Database/Cleansing/Ceteareth-55
Mostly petroleum · ISO 16128

Is Ceteareth-55 natural?

Mostly not. High EO count (55 units) means the petrochemical ethylene-oxide chain makes up roughly 90% of the molecule's mass.

INCI nameCeteareth-55
CAS68439-49-6
FunctionCleansing · Cleansing Surfactant
FeedstockOleochemical cetearyl alcohol is heavily ethoxylated with 55…

How we scored it

C16-18 fatty alcohol 256 Da (natural) + 55 EO x44 Da = 2423 Da (petrochemical). 256/2679 = 0.10.
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

Oleochemical cetearyl alcohol is heavily ethoxylated with 55 moles of petrochemical ethylene oxide. The high degree of ethoxylation leaves only a small natural mass fraction.

In plain English

A fatty alcohol extended with a large amount of petrochemical ethylene oxide to make it water-soluble. Used as a mild cleansing ingredient in rinse-off products.

CosIng definition: C16-18 alcohols, ethoxylated (55 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-55. CosIng — European Commission cosmetic ingredient database. ec.europa.eu/cosing ↗
  3. 3CETEARETH-55. CosIng u2014 European Commission database for information on cosmetic substances and ingredients. https://ec.europa.eu/growth/tools-databases/cosing/search?search=CETEARETH-55