How we scored it
Where it comes from
Manufactured by condensing urea, allantoin and formaldehyde, all produced from natural gas and petrochemical intermediates. There is no commercial natural-extraction route for this preservative.
In plain English
A preservative that stops bacteria and mould growing in cosmetic formulas, extending shelf life. It is manufactured by reacting urea with other synthetic chemicals derived from natural gas and petrochemicals, not from any plant or animal source.
CosIng definition: Imidazolidinyl Urea is the heterocyclic substituted urea that conforms to the formula:
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Structure
1-[3-(hydroxymethyl)-2,5-dioxoimidazolidin-4-yl]-3-[[[3-(hydroxymethyl)-2,5-dioxoimidazolidin-4-yl]carbamoylamino]methyl]urea
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.
- 2Imidazolidinyl Urea. PubChem CID 38258. National Center for Biotechnology Information. pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov ↗
- 3IMIDAZOLIDINYL UREA. CosIng — European Commission cosmetic ingredient database. ec.europa.eu/cosing ↗
- 4IMIDAZOLIDINYL UREA. CosIng u2014 European Commission database for information on cosmetic substances and ingredients. https://ec.europa.eu/growth/tools-databases/cosing/search?search=IMIDAZOLIDINYL%20UREA