Database/Hair Waving Or Straightening/Ammonium Sulfite
Mostly natural · ISO 16128

Is Ammonium Sulfite natural?

Mostly. Sulfite is a mineral-derived inorganic anion, natural; ammonium follows this site's natural-gas-ammonia convention and counts as petrochemical.

INCI nameAmmonium Sulfite
CAS10196-04-0
FormulaH8N2O3S · 116.14 Da
FunctionHair Waving Or Straightening · Preservative
FeedstockAmmonium sulfite is made by reacting ammonia, from…

How we scored it

(NH4)2SO3: 2x NH4 (36.1 Da, petrochemical natural-gas ammonia) + SO3 (80.1 Da, natural mineral sulfite) -> 80.1/116.1 = 0.69.
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

Ammonium sulfite is made by reacting ammonia, from natural gas via Haber-Bosch, with sulfur dioxide from mineral sulfur sources. The sulfite fraction is natural; the ammonium fraction is treated as petrochemical by this site's convention.

In plain English

An inorganic salt used in hair-waving products and as a preservative and reducing agent. Its sulfite portion comes from mineral sulfur, while its ammonium portion is made from natural-gas-derived ammonia.

CosIng definition: Ammonium Sulfite is an inorganic salt that conforms to the formula:

Natural alternatives with the same function

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 Cysteine HCl 100% natural origin

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 Helianthus Annuus Petal Extract 100% natural origin

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 Lithium Carbonate 100% natural origin

A mineral salt used to adjust pH and in hair-waving products. Mined from lithium-rich brines or rock ore,…

Structure

2D structure of Ammonium Sulfite

diazanium;sulfite

PubChem CID 25041 ↗

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 Sulfite. PubChem CID 25041. National Center for Biotechnology Information. pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov ↗
  3. 3AMMONIUM SULFITE. CosIng — European Commission cosmetic ingredient database. ec.europa.eu/cosing ↗
  4. 4AMMONIUM SULFITE. CosIng u2014 European Commission database for information on cosmetic substances and ingredients. https://ec.europa.eu/growth/tools-databases/cosing/search?search=AMMONIUM%20SULFITE