Database/Antistatic/Niacin
100% petroleum · ISO 16128

Is Niacin natural?

No. Entire pyridine-carboxylic acid skeleton comes from petrochemical picoline/cyanopyridine feedstock; no fermentation route is commercially significant.

INCI nameNiacin
CAS59-67-6
FormulaC6H5NO2 · 123.11 Da
FunctionAntistatic · Smoothing
FeedstockCommercial niacin is made by ammoxidation of 3-picoline…

How we scored it

Whole molecule is the feedstock unit; niacin (nicotinic acid) is made from 3-cyanopyridine or 3-picoline, both petrochemical pyridine derivatives. 0/123 = 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

Commercial niacin is made by ammoxidation of 3-picoline or hydrolysis of 3-cyanopyridine, both petrochemical feedstocks. A fermentation route exists but supplies a negligible share of the market.

In plain English

Niacin is a form of vitamin B3 used to condition skin and reduce static in hair care. It's made through industrial chemical synthesis from petroleum-derived starting materials, not extracted from food despite being a vitamin found naturally in many foods.

Natural alternatives with the same function

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 Alanine 100% natural origin

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 Arginine 100% natural origin

An amino acid found in skin and hair proteins, used for conditioning and moisture-binding. Made by fermenting plant…

 Asparagine 100% natural origin

An amino acid made by fermenting plant sugars, similar to other food-fermentation processes. Helps condition hair and skin…

 Aspartic Acid 100% natural origin

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 Capryloyl Hydrolyzed Collagen 100% natural origin

Collagen broken into small protein fragments and attached to caprylic acid, an eight-carbon fatty acid from coconut or…

Structure

2D structure of Niacin

pyridine-3-carboxylic acid

PubChem CID 938 ↗

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. 2Niacin. PubChem CID 938. National Center for Biotechnology Information. pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov ↗
  3. 3NIACIN. CosIng — European Commission cosmetic ingredient database. ec.europa.eu/cosing ↗
  4. 4NIACIN. CosIng u2014 European Commission database for information on cosmetic substances and ingredients. https://ec.europa.eu/growth/tools-databases/cosing/search?search=NIACIN