Database/Cleansing/Ceteareth-100
Mostly petroleum · ISO 16128

Is Ceteareth-100 natural?

Mostly not. Very high EO count (100 units) leaves only a small natural fatty-alcohol core; the rest is petrochemical ethylene oxide.

INCI nameCeteareth-100
CAS68439-49-6
FunctionCleansing · Cleansing Surfactant
FeedstockCetearyl alcohol is extensively ethoxylated with 100 moles…

How we scored it

C16-18 fatty alcohol 256 Da (natural) + 100 EO x44 Da = 4405 Da (petrochemical). 256/4662 = 0.06.
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

Cetearyl alcohol is extensively ethoxylated with 100 moles of petrochemical ethylene oxide to achieve high water solubility. The natural fatty-alcohol core is a small fraction of the final mass.

In plain English

A heavily modified fatty alcohol used as a mild cleansing agent. Most of its structure comes from a petrochemical ingredient (ethylene oxide) rather than the original plant-derived alcohol.

CosIng definition: C16-18 alcohols, ethoxylated (100 mol EO average molar ratio)

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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. 2CETEARETH-100. CosIng — European Commission cosmetic ingredient database. ec.europa.eu/cosing ↗
  3. 3CETEARETH-100. CosIng u2014 European Commission database for information on cosmetic substances and ingredients. https://ec.europa.eu/growth/tools-databases/cosing/search?search=CETEARETH-100