Database/Fragrance/Triethylene Glycol
100% petroleum · ISO 16128

Is Triethylene Glycol natural?

No. Built exclusively from petrochemical ethylene oxide; no natural-origin fragment present in the molecule.

INCI nameTriethylene Glycol
CAS112-27-6
FormulaC6H14O4 · 150.17 Da
FunctionFragrance · Viscosity Controlling
FeedstockManufactured by reacting ethylene oxide, a petrochemical, with…

How we scored it

Three ethylene oxide units joined with water; entirely petrochemical per ethylene-oxide/-eth- convention, so 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

Manufactured by reacting ethylene oxide, a petrochemical, with ethylene glycol or water. No natural feedstock route exists.

In plain English

A solvent and fragrance-fixative ingredient that also helps control a product's thickness. It's manufactured entirely from petrochemical ethylene oxide.

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Structure

2D structure of Triethylene Glycol

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

PubChem CID 8172 ↗

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. 2Triethylene Glycol. PubChem CID 8172. National Center for Biotechnology Information. pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov ↗
  3. 3TRIETHYLENE GLYCOL. CosIng — European Commission cosmetic ingredient database. ec.europa.eu/cosing ↗
  4. 4TRIETHYLENE GLYCOL. CosIng u2014 European Commission database for information on cosmetic substances and ingredients. https://ec.europa.eu/growth/tools-databases/cosing/search?search=TRIETHYLENE%20GLYCOL