Database/Emulsifying Surfactant/Steareth-7
Mostly petroleum · ISO 16128

Is Steareth-7 natural?

Mostly not. The oleochemical stearyl-alcohol chain is natural; the 7 ethoxylate units are built from petrochemical ethylene oxide.

INCI nameSteareth-7
CAS66146-84-7
FormulaC32H66O8 · 578.9 Da
FunctionEmulsifying Surfactant · Cleansing Surfactant
FeedstockSteareth-7 is made by ethoxylating stearyl alcohol, an…

How we scored it

Stearyl alcohol C18H38O 270.5 Da (natural) + 7x ethylene oxide C2H4O 308.4 Da (petrochemical) = 578.9 Da total. 270.5/578.9 = 0.47.
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

Steareth-7 is made by ethoxylating stearyl alcohol, an oleochemical fatty alcohol from palm or tallow, with petrochemical ethylene oxide. Only the EO count varies across the Steareth series.

In plain English

Steareth-7 helps cleanse and blend water and oil in a formula. It's made from a plant or animal fat-derived fatty alcohol reacted with ethylene oxide, a petroleum-based chemical.

CosIng definition: Poly(oxy-1,2-ethanediyl), .alpha.-octadecyl-.omega.-hydroxy

Natural alternatives with the same function

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 C10-16 Alkyl Glucoside 100% natural origin

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 C12-20 Alkyl Glucoside 100% natural origin

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 C18-36 Acid 100% natural origin

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Structure

2D structure of Steareth-7

2-[2-[2-[2-[2-[2-(2-octadecoxyethoxy)ethoxy]ethoxy]ethoxy]ethoxy]ethoxy]ethanol

PubChem CID 181780 ↗

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. 2Steareth-7. PubChem CID 181780. National Center for Biotechnology Information. pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov ↗
  3. 3STEARETH-7. CosIng — European Commission cosmetic ingredient database. ec.europa.eu/cosing ↗
  4. 4STEARETH-7. CosIng u2014 European Commission database for information on cosmetic substances and ingredients. https://ec.europa.eu/growth/tools-databases/cosing/search?search=STEARETH-7