Is Polyamide-3 natural? NOI 0.65

Q: Is Polyamide-3 natural?

Polyamide-3 has a Natural Origin Index (NOI) of 0.65 (scale 0–1) per ISO 16128. Dilinoleic acid (a plant-oil dimer acid) dominates the backbone, but the ethylenediamine, PPG-diamine and PEG/PPG end caps are all petrochemical. An NOI of 0.65 means 65% of its molecular mass is traceable to a natural, renewable source.

How we scored it

Est. repeat unit: dilinoleic acid (natural, approx 560Da) + ethylenediamine (petrochemical, approx 60Da) minus condensation water; petrochemical PPG-diamine comonomer and PEG/PPG-32/10 end caps dilute further. Est. approx 0.65.

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

A polyamide resin built from plant-oil-derived dilinoleic acid, linked and end-capped with petrochemical amines and glycol ethers. Exact composition and molecular weight are not precisely known from CosIng alone.

In plain English

A film-forming resin used to give lipsticks and styling products structure and gloss. It is a synthetic polymer built mainly from plant-oil-derived dimer fatty acid, linked with petrochemical amine chain extenders.

CosIng definition: Polyamide-3 is a polymer formed by the condensation of Dilinoleic Acid, ethylenediamine, polypropylene glycol diamine end-capped with PEG/PPG-32/10 aminopropyl methyl ether

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References

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