Database/Antistatic/Quaternium-70
Mostly natural · ISO 16128

Is Quaternium-70 natural?

Mostly. Stearamide and myristyl chains trace to natural fatty acid/alcohol; the DMAPA amine backbone and chloroacetate linker are petrochemical.

INCI nameQuaternium-70
CAS68921-83-5
FormulaC39H79ClN2O3 · 659.5 Da
FunctionAntistatic · Hair Conditioning
FeedstockMade by condensing stearic acid with dimethylaminopropylamine (DMAPA),…

How we scored it

Natural: stearoyl-amide 267.5 + myristyl-O 213.4 + Cl- 35.5 = 516.3 Da. Petrochemical: DMAPA backbone 101.2 + chloroacetate CH2CO 42.0 = 143.2 Da. 516.3/659.5 = 0.78.
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 condensing stearic acid with dimethylaminopropylamine (DMAPA), then quaternising with myristyl chloroacetate; the fatty chains are oleochemical but DMAPA and the chloroacetate linker are petrochemical. The chloride counter-ion is treated as mineral-derived.

In plain English

A conditioning ingredient used in hair care to reduce static and improve softness. It combines natural fatty acids from tallow/coconut sources with synthetic, petroleum-derived amine and ester linkages.

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Structure

2D structure of Quaternium-70

dimethyl-[3-(octadecanoylamino)propyl]-(2-oxo-2-tetradecoxyethyl)azanium chloride

PubChem CID 111772 ↗

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. 2Quaternium-70. PubChem CID 111772. National Center for Biotechnology Information. pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov ↗
  3. 3QUATERNIUM-70. CosIng — European Commission cosmetic ingredient database. ec.europa.eu/cosing ↗
  4. 4QUATERNIUM-70. CosIng u2014 European Commission database for information on cosmetic substances and ingredients. https://ec.europa.eu/growth/tools-databases/cosing/search?search=QUATERNIUM-70