How we scored it
Glycosaminoglycan built entirely from natural sugar/amino-sugar units (biopolymer); no synthetic fragment. 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
Cosmetic heparan sulfate is produced either by extraction from animal (typically porcine) tissue or increasingly by microbial/biotech fermentation. Both routes are natural-origin under ISO 16128.
In plain English
A natural sugar-polymer (glycosaminoglycan) found in skin's connective tissue, used in skincare as a skin-conditioning ingredient. Cosmetic supplies come from animal tissue or biotech fermentation, not petrochemical synthesis.
CosIng definition: Heparan Sulfate is a member of the class of Glycosaminoglycans found on the cell surface or extracellular matrix of higher organisms.
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.
- 2HEPARAN SULFATE. CosIng — European Commission cosmetic ingredient database. ec.europa.eu/cosing ↗
- 3HEPARAN SULFATE. CosIng u2014 European Commission database for information on cosmetic substances and ingredients. https://ec.europa.eu/growth/tools-databases/cosing/search?search=HEPARAN%20SULFATE