Database/Preservative/Sodium Formate
Mostly petroleum · ISO 16128

Is Sodium Formate natural?

Mostly not. Sodium counter-ion is natural mineral; formate is industrially made from petrochemical methanol, not fermentation.

INCI nameSodium Formate
CAS141-53-7
FormulaCHNaO2 · 68.007 Da
FunctionPreservative
FeedstockSodium Formate is manufactured from formic acid, produced…

How we scored it

Na+ (23.0 Da, mineral, natural) + HCOO- (45.0 Da, formate from methanol carbonylation, petrochemical) = 68.0 Da; 23.0/68.0 = 0.34
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

Sodium Formate is manufactured from formic acid, produced industrially by methanol carbonylation (petrochemical), neutralised with sodium (mineral, natural). No significant natural fermentation route exists at commercial scale.

In plain English

A preservative salt combining natural mineral sodium with formic acid, which is mostly made from petrochemical methanol.

CosIng definition: Sodium Formate is the organic salt that conforms to the formula:

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Structure

2D structure of Sodium Formate

sodium formate

PubChem CID 2723810 ↗

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. 2Sodium Formate. PubChem CID 2723810. National Center for Biotechnology Information. pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov ↗
  3. 3SODIUM FORMATE. CosIng — European Commission cosmetic ingredient database. ec.europa.eu/cosing ↗
  4. 4SODIUM FORMATE. CosIng u2014 European Commission database for information on cosmetic substances and ingredients. https://ec.europa.eu/growth/tools-databases/cosing/search?search=SODIUM%20FORMATE