{"id":8985,"date":"2025-01-28T20:07:18","date_gmt":"2025-01-28T20:07:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/greenseal.org\/?p=8985"},"modified":"2025-07-21T18:02:04","modified_gmt":"2025-07-21T18:02:04","slug":"understanding-ingredients-a-guide-to-polyethylene-glycol-peg","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/greenseal.org\/understanding-ingredients-a-guide-to-polyethylene-glycol-peg\/","title":{"rendered":"Understanding Ingredients: A Guide to Polyethylene Glycol (PEG)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

This blog is part of a series on chemical ingredients<\/a> that are commonly used in consumer products.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Polyethylene glycol (PEG) is a versatile and widely used compound found in everything from pharmaceuticals to cosmetics. This petroleum-derived chemical acts as a solvent and is often used to enhance product performance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

PEG is generally considered a safer ingredient, but it can be contaminated with toxic impurities. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here, we\u2019ll discuss what polyethylene glycol is, where it\u2019s commonly found, and whether you should be concerned when you see this ingredient on product labels.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Polyethylene Glycol in Consumer Products<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

PEG is a polyether compound derived from petroleum. PEG can be a liquid, semi-solid, or solid depending on its molecular weight \u2014 making it highly adaptable and useful for formulators. PEG also is known for its water-solubility, low toxicity, and minimal reactivity, and widely used to enhance product stability, texture, and efficacy. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

You might find PEG-400 on product labels for personal care products<\/a>, pharmaceuticals, and food items, or PEG-8000 on cosmetics <\/a>and cleaning products<\/a>. The numbers following PEG indicate the ingredient\u2019s average molecular weight \u2014 PEG-400 is a liquid, while PEG-8000 is a solid.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In personal care, you may find polyethylene glycol in shampoo, creams, lotions, or toothpaste, where it serves as a humectant, emollient, and thickening agent. In these applications, PEG helps retain moisture, improve texture, and stabilize formulations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Polyethylene Glycol: Is It Safe?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Polyethylene glycol itself is not typically associated with significant health risks. However, because of the manufacturing process used to produce it, PEG can contain carcinogenic contaminants such as ethylene oxide and 1,4-dioxane. These contaminants also may cause skin irritation or other adverse reactions for people with sensitivities or allergies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To be confident that a product containing PEG is free from harmful levels of contaminants, look for reputable ecolabels like Green Seal. We screen all chemicals in a product, including contaminants, to ensure certified products<\/a> meet a high standard for protecting people and the planet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Polyethylene glycol (PEG) is a versatile and widely used compound. Discover where it’s commonly found and whether you should be concerned when you see PEG on product labels.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":8986,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1,6],"tags":[83,82],"class_list":["post-8985","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-trends-in-sustainability","category-green-seal-notice","tag-consumer-products","tag-ingredients"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/greenseal.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8985","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/greenseal.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/greenseal.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/greenseal.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/9"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/greenseal.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8985"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/greenseal.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8985\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10028,"href":"https:\/\/greenseal.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8985\/revisions\/10028"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/greenseal.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8986"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/greenseal.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8985"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/greenseal.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8985"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/greenseal.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8985"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}