Database/Emulsifying Surfactant/PEG-10 Castor Oil
Mostly natural · ISO 16128

Is PEG-10 Castor Oil natural?

Mostly. Castor oil is a natural vegetable oil; the 10-unit ethoxylate chain is petrochemical ethylene oxide.

INCI namePEG-10 Castor Oil
CAS61791-12-6
FunctionEmulsifying Surfactant · Cleansing Surfactant
FeedstockPEG-10 Castor Oil is castor bean oil reacted…

How we scored it

Castor oil ~933Da (natural) + 10 mol ethylene oxide ~441Da (petrochemical) = 1374Da total; 933/1374=0.68.
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

PEG-10 Castor Oil is castor bean oil reacted with 10 moles of petrochemical ethylene oxide for water dispersibility. Most of the final mass remains natural oil.

In plain English

An emulsifier made from castor bean oil combined with a petroleum-based compound. Most of its final weight is still the natural plant oil.

CosIng definition: Castor oil, ethoxylated (10 mol EO average molar ratio)

Natural alternatives with the same function

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. 2PEG-10 CASTOR OIL. CosIng — European Commission cosmetic ingredient database. ec.europa.eu/cosing ↗
  3. 3PEG-10 CASTOR OIL. CosIng u2014 European Commission database for information on cosmetic substances and ingredients. https://ec.europa.eu/growth/tools-databases/cosing/search?search=PEG-10%20CASTOR%20OIL