Database/Denaturant/Sodium Salicylate
Mostly petroleum · ISO 16128

Is Sodium Salicylate natural?

Mostly not. Salicylic acid is an explicitly petrochemical phenol derivative; only the sodium counterion is natural-origin mineral mass.

INCI nameSodium Salicylate
CAS54-21-7
FormulaC7H5NaO3 · 160.10 Da
FunctionDenaturant · Preservative
FeedstockMade by neutralising synthetic salicylic acid (produced from…

How we scored it

NaC7H5O3 (160.10 Da) = Na 22.99 Da (natural, mineral) + salicylate 137.11 Da (petrochemical, phenol-derived); 22.99/160.10 = 0.14.
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.

How it’s made

Salicylic acid + NaOH (neutralisation). Each curved arrow moves one electron pair, and the film ends on the score above.

Where it comes from

Made by neutralising synthetic salicylic acid (produced from phenol via the Kolbe-Schmitt reaction) with sodium hydroxide or carbonate. No significant natural-extraction route is used commercially.

In plain English

A preservative and denaturant ingredient, the sodium salt of salicylic acid. Salicylic acid is manufactured synthetically from phenol, then neutralised with sodium.

CosIng definition: Sodium Salicylate is the sodium salt of salicylic acid that conforms to the formula:

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Structure

2D structure of Sodium Salicylate

sodium 2-hydroxybenzoate

PubChem CID 16760658 ↗

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 Salicylate. PubChem CID 16760658. National Center for Biotechnology Information. pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov ↗
  3. 3SODIUM SALICYLATE. CosIng — European Commission cosmetic ingredient database. ec.europa.eu/cosing ↗
  4. 4SODIUM SALICYLATE. CosIng u2014 European Commission database for information on cosmetic substances and ingredients. https://ec.europa.eu/growth/tools-databases/cosing/search?search=SODIUM%20SALICYLATE