PEG-80 Sorbitan Laurate ●
TL;DR. This ingredient is primarily a nonionic surfactant and solubilizer, helping disperse fragrance, oils, and oily actives into water-based formulas while adding mild cleansing and foam support.
What does PEG-80 Sorbitan Laurate do in a cosmetic formula?
This ingredient is primarily a nonionic surfactant and solubilizer, helping disperse fragrance, oils, and oily actives into water-based formulas while adding mild cleansing and foam support.
Is PEG-80 Sorbitan Laurate clean?
It is generally well tolerated on skin, but many clean-beauty frameworks flag this material because it is made by ethoxylation and can carry trace 1,4-dioxane if purification is not well controlled. It is not usually treated as a high-sensitization ingredient, but its processing route creates clean-standard friction.
Is PEG-80 Sorbitan Laurate sustainable?
This material typically combines a petrochemical-derived polyether portion with a C12 fatty portion that may come from coconut or palm-kernel sources. Its sustainability profile is mixed because it is less bio-based than simpler plant-derived surfactants and palm-linked supply chains need traceability.
Is PEG-80 Sorbitan Laurate COSMOS-approved?
It is not permitted in COSMOS-certified natural or organic formulas because the required ethoxylation chemistry is excluded. From a Green Chemistry perspective, it has useful mildness and formulation efficiency, but its petrochemical input, processing-residue controls, and partial renewability limit alignment.
How does PEG-80 Sorbitan Laurate work chemically?
The molecule is a high-HLB, nonionic surfactant built around a sugar-alcohol-derived core, one C12 fatty ester, and about 80 oxyethylene units, which makes it strongly water-dispersible. It is commonly used below 1% as a solubilizer and at higher levels in cleansing blends, with broad pH tolerance and good compatibility with anionic and amphoteric surfactants.
Last updated 2026-08-17