Database/Emulsifying Surfactant/Coceth-5
Mostly petroleum · ISO 16128

Is Coceth-5 natural?

Mostly not. Coco fatty alcohol is oleochemical; the five ethylene-oxide units are petrochemical and now make up over half the mass.

INCI nameCoceth-5
CAS61791-13-7
FunctionEmulsifying Surfactant · Cleansing Surfactant
FeedstockCoconut/palm-kernel fatty alcohol ethoxylated with petrochemical ethylene oxide.…

How we scored it

Coco alcohol (~200 Da, natural) + 5x44 Da EO (petrochemical) = 420 Da; 200/420=0.48.
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/palm-kernel fatty alcohol ethoxylated with petrochemical ethylene oxide. No commercially significant alternative route.

In plain English

A cleansing and emulsifying ingredient made from coconut-derived fatty alcohol reacted with ethylene oxide. Helps shampoos and washes foam and blend oil with water.

CosIng definition: Alcohols, coco, ethoxylated (5 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-5. CosIng — European Commission cosmetic ingredient database. ec.europa.eu/cosing ↗
  3. 3COCETH-5. CosIng u2014 European Commission database for information on cosmetic substances and ingredients. https://ec.europa.eu/growth/tools-databases/cosing/search?search=COCETH-5