How we scored it
Elemental gold (Au) is a mined mineral element suspended in water; reagents leave no mass. 197.0 / 197.0 = 1.0.
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
Gold from mined ore is dissolved as chloroauric acid and reduced with citrate or similar agents to form nanoparticles in water. Every atom in the particle is gold.
In plain English
Extremely fine gold particles suspended in water, listed for antimicrobial and skin-conditioning roles. It is the metal gold itself, made by reducing a gold salt in water.
CosIng definition: Colloidal Gold is the product obtained by the suspension of gold in water or other liquids.
Structure
gold
References
- 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.
- 2Colloidal Gold. PubChem CID 23985. National Center for Biotechnology Information. pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov ↗
- 3COLLOIDAL GOLD. CosIng — European Commission cosmetic ingredient database. ec.europa.eu/cosing ↗
- 4COLLOIDAL GOLD. CosIng u2014 European Commission database for information on cosmetic substances and ingredients. https://ec.europa.eu/growth/tools-databases/cosing/search?search=COLLOIDAL%20GOLD