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Diethylene Glycol Monomethyl Ether

Synonyms: Methoxydiglycol, DEGME

CAS Number: 111-77-3

SERIOUS
health hazard

MODERATE
health hazard

FEW OR NO
health hazards

0 79
80 89
90 100
50

Sources of exposure:

personal care
cleaning products and household care
industrial uses

Arts & crafts

Description:

Diethylene glycol monomethyl ether is a glycol ether solvent. It is used to help ingredients dissolve and blend together in products such as cleaning formulations and may also be used as a fragrance solvent. It can act as a penetration enhancer in some formulations. As an ethoxylated chemical, manufacturing can result in contamination with 1,4-dioxane.

Health concerns:

Reproductive Toxicity

May alter hormone function and harm reproduction.

Developmental Toxicity

May impact fetal development and birth outcomes.

Respiratory Toxicity & Asthmagens

May damage the lungs or trigger asthma.

Irritant

May cause skin, eye, or respiratory irritation.

Contaminants:

  • 1
  • 4 dioxane

Banned/restricted lists:

  • European Commission Annex II prohibited substances. Government of Canada. List of Ingredients that are Prohibited for Use in Cosmetic Products.

References

  1. US Environmental Protection Agency. Cheminformatics Modules, Computational Toxicology and Exposure Informatics (CompTox).
  2. California Department of Public Health. California Safe Cosmetics Reportable Ingredients List.
  3. US National Library of Medicine. PubChem database.

HOW MILLION MARKER SCORES CHEMICALS

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We identified key chemicals based on a database compiling dozens of authoritative sources, screening tools, and QSAR models.

Hazard scores within 11 different health categories (carcinogens, endocrine disruptors, reproductive toxicants, developmental toxicants, genotoxicity, neurotoxicity, organ system toxicity, immunotoxicity, respiratory toxicity, skin/eye/respiratory irritants, and ecotoxicity).

They are weighted based on several factors, including strength of evidence for adverse impacts in humans, severity, and potential contamination.

For more information on our scoring methodology visit this page.