Polyvinyl alcohol

Animal and lab studies only

• No harm found

  How the body handles it¹

  In animal studies, polyvinyl alcohol is poorly absorbed from the gut and does not build up in the body when eaten.

• No harm found

  Fertility and baby development²

  In animal studies, polyvinyl alcohol fed to rats did not affect their ability to breed or their pups' growth.

The signal at the top counts the findings in people and in animal and lab studies. A concern in studies of people outranks animal and lab studies, and “No concerns” needs at least one finding in people. When most findings in people point one way, the page leans that way (“Mostly”), and every finding is still shown. Findings whose study type is not stated are shown but not counted. This page is a reference, not medical advice. It describes what regulators and published research say. Talk to a doctor or dietitian about your own diet.

Expert panels that weigh all the research. Shown for context: the signal at the top does not count them. IARC rates whether something can cause cancer at all, not how likely it is at the amounts in food.

• UN and WHO food additive experts (JECFA), 2003

  Acceptable daily intake: up to 50 mg per kg of body weight.

• WHO cancer agency (IARC), 1987

  Not enough evidence to say whether it causes cancer in people (Group 3).