Know Your Environment. Protect Your Health.
EWG Home EWG’s Guide to Healthy Cleaning EWG’s Food Scores Healthy Living App Open menu

EWG's Skin Deep®
Find products and ingredients Learn how Skin Deep® works Meet our experts Discover EWG VERIFIED®
GET UPDATES DONATE
Score legend
HOW WE DETERMINE SCORES Learn more About EWG VERIFIED®

Data: Fair

Sodium Bisulfite

  • Products with this ingredient are allowed for use in EWG VERIFIED but must meet use restrictions and warnings based on EWG review of company data.
  • This ingredient's score is higher if used in product forms that are inhalable (e.g., sprays, powders) because of respiratory concerns. The score is lower if used in product forms that have lower risk of inhalation (e.g., solids, liquids)
  • This ingredient's score is higher if used in products that may not meet industry safety guidelines or U.S. and international government requirements. The score will be lower if used in products that meet these safety guidelines and requirements.

IMAGE SOURCE: PubChem

SEARCH PRODUCTS

Other Concerns

Use restrictions (high), Non-reproductive organ system toxicity (low_moderate), Ecotoxicology (low), and Occupational hazards (moderate)

SYNONYMS

● DTXSID8034902
● SODIUM HYDROGEN SULFITE SOLUTION (45% OR LESS)
● DSSTOX_GSID_47218
● SODIUM BISULFITE, MIXTURE OF NAHSO3 AND NA2S2O5
● KSC492I6N
● CTK3J2466
● SODIUM BISULFITE, ACS REAGENT
● TOX21_303826
● EC 231-548-0
● DSSTOX_CID_14902

Restricted

Restricted: EWG VERIFIED products cannot contain this ingredient without adequate substantiation

Sodium Bisulfite is an inorganic salt.

Common concerns

See how this product scores for common concerns.

  • LOW
    Cancer
  • LOW
    Allergies & Immunotoxicity
  • LOW
    Developmental and Reproductive Toxicity
  • HIGH
    Use Restrictions

Ingredient concerns

  • CONCERNS
  • DATA SOURCES

Products with this Ingredient

Expand content Collapse content
serums & essences13 products
sunless tanning3 products
hair styling aid11 products
mask3 products
facial cleanser5 products
shampoo8 products
exfoliant/scrub2 products
facial moisturizer/treatment4 products
Exfoliants1 products
hair treatment/serum7 products
toners/astringents3 products
around-eye cream4 products
body firming lotion1 products
styling gel/lotion12 products
hair spray1 products
conditioner2 products
styling mousse/foam2 products
daily use with SPF1 products
Hair Styling Gel2 products
skin fading/lightener1 products
moisturizer1 products
setting powder/spray1 products
body wash/cleanser1 products
bubble bath1 products

Ecotoxicology

Expand content Collapse content
CONCERN REFERENCE
Wildlife and environmental toxicityEU GHS Hazard Labeling Codes
Not suspected to be an environmental toxinEnvironment Canada

Organ system toxicity (non-reproductive)

Expand content Collapse content
CONCERN REFERENCE
Classified as toxic or harmfulEU GHS Hazard Labeling Codes
Classified as expected to be toxic or harmfulEnvironment Canada
Classified as medium human health priorityEnvironment Canada

Occupational hazards

Expand content Collapse content
CONCERN REFERENCE
Allowed workplace exposures restricted to low dosesEU GHS Hazard Labeling Codes

Multiple, additive exposure sources

Expand content Collapse content
CONCERN REFERENCE
Designated as safe for general or specific, limited use in foodUS. Food and Drug Administration (FDA)

Data gaps

Expand content Collapse content
CONCERN REFERENCE
Risk assessment method deficiencies and data gaps - Maximum reported 'as used' concentration is basis of safety assessment by industry safety panel (Cosmetic Ingredient Review, CIR) - implicit safe concentration limit in productCosmetic Ingredient Review (CIR)

Informational

Expand content Collapse content
CONCERN REFERENCE
Industry or government recommendations for safe use: restrictions on concentration, impurities, product types, or manufacturing methods - anyCosmetic Ingredient Review (CIR)

Use restrictions

Expand content Collapse content
CONCERN REFERENCE
Violation of government restrictions - Restricted in cosmetics; use, concentration, or manufacturing restrictions - anyEU Cosmetics Directive

Persistence and bioaccumulation

Expand content Collapse content
CONCERN REFERENCE
Not suspected to be bioaccumulativeEnvironment Canada

Allergies/immunotoxicity

Expand content Collapse content
CONCERN REFERENCE
Limited evidence of immune system toxicity or allergiesUS. National Library of Medicine,
  • EU GHS Hazard Labeling Codes
  • Environment Canada
  • US. Food and Drug Administration (FDA)
  • Cosmetic Ingredient Review (CIR)
  • EU Cosmetics Directive
  • US. National Library of Medicine,

Understanding scores

Cosmetics and personal care products are not required to be tested for safety before being allowed on the market. The Skin Deep® scoring system was designed to help the public understand whether a product is safe to use or whether it contains ingredients of concern.

Every product and ingredient in Skin Deep gets a two-part score – one for hazard and one for data availability. The safest products score well by both measures, with a low hazard rating and a fair or better data availability rating.


HOW WE DETERMINE SCORES

Hazard score

The Skin Deep ingredient hazard score, from 1 to 10, reflects known and suspected hazards linked to the ingredients. The EWG Verified® mark means a product meets EWG’s strictest criteria for transparency and health.

Score legend
WEIGHT-OF-EVIDENCE APPROACH

A product’s hazard score is not an average of the ingredients’ hazard scores. It is calculated using a weight-of-evidence approach that factors in all of the hazards or health impacts associated with the ingredients.

Data availability

The Skin Deep data availability rating reflects the number of scientific studies about the product or ingredient in the published scientific literature.

NONE LIMITED FAIR GOOD ROBUST
Low Availability
Moderate Availability
High Availability
NONE

Ingredients have not been assessed.

LIMITED-FAIR

There is only a modest volume of research.

GOOD-ROBUST

Ingredients have been studied extensively.

Can’t find your product?

Enter the ingredients in EWG’s Build Your Own Report tool to get an approximate score for that product.

BUILD YOUR OWN REPORT

News & updates

Big Market for Black Cosmetics, but Less-Hazardous Choices Limited
RESEARCH
Big Market for Black Cosmetics, but Less-Hazardous Choices Limited
K-Beauty Trends: Serums, Essences and EWG’s Best Bets
RESEARCH
K-Beauty Trends: Serums, Essences and EWG’s Best Bets
FDA Asks Women To Protect Themselves From Products The Agency Refused To Ban
NEWS RELEASE
FDA Asks Women To Protect Themselves From Products The Agency Refused To Ban
Study Highlights Importance of Cosmetics Ingredient Safety Tests
NEWS RELEASE
Study Highlights Importance of Cosmetics Ingredient Safety Tests
READ ALL ARTICLES
Skindeep Healthy Living App

EWG research
on the go

Find personal care, cleaning, and food products on the EWG Healthy Living app.

DOWNLOAD THE APP
OSZAR »