beauty

Potassium thioglycolate

CAS 34452-51-2

Concern score

Not assessed — no hazard data yet.

Potassium thioglycolate in plain language

What it is: Also known as Acetic acid, 2-mercapto-, potassium salt (1:1) · Acetic acid, mercapto-, monopotassium salt · Potassium sulfanylacetate · potassium 2-sulfanylacetate · AKOS027320268 · C2H3KO2S
Show all 13 names
Ec 252-038-4 · Hytyhtsmcrdhim-uhfffaoysa-m · monopotassium salt Mercaptoacetic acid · Potassium 2-MERCAPTOACETATE · Potassium mercaptoacetate · Potassium2-mercaptoacetate · UNII-XP5WZO5W6H
What it does: Used in cosmetics as a depilatory and a hair waving or straightening agent.
Depilatory
Hair waving or straightening
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. Potassium thioglycolate appears in these published regulatory listings.

Recorded in these product areas

Found in consumer products
Beauty

EUCosIngActiveRestriction: III/2a
- Restriction: III/2aSource →
USEPAcommercial use observedEPA CPDat observed this chemical in 51 composition records across product categories including Personal care. EPA CPDat classifies this chemical for functional uses including Depilatory, Hair waving or straightening, Reducing agent.
- EPA CPDat observed this chemical in 51 composition records across product categories including Personal care. EPA CPDat classifies this chemical for functional uses including Depilatory, Hair waving or straightening, Reducing agent.Source →
USFDAlisted in openFDA substanceopenFDA substance registry classifies this ingredient as chemical.
- openFDA substance registry classifies this ingredient as chemical.Source →

Expert safety opinions

No expert opinion on file for Potassium thioglycolate. 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 Potassium thioglycolate yet. This record is compiled from the published data sources below — registries and regulatory listings, not study findings.

6 data sources

Where this comes from

CosIng
regulatory · updated 2026-09-23
Open →
EPA Chemical and Products Database
exposure · updated September 2013
Open →
EPA DSSTox Identifiers
chemistry · updated 2025-12-29
Open →
FDA GSRS UNII
registry · updated 2026-02-26
Open →
openFDA Substance
registry · updated 2026-05-24
Open →
PubChem Live Enrichment
chemistry · updated 2026-05-17
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.

Where it has been recorded

How often EPA CPDat has listed Potassium thioglycolate in a product composition. These are source records, not Greenveil catalog products.

Source records

Named organisations

Personal care

Typical roles

DepilatoryHair waving or straightening

See products using Potassium thioglycolate →

Catalog

Found in these products

Their ingredient lists include Potassium thioglycolate; each product's own rating depends on its whole formula, so it is shown on the product page, not here.

See all 27 →Find products without it →