Polysorbate 80 in Hair Products: What It Is and What the Research Shows

Polysorbate 80 is a synthetic surfactant used as an excipient, an ingredient that helps a formulation work. If you spotted it on a label and wondered what it does for hair, the honest answer is that we found no studies showing it grows hair or slows hair loss.

Here's what polysorbate 80 is, what is known about its safety, and what to look for if hair health is your goal.

I LOVE MY HAIR NOW

FullyVital hair serum and hair vitamins made tremendous improvements in my hair. I truly love my hair now.

Dorit S.,

Shop Hair Products 

Key Takeaways

• Polysorbate 80 is a synthetic nonionic surfactant used as an excipient in drug formulations.
• We found no studies on polysorbate 80 and hair growth, hair strength or hair loss.
• It is not completely inert: in injected medicines it has been linked to hypersensitivity and injection-site reactions.
• Immediate hypersensitivity to polysorbate 80 can be cross-reactive with PEG, and may be underrecognized.

What Is Polysorbate 80?

Polysorbate 80 is a synthetic nonionic surfactant. In medicine it serves as an excipient, a non-active ingredient that helps a drug formulation work.

Does Polysorbate 80 Do Anything For Hair?

We searched PubMed for studies on polysorbate 80 and hair and found nothing on hair growth, hair loss or hair strength. Claims you may see online that it moisturizes hair, clears the scalp or helps nutrients reach the follicle aren't backed by any studies we could find.

That makes polysorbate 80 best understood as a formulation ingredient, and not as an active ingredient for hair. Seeing it on a label tells you how a product is made, not whether it will do anything for your hair. If a brand claims otherwise, ask what study it is based on.

Our Best Sellers

Hair Growth Serum

$44.25

Shop Serum

Anti-Gray Serum

$44.25

Shop Serum

See also: Caprylhydroxamic Acid in Hair and Skin Products: What It Is and Safety · DMDM Hydantoin and Hair Loss: What the Research Shows

Is Polysorbate 80 Safe?

Polysorbates are amphipathic, nonionic surfactants made of fatty acid esters of polyoxyethylene sorbitan. Polysorbate 80 is mainly the monooleate form. In protein medicines, polysorbates stop proteins sticking to surfaces and clumping together (Kerwin, 2008).

Most of the safety research on polysorbate 80 is about injected drugs, not shampoos or scalp products, so it only partly applies. What it shows:

• Polysorbate 80, like some other surfactants, is not inert. It has been implicated in systemic and injection- or infusion-site adverse events. One intravenous drug formulated with it was associated with a higher risk of hypersensitivity reactions (Schwartzberg & Navari, 2018).
• In a study of two people with past reactions to PEG-containing medicines, skin and provocation tests showed symptomatic reactions to both PEG 3350 and polysorbate 80. The authors concluded this cross-reactive hypersensitivity may be underrecognized (Stone et al., 2019).

We didn't find a safety assessment of polysorbate 80 as used in shampoos in our search. If you have a known reaction to PEG or polysorbates, ask your doctor or allergist before using products that contain them. Patch test any new scalp product.

What To Look For Instead

If your goal is hair health, look at ingredients with actual research behind them. See our evidence-based guides to quercetin, copper and glutathione.

Our Best Sellers

Hair Vitamins

$44.25

Shop Vitamins

Anti-Gray Vitamins

$44.25

Shop Vitamins

If your hair is thinning, see our guide to shampoo for thinning hair.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does polysorbate 80 help hair growth?

We found no studies showing that it does. It is a formulation ingredient, not a hair-growth active.

Is polysorbate 80 safe in shampoo?

Most safety data come from injected medicines, where it has been linked to hypersensitivity and injection-site reactions. We didn't find a safety assessment for shampoo use. Patch test and stop use if you notice irritation.

Can polysorbate 80 cause an allergic reaction?

It can in some people. Immediate hypersensitivity to polysorbate 80 has been documented, including cross-reactivity with PEG. If you've had a reaction to PEG or polysorbates, talk to your doctor or allergist.

References

1. Kerwin BA. Polysorbates 20 and 80 used in the formulation of protein biotherapeutics: structure and degradation pathways. J Pharm Sci. 2008. PubMed
2. Schwartzberg LS, Navari RM. Safety of Polysorbate 80 in the Oncology Setting. Adv Ther. 2018. PubMed
3. Stone CA Jr, Liu Y, Relling MV, et al. Immediate Hypersensitivity to Polyethylene Glycols and Polysorbates: More Common Than We Have Recognized. J Allergy Clin Immunol Pract. 2019. PubMed