Polysorbate 20

Synonyms: Polyoxyethylene Sorbitan Monolaurate

CAS Number: 9005-64-5

SERIOUS
health hazard

MODERATE
health hazard

FEW OR NO
health hazards

0 79

80 89

90 100

Sources of exposure:

Personal care

Food

Medications

Description:

Polysorbate 20 is an ethoxylated nonionic surfactant and emulsifier. It is used to stabilize formulations in foods, personal care products, and pharmaceuticals. Because it is an ethoxylated ingredient, manufacturing can result in contamination with 1,4-dioxane.

Health concerns:

Ecotoxicity

May be toxic to ecosystems and wildlife.

Contaminants:

1
4-dioxane

References

US Environmental Protection Agency. Cheminformatics Modules, Computational Toxicology and Exposure Informatics (CompTox).

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.