Thioglycolic acid and its salts

CAS Number: 68-11-1

SERIOUS
health hazard

MODERATE
health hazard

FEW OR NO
health hazards

0 79

80 89

90 100

Sources of exposure:

Personal care

Hair perming and straightening products, depilatory creams, professional salon treatments

Description:

Thioglycolic acid is an organic sulfur-containing compound used to alter the structure of keratin in hair. Thioglycolic acid and certain thioglycolate salts are used in permanent waving, hair straightening, and depilatory products because they can break disulfide bonds in hair proteins. Exposure may occur through home or professional hair treatments, although the permitted concentrations and conditions of use vary by compound and product type.

Health concerns:

Immunotoxicity & Allergens

May impact immune system function or cause allergic reactions.

Irritant

May cause skin, eye, or respiratory irritation.

Ecotoxicity

May be toxic to ecosystems and wildlife.

Banned/restricted lists:

EU Cosmetics Regulation Annex III - Restricted
Health Canada Cosmetic Ingredient Hotlist - Restricted

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.