Is Tromethamine Magnesium Aluminum Silicate natural? NOI 0.90

Q: Is Tromethamine Magnesium Aluminum Silicate natural?

Tromethamine Magnesium Aluminum Silicate has a Natural Origin Index (NOI) of 0.90 (scale 0–1) per ISO 16128. Magnesium aluminium silicate is a mined smectite clay (mineral); tromethamine is made from petrochemical nitromethane and formaldehyde, so it counts as zero. An NOI of 0.90 means 90% of its molecular mass is traceable to a natural, renewable source.

How we scored it

Clay 100 g natural; tromethamine cation (122 Da) at about 90 meq/100 g exchange = 11 g petrochemical; 100 / 111 = 0.90. Loading assumed, not published.

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

Mined, purified smectite clay is treated with tromethamine, a synthetic amino-alcohol from nitromethane and formaldehyde. No alternative route is known; the tromethamine content is not published, so saturation of the clay's cation-exchange capacity was assumed.

In plain English

A clay thickener: a smectite mineral (magnesium aluminium silicate) treated with tromethamine, a small synthetic amine. It swells in water to thicken and stabilise lotions and suspensions. The clay is mined and purified; tromethamine is made industrially from nitromethane and formaldehyde.

CosIng definition: Smectite-group minerals, products with 2-amino-2-hydroxymethyl-1,3-propanediol

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References

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