Database/Buffering/Ammonium Hydroxide
Mostly petroleum · ISO 16128

Is Ammonium Hydroxide natural?

Mostly not. Ammonia solution: the ammonium half is made from natural gas, the hydroxide half is water.

INCI nameAmmonium Hydroxide
CAS1336-21-6
FormulaH5NO · 35.046 Da
FunctionBuffering · Denaturant
FeedstockSynthetic ammonia dissolved in water.

How we scored it

NH4+ 18.0 Da from synthetic ammonia (petrochemical hydrogen, this site's convention for ammonium) + OH- 17.0 Da from water (natural) = 35.0 Da; 17.0/35.0 = 0.49.
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

Synthetic ammonia dissolved in water.

In plain English

Ammonia gas dissolved in water. Used in small amounts to adjust pH and as a denaturant in hair and skin products.

Natural alternatives with the same function

Structure

2D structure of Ammonium Hydroxide

azanium hydroxide

PubChem CID 14923 ↗

References

  1. 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.
  2. 2Ammonium Hydroxide. PubChem CID 14923. National Center for Biotechnology Information. pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov ↗
  3. 3AMMONIUM HYDROXIDE. CosIng — European Commission cosmetic ingredient database. ec.europa.eu/cosing ↗
  4. 4AMMONIUM HYDROXIDE. CosIng u2014 European Commission database for information on cosmetic substances and ingredients. https://ec.europa.eu/growth/tools-databases/cosing/search?search=AMMONIUM%20HYDROXIDE