What does Charcoal powder do?

Used in cosmetics as an abrasive, an absorbent and an opacifier. Charcoal Powder is the dried, carbonaceous material obtained from the heating of organic substances.

Is Charcoal powder safe?

We haven't assessed a concern score for this ingredient yet. It is listed for cosmetic use in the EU.

beauty
cleaning
industrial
pharma

Charcoal powder

CAS 1333-85-3

Also registered as 2 other CAS numbers

944340-46-9 · 16291-96-6

Concern score

Not assessed — no hazard data yet.

Charcoal powder in plain language

What it is: Also known as Charcoal · Vegetable charcoal · Charcoal carbon · Carbo vegetabilis · Carbolen · Charbon vegetal
Show all 13 names
except activated Charcoal · wood Charcoal · Edex-mfc · Holzkohle · char dust · charcoal (alternative cas no: 1333-85-3) · charcoal (animal)
What it does: Used in cosmetics as an abrasive, an absorbent and an opacifier. Charcoal Powder is the dried, carbonaceous material obtained from the heating of organic substances.
Abrasive
Absorbent
Opacifying
Is it a concern?: We haven't assessed a concern score for this ingredient yet. It is listed for cosmetic use in the EU.

Regulation

No restrictions found. Charcoal powder appears in these published regulatory listings.

In marketed US drugs

Recorded in these product areas

Found in consumer products
Beauty
Cleaning
Industrial

EUCosIngActiveCharcoal Powder is the dried, carbonaceous material obtained from the heating of organic substances
- Charcoal Powder is the dried, carbonaceous material obtained from the heating of organic substancesSource →
USEPAcommercial use observedEPA CPDat observed this chemical in 47 composition records across product categories including Landscape/yard, Pesticides, Personal care.
- EPA CPDat observed this chemical in 47 composition records across product categories including Landscape/yard, Pesticides, Personal care.Source →
USFDAmarketed drug occurrenceFDA NDC lists this ingredient in 2 active drug products and 2 total products.
- FDA NDC lists this ingredient in 2 active drug products and 2 total products.Source →
USFDAlisted in openFDA substanceopenFDA substance registry classifies this ingredient as concept.
- openFDA substance registry classifies this ingredient as concept.Source →

Expert safety opinions

No expert opinion on file for Charcoal powder. These are the independent scientific bodies that assess ingredients like this one; we show an opinion only when a record we hold cites it.

SCCS
EU Scientific Committee on Consumer Safety
No SCCS opinion on file.
CIR
Cosmetic Ingredient Review (US expert panel)
No CIR safety assessment on file.

Evidence & sources

No graded research studies for Charcoal powder yet. This record is compiled from the published data sources below — registries and regulatory listings, not study findings.

5 data sources

Where this comes from

CosIng
regulatory · updated 2026-09-23
Open →
EPA Chemical and Products Database
exposure · updated may 22, 2019
Open →
EPA DSSTox Identifiers
chemistry · updated 2025-12-29
Open →
FDA National Drug Code Directory
regulatory · updated 2026-12-31
Open →
openFDA Substance
registry · updated 2026-05-24
Open →

Suitability

Context-specific fit derived from published classifications and the current ingredient evidence profile.

Fragrance avoidance

Nothing to weigh for this context yet.

No signal in this context

We have no published hazard signal for this ingredient, so we cannot say how it behaves in this context — that is missing evidence, not a clean result.