Database/Preservative/Isopropylparaben
100% petroleum · ISO 16128

Is Isopropylparaben natural?

No. Parabens are explicitly classified petrochemical (phenol derivatives) regardless of the alcohol used to esterify them.

INCI nameIsopropylparaben
CAS4191-73-5
FormulaC10H12O3 · 180.20 Da
FunctionPreservative
FeedstockIsopropylparaben is manufactured by esterifying petrochemical 4-hydroxybenzoic acid…

How we scored it

4-hydroxybenzoate ester, a phenol derivative; petrochemical by this site's explicit paraben listing. 0/180 = 0.0.
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

Isopropylparaben is manufactured by esterifying petrochemical 4-hydroxybenzoic acid with isopropanol. Both building blocks originate from petrochemical feedstocks; no natural route is used commercially.

In plain English

A synthetic preservative from the paraben family, made from petrochemical phenol chemistry to stop bacteria and mould growing in a product. It has no natural or plant source.

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Structure

2D structure of Isopropylparaben

propan-2-yl 4-hydroxybenzoate

PubChem CID 20161 ↗

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. 2Isopropylparaben. PubChem CID 20161. National Center for Biotechnology Information. pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov ↗
  3. 3ISOPROPYLPARABEN. CosIng — European Commission cosmetic ingredient database. ec.europa.eu/cosing ↗
  4. 4ISOPROPYLPARABEN. CosIng u2014 European Commission database for information on cosmetic substances and ingredients. https://ec.europa.eu/growth/tools-databases/cosing/search?search=ISOPROPYLPARABEN