Peg-30 Phytosterol ●
TL;DR. This ingredient is a nonionic emulsifier and solubilizer, used to help oil-soluble materials disperse into water-based formulas and to support stable creams, lotions, and gel-creams.
What does Peg-30 Phytosterol do in a cosmetic formula?
This ingredient is a nonionic emulsifier and solubilizer, used to help oil-soluble materials disperse into water-based formulas and to support stable creams, lotions, and gel-creams.
Is Peg-30 Phytosterol clean?
Clean frameworks often flag it because it is made through ethoxylation, which requires tight control of residual ethylene oxide and 1,4-dioxane. When well purified, it is generally low-odor and low-irritation, but it has more restricted-list friction than simpler plant oils, fatty alcohols, or glycerin.
Is Peg-30 Phytosterol sustainable?
It has a partial plant-derived lipid portion, but the water-loving portion is typically petrochemical-derived and made through an additional chemical processing step. Its environmental profile is less straightforward than readily biodegradable unmodified lipids, and biodegradability depends on chain length and formula context.
Is Peg-30 Phytosterol COSMOS-approved?
It is not permitted in COSMOS-natural or COSMOS-organic products because ethoxylated materials are outside the standard. From a Green Chemistry lens, the renewable fraction helps, but petrochemical feedstock, residue management, and limited biodegradability confidence keep alignment weak.
How does Peg-30 Phytosterol work chemically?
The molecule is an amphiphilic nonionic structure with a bulky hydrophobic plant-derived lipid core joined to an average of about 30 oxyethylene repeat units, giving high-HLB behavior for dispersing lipophilic ingredients. It is typically used at low single-digit percentages as a solubilizer or co-emulsifier, is compatible across a broad cosmetic pH range, and should be qualified for peroxide value and trace ethoxylation byproducts.
Last updated 2026-05-13