How we scored it
Where it comes from
Manufactured by oxidising methanol, typically from natural gas or petrochemical synthesis gas, over a metal catalyst. This site's convention treats this route as fully petrochemical.
In plain English
A preservative and antimicrobial agent that also has denaturing uses in cosmetics. It is manufactured synthetically by oxidising methanol from petrochemical or natural-gas sources.
CosIng definition: Formaldehyde is the aldehyde that conforms to the formula:
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Structure
formaldehyde
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.
- 2Formaldehyde. PubChem CID 712. National Center for Biotechnology Information. pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov ↗
- 3FORMALDEHYDE. CosIng — European Commission cosmetic ingredient database. ec.europa.eu/cosing ↗
- 4FORMALDEHYDE. CosIng u2014 European Commission database for information on cosmetic substances and ingredients. https://ec.europa.eu/growth/tools-databases/cosing/search?search=FORMALDEHYDE