Database/Emulsifying Surfactant/PEG-200 Hydrogenated Castor Oil
Mostly petroleum · ISO 16128

Is PEG-200 Hydrogenated Castor Oil natural?

Mostly not. Hydrogenated castor oil is fully natural, but the large number of petrochemical ethylene-oxide units dominates total mass.

INCI namePEG-200 Hydrogenated Castor Oil
CAS61788-85-0
FunctionEmulsifying Surfactant · Cleansing Surfactant
FeedstockMade by hydrogenating castor oil then reacting it…

How we scored it

Hydrogenated castor oil ~940 Da natural + 200 EO x44 Da petrochemical = 9750 Da total; 940/9750=0.10.
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 hydrogenating castor oil then reacting it with about 200 moles of petrochemical ethylene oxide. Castor oil is essentially the sole commercial feedstock.

In plain English

A mild solubiliser made from hardened castor oil reacted with a large amount of a synthetic thickening agent, mostly synthetic by weight.

CosIng definition: Castor oil (Ricinus communis), hydrogenated, ethoxylated (200 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-200 HYDROGENATED CASTOR OIL. CosIng — European Commission cosmetic ingredient database. ec.europa.eu/cosing ↗
  3. 3PEG-200 HYDROGENATED 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-200%20HYDROGENATED%20CASTOR%20OIL