Database/Propellant/Nitrous Oxide
100% petroleum · ISO 16128

Is Nitrous Oxide natural?

No. Nitrous oxide is produced from ammonium nitrate made via natural-gas-derived ammonia, matching this site's petrochemical treatment of similar nitrogen-fixation products.

INCI nameNitrous Oxide
CAS10024-97-2
FormulaN2O · 44.013 Da
FunctionPropellant · Fragrance
FeedstockManufactured by heating ammonium nitrate, which is produced…

How we scored it

N2O made by thermal decomposition of ammonium nitrate; ammonia feedstock from natural gas (Haber process), analogous to this site's method's urea/allantoin treatment.
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

Manufactured by heating ammonium nitrate, which is produced from synthetic ammonia (Haber-Bosch process, natural-gas feedstock) and nitric acid. This site's method treats this nitrogen-fixation route as petrochemical, by analogy with urea and allantoin.

In plain English

A gas used as an aerosol propellant to dispense foams and sprays. It is manufactured industrially by heating ammonium nitrate, itself made from synthetic ammonia.

CosIng definition: Nitrous Oxide is the gas that conforms to the formula:

Natural alternatives with the same function

Carbon Dioxide 100% natural origin

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 Nitrogen 100% natural origin

An inert gas used to push product out of pressurised containers, keeping the formula from contacting oxygen. It's…

 Salvia Officinalis Leaf Oil 100% natural origin

An essential oil steam-distilled from sage leaves, used as a fragrance ingredient and propellant. It comes directly from…

Structure

2D structure of Nitrous Oxide

nitrous oxide

PubChem CID 948 ↗

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. 2Nitrous Oxide. PubChem CID 948. National Center for Biotechnology Information. pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov ↗
  3. 3NITROUS OXIDE. CosIng — European Commission cosmetic ingredient database. ec.europa.eu/cosing ↗
  4. 4NITROUS OXIDE. CosIng u2014 European Commission database for information on cosmetic substances and ingredients. https://ec.europa.eu/growth/tools-databases/cosing/search?search=NITROUS%20OXIDE