Glycolic Acid

CAS Number: 79-14-1

SERIOUS
health hazard

MODERATE
health hazard

FEW OR NO
health hazards

0 79
80 89
90 100
82

Sources of exposure:

Cleaning products and household care
Industrial uses
Personal care

Chemical peels, exfoliating toners, facial cleansers, professional skincare treatments, household cleaning formulations

Description:

Glycolic acid is the smallest alpha hydroxy acid (AHA), commonly derived from sugarcane or produced synthetically. It is used in personal care products as an exfoliant to promote skin cell turnover and improve texture and tone. It is widely used in skin care formulations such as peels, toners, and cleansers.

Health concerns:

Developmental Toxicity

May impact fetal development and birth outcomes.

Irritant

May cause skin, eye, or respiratory irritation.

Banned/restricted lists:

  • Health Canada Cosmetic Ingredient Hotlist - Restricted

References

  1. US Environmental Protection Agency. Cheminformatics Modules, Computational Toxicology and Exposure Informatics (CompTox).
  2. US National Library of Medicine. PubChem database.

HOW MILLION MARKER SCORES CHEMICALS

Million Marker's Ingredient Hazard Scoring uses multiple chemical databases and a science-backed scoring system to compute hazard scores for thousands of chemicals found in consumer products and listed on ingredient labels.

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.