Database/Cleansing/Ammonium Myristyl Sulfate
Mostly natural · ISO 16128

Is Ammonium Myristyl Sulfate natural?

Mostly. The myristyl chain and the sulfate group are natural; only the ammonium counter-ion, made from synthetic ammonia, is petrochemical.

INCI nameAmmonium Myristyl Sulfate
CAS52304-21-9
FormulaC14H33NO4S · 311.48 Da
FunctionCleansing · Foaming
FeedstockCoconut or palm kernel myristyl alcohol sulfated and…

How we scored it

Myristyl sulfate anion C14H29O4S 293.4 Da (oleochemical myristyl + mineral sulfate, natural) + NH4 18.0 Da (synthetic ammonia, petrochemical); total 311.5 Da → 0.94. Same method as Ammonium Lauryl Sulfate.
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

Coconut or palm kernel myristyl alcohol sulfated and neutralised with ammonia.

In plain English

A foaming cleansing ingredient made from a coconut/palm-derived fatty alcohol combined with a sulfate group and neutralised with ammonia, used in shampoos and washes to create lather.

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Structure

2D structure of Ammonium Myristyl Sulfate

azane;tetradecyl hydrogen sulfate

PubChem CID 104149 ↗

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 Myristyl Sulfate. PubChem CID 104149. National Center for Biotechnology Information. pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov ↗
  3. 3AMMONIUM MYRISTYL SULFATE. CosIng — European Commission cosmetic ingredient database. ec.europa.eu/cosing ↗
  4. 4AMMONIUM MYRISTYL SULFATE. CosIng u2014 European Commission database for information on cosmetic substances and ingredients. https://ec.europa.eu/growth/tools-databases/cosing/search?search=AMMONIUM%20MYRISTYL%20SULFATE