What is it?
A mixture of organic acids that forms as microorganisms break down plant and animal matter. It is one fraction of the humic substances found in soil, peat and coal deposits, and in shilajit, a tar-like resin used in traditional medicine. Commercial fulvic acid is extracted from sources such as weathered coal, or made from carbohydrates. In cosmetics it is listed as a skin-conditioning ingredient, and it is also sold as a dietary supplement.
Key information
- Fulvic acid is a natural mixture from decomposed organic matter, and its makeup varies with its source.
- No formal cosmetic safety review, such as a CIR or EU SCCS assessment, has been published for it.
- In a 2020 toxicology study, fulvic acid was not genotoxic and caused no adverse effects in rats fed up to 5,000 mg per kg of body weight a day for 60 days.
- In a small clinical study, a topical fulvic acid preparation was well tolerated apart from a short-lived burning sensation.
More information
Fulvic acid is not one defined chemical. Researchers describe it as a subclass of humic substances, with a lower molecular weight and higher oxygen content than other humic fractions. Its composition changes with geography and with the parent material it comes from. Shilajit is reported to contain 15 to 20 percent fulvic acid.
Formal safety data are limited, and neither the Cosmetic Ingredient Review (CIR) nor the EU’s scientific safety committee has assessed it. In a 2020 university study, fulvic acid extracted from weathered coal was not mutagenic in bacterial tests, did not damage chromosomes in cell and mouse tests, and caused no observed adverse effects in rats fed up to 5,000 mg/kg of body weight a day for 60 days, the highest dose tested. For skin, the main human data come from a small four-week study of 36 people with eczema that used a fulvic acid made from carbohydrates. Safety measurements stayed within normal limits, and side effects did not differ from placebo except for a short-lived burning sensation on application.
Reality check: online, fulvic acid is promoted for wide-ranging health benefits, and you may also read that it is linked to Kashin-Beck disease, a joint disorder. A 2018 review described the research on its benefits as minimal. Some studies have associated humic substances with Kashin-Beck disease in children and adolescents in parts of East Asia; that research concerns people living in those regions, not skin products. Because composition varies with the source, purity matters: the carbohydrate-derived version used in clinical studies was described by its researchers as heavy-metal-free.
On labels it appears as fulvic acid, sometimes alongside humic acid or shilajit.
Sources: Evidence-Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine (2020): A comprehensive toxicological assessment of fulvic acid; Journal of Diabetes Research (2018): Therapeutic potential of fulvic acid in chronic inflammatory diseases and diabetes; Clinical, Cosmetic and Investigational Dermatology (2011): Randomized, parallel-group, double-blind, controlled study to evaluate the efficacy and safety of carbohydrate-derived fulvic acid in topical treatment of eczema; Clinical Pharmacology: Advances and Applications (2012): Phase 1 clinical study of the acute and subacute safety and proof-of-concept efficacy of carbohydrate-derived fulvic acid