Database/Antistatic/Polyquaternium-29
Mostly natural · ISO 16128

Is Polyquaternium-29 natural?

Mostly. The chitosan backbone from crustacean or fungal chitin is natural and the chloride counter-ion is a mineral, so both count as natural origin. Only the hydroxypropyltrimethylammonium part of the quaternising reagent, built from epichlorohydrin and trimethylamine, is petrochemical.

INCI namePolyquaternium-29
CAS92091-36-6
FunctionAntistatic · Film Forming
FeedstockChitosan from shellfish or fungal chitin is reacted…

How we scored it

The chitosan repeat unit is C6H11NO4, 161.16 Da, all natural. At a degree of substitution of about 0.3, each unit carries 0.3 x 151.63 Da = 45.49 Da of glycidyltrimethylammonium chloride, of which the chloride share (0.3 x 35.45 = 10.64 Da) is a mineral counter-ion and the rest (34.85 Da) is petrochemical. Natural 161.16 + 10.64 = 171.80 Da of a 206.65 Da unit: 171.80/206.65 = 0.83.
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

Chitosan from shellfish or fungal chitin is reacted with glycidyltrimethylammonium chloride to add cationic charge. The substitution level is not published, so a typical degree of substitution of about 0.3 was assumed.

In plain English

A conditioning polymer used in hair and skin products for its film-forming, anti-static properties. It is made from chitosan, from shellfish shells or fungi, modified with a small lab-made charged group.

CosIng definition: Chitosan, 2,3-dihydroxypropyl-2-hydroxy-3-(trimethylammonio)propyl ether, chloride

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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. 2POLYQUATERNIUM-29. CosIng — European Commission cosmetic ingredient database. ec.europa.eu/cosing ↗
  3. 3POLYQUATERNIUM-29. CosIng u2014 European Commission database for information on cosmetic substances and ingredients. https://ec.europa.eu/growth/tools-databases/cosing/search?search=POLYQUATERNIUM-29