Database/Cleansing/Oleth-50
Mostly petroleum · ISO 16128

Is Oleth-50 natural?

Mostly not. Natural oleyl-alcohol fragment is a small share of the mass once diluted with 50 petrochemical ethylene oxide units.

INCI nameOleth-50
CAS9004-98-2
FunctionCleansing · Cleansing Surfactant
FeedstockMade by heavily ethoxylating oleochemical oleyl alcohol with…

How we scored it

Oleyl alcohol 268.5 Da (natural) + 50xEO 44.05=2202.5 Da (petrochemical) -> total 2471.0 Da; 268.5/2471.0 = 0.11.
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

Made by heavily ethoxylating oleochemical oleyl alcohol with petroleum-derived ethylene oxide for maximum water solubility. Cosmetic-grade oleyl alcohol is typically oleochemical.

In plain English

A cleansing surfactant made from natural oleyl alcohol combined with 50 units of ethylene oxide, a petroleum-derived building block. The very long chain gives strong water solubility for cleansing formulas.

CosIng definition: Poly(oxy-1,2-ethanediyl), .alpha.-9-(Z)-octadecenyl-.omega.-hydroxy (50 mol EO average molar ratio)

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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. 2OLETH-50. CosIng — European Commission cosmetic ingredient database. ec.europa.eu/cosing ↗
  3. 3OLETH-50. CosIng u2014 European Commission database for information on cosmetic substances and ingredients. https://ec.europa.eu/growth/tools-databases/cosing/search?search=OLETH-50