitariya 1981 | RTECS®- Gigiena i Sanitariya. For English translation, see HYSAAV. (V/O Mezhdunarodnaya Kniga, 113095 Moscow, USSR) V.1- 1936- 46(6),73,1981 |
| RTECS®- Journal of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics 1951 | RTECS®- Journal of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics. (Williams & Wilkins Co., 428 E. Preston St., Baltimore, MD 21202) V.1- 1909/10- 103,293,1951 |
| RTECS®- Union Carbide Data Sheet 1973 | RTECS®- Union Carbide Data Sheet. (Union Carbide Corp., 39 Old Ridgebury Rd., Danbury, CT 06817) 10/16/1973 |
| RTECS®- Union Carbide Data Sheet 1969 | RTECS®- Union Carbide Data Sheet. (Union Carbide Corp., 39 Old Ridgebury Rd., Danbury, CT 06817) 3/27/1969 |
| RTECS®- Union Carbide Data Sheet 1969 | RTECS®- Union Carbide Data Sheet. (Union Carbide Corp., 39 Old Ridgebury Rd., Danbury, CT 06817) 3/28/1969 |
| RTECS®- Union Carbide Data Sheet 1960 | RTECS®- Union Carbide Data Sheet. (Union Carbide Corp., 39 Old Ridgebury Rd., Danbury, CT 06817) 5/19/1960 |
| RTECS®- Union Carbide Data Sheet 1970 | RTECS®- Union Carbide Data Sheet. (Union Carbide Corp., 39 Old Ridgebury Rd., Danbury, CT 06817) 7/23/1970 |
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