Database/Emulsifying Surfactant/PEG-50 Castor Oil
Mostly petroleum · ISO 16128

Is PEG-50 Castor Oil natural?

Mostly not. Natural castor-oil triglyceride core diluted by a long petrochemical polyethylene-glycol (50 EO) chain added for emulsification.

INCI namePEG-50 Castor Oil
CAS61791-12-6
FunctionEmulsifying Surfactant · Cleansing Surfactant
FeedstockMade by ethoxylating castor oil (Ricinus communis seed…

How we scored it

Castor oil triglyceride (~934 Da, natural) + 50 EO × 44 Da (2203 Da, petrochemical) = 3137 Da → 934/3137 = 0.30.
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 ethoxylating castor oil (Ricinus communis seed oil) with about 50 moles of ethylene oxide. No natural-only alternative route.

In plain English

Castor oil chemically modified with a synthetic polyethylene glycol chain, used as an emulsifier to blend oil and water in cosmetics.

CosIng definition: Castor oil, ethoxylated (50 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-50 CASTOR OIL. CosIng — European Commission cosmetic ingredient database. ec.europa.eu/cosing ↗
  3. 3PEG-50 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-50%20CASTOR%20OIL