Database/Emulsifying Surfactant/PEG-20 Castor Oil
Mostly natural · ISO 16128

Is PEG-20 Castor Oil natural?

Mostly. Natural castor-oil triglyceride ethoxylated with petrochemical ethylene oxide; roughly half the mass is each.

INCI namePEG-20 Castor Oil
CAS61791-12-6
FunctionEmulsifying Surfactant · Cleansing Surfactant
FeedstockMade by reacting castor oil, pressed from Ricinus…

How we scored it

Castor oil (triricinolein) 933Da (natural) + 20×ethylene oxide 880Da (petrochemical) = 933/1813 → 0.51
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 reacting castor oil, pressed from Ricinus communis seeds, with 20 moles of ethylene oxide derived from petrochemical ethylene. No alternative commercial route is used.

In plain English

An emulsifier and cleansing ingredient made by reacting castor oil from castor beans with ethylene oxide. It helps blend oil and water together in cleansers and creams.

CosIng definition: Castor oil, ethoxylated (20 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-20 CASTOR OIL. CosIng — European Commission cosmetic ingredient database. ec.europa.eu/cosing ↗
  3. 3PEG-20 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-20%20CASTOR%20OIL