Database/Cleansing/TEA-Cocoyl Sarcosinate
Mostly petroleum · ISO 16128

Is TEA-Cocoyl Sarcosinate natural?

Mostly not. Only the coconut fatty-acid chain is natural: the sarcosine unit and the triethanolamine counter-ion are both made from petrochemical feedstocks. Same conventions as Sodium Lauroyl Sarcosinate and TEA-Lauryl Sulfate.

INCI nameTEA-Cocoyl Sarcosinate
CAS68411-96-1
FunctionCleansing · Foaming
FeedstockCoconut fatty acid chloride condensed with synthetic sarcosine…

How we scored it

Coco acyl (lauroyl proxy) C12H23O 183.3 Da (natural); sarcosine residue C3H6NO2 88.1 Da (petrochemical) + triethanolamine counter-ion C6H15NO3 149.2 Da (ethylene oxide + ammonia, petrochemical); total 420.6 Da → 183.3/420.6 = 0.44.
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

Coconut fatty acid chloride condensed with synthetic sarcosine and neutralised with triethanolamine.

In plain English

A coconut-derived cleansing ingredient combined with an amino-acid derivative and neutralised with a synthetic conditioning amine.

CosIng definition: Glycine, N-methyl-, N-coco acyl derivs., compds. with triethanolamine

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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. 2TEA-COCOYL SARCOSINATE. CosIng — European Commission cosmetic ingredient database. ec.europa.eu/cosing ↗
  3. 3TEA-COCOYL SARCOSINATE. CosIng u2014 European Commission database for information on cosmetic substances and ingredients. https://ec.europa.eu/growth/tools-databases/cosing/search?search=TEA-COCOYL%20SARCOSINATE