Database/Chelating/TEA-EDTA
100% petroleum · ISO 16128

Is TEA-EDTA natural?

No. EDTA is built from petrochemical ethylenediamine, formaldehyde and cyanide or chloroacetate, and triethanolamine from ethylene oxide and ammonia, so nothing is natural origin.

INCI nameTEA-EDTA
CAS60544-70-9
FormulaC16H31N3O11 · 441.43 Da
FunctionChelating
FeedstockDominant route: EDTA acid neutralised with triethanolamine, both…

How we scored it

EDTA C10H16N2O8 292.2 petrochemical + triethanolamine C6H15NO3 149.2 petrochemical = 441.4; 0/441.4 = 0.0.
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

Dominant route: EDTA acid neutralised with triethanolamine, both petrochemical in origin. No alternative route is commercially significant.

In plain English

A chelating agent that binds metal ions, supplied as a salt of EDTA and triethanolamine. Both parts are made from petrochemicals: EDTA from ethylenediamine and formaldehyde with cyanide or chloroacetic acid, and triethanolamine from ethylene oxide and ammonia.

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Structure

2D structure of TEA-EDTA

2-[2-[bis(carboxymethyl)amino]ethyl-(carboxymethyl)amino]acetic acid;2-[bis(2-hydroxyethyl)amino]ethanol

PubChem CID 6453998 ↗

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-EDTA. PubChem CID 6453998. National Center for Biotechnology Information. pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov ↗
  3. 3TEA-EDTA. CosIng — European Commission cosmetic ingredient database. ec.europa.eu/cosing ↗
  4. 4TEA-EDTA. CosIng u2014 European Commission database for information on cosmetic substances and ingredients. https://ec.europa.eu/growth/tools-databases/cosing/search?search=TEA-EDTA