Database/Emulsifying Surfactant/PEG-80 Hydrogenated Castor Oil
Mostly petroleum · ISO 16128

Is PEG-80 Hydrogenated Castor Oil natural?

Mostly not. Hydrogenated castor oil is fully natural; a larger number of petrochemical ethylene-oxide units dilutes the natural fraction compared with lower-EO grades.

INCI namePEG-80 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 + 80 EO x44 Da petrochemical = 4463 Da total; 940/4463=0.21.
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 80 moles of petrochemical ethylene oxide. Castor oil is essentially the sole commercial feedstock.

In plain English

An emulsifier made from hardened castor oil reacted with a larger amount of a synthetic thickening agent to blend oil and water.

CosIng definition: Castor oil (Ricinus communis), hydrogenated, ethoxylated (80 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-80 HYDROGENATED CASTOR OIL. CosIng — European Commission cosmetic ingredient database. ec.europa.eu/cosing ↗
  3. 3PEG-80 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-80%20HYDROGENATED%20CASTOR%20OIL