Database/Emulsifying Surfactant/Coceth-20
Mostly petroleum · ISO 16128

Is Coceth-20 natural?

Mostly not. The long ethylene-oxide chain dominates the mass, leaving only a small natural fatty-alcohol fraction.

INCI nameCoceth-20
CAS61791-13-7
FunctionEmulsifying Surfactant · Cleansing Surfactant
FeedstockCoconut-derived fatty alcohol heavily ethoxylated (20 mol) with…

How we scored it

Coco alcohol (~200 Da, natural) + 20x44 Da EO (petrochemical) = 1081 Da; 200/1081=0.18.
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-derived fatty alcohol heavily ethoxylated (20 mol) with petrochemical ethylene oxide. No alternative route.

In plain English

A mild surfactant made from coconut-derived fatty alcohol with a long chain of added ethylene oxide, used to help cleansers foam and disperse oils in water.

CosIng definition: Alcohols, coco, ethoxylated (20 mol EO average molar ratio)

Natural alternatives with the same function

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. 2COCETH-20. CosIng — European Commission cosmetic ingredient database. ec.europa.eu/cosing ↗
  3. 3COCETH-20. CosIng u2014 European Commission database for information on cosmetic substances and ingredients. https://ec.europa.eu/growth/tools-databases/cosing/search?search=COCETH-20