How we scored it
Alginic acid is the acid form of seaweed alginate gum; gums are defined as 1.0 by this site's convention.
What counts. ISO 16128-2 scores the atoms that remain in the final ingredient. Reagents, solvents, catalysts and protecting groups used during manufacture leave no mass behind and are not counted.
Where it comes from
Alginic acid is extracted from brown seaweed and isolated in its acid form by acidifying the extract. No synthetic feedstock is involved.
In plain English
A gelling and thickening gum extracted from brown seaweed, the acid form of alginate. It's harvested and purified directly from algae.
References
- 1ISO 16128-1:2016 and ISO 16128-2:2017 — Guidelines on technical definitions and criteria for natural and organic cosmetic ingredients and products. ISO, Geneva.
- 2ALGINIC ACID. CosIng — European Commission cosmetic ingredient database. ec.europa.eu/cosing ↗
- 3ALGINIC ACID. CosIng u2014 European Commission database for information on cosmetic substances and ingredients. https://ec.europa.eu/growth/tools-databases/cosing/search?search=ALGINIC%20ACID