PEG/PPG-17/6 Copolymer ●
TL;DR. This ingredient is a synthetic nonionic polymer used mainly as a solvent, humectant, slip agent, and texture modifier. In hair and skin formulas, it can improve spread, reduce tack, and help disperse other ingredients.
What does PEG/PPG-17/6 Copolymer do in a cosmetic formula?
This ingredient is a synthetic nonionic polymer used mainly as a solvent, humectant, slip agent, and texture modifier. In hair and skin formulas, it can improve spread, reduce tack, and help disperse other ingredients.
Is PEG/PPG-17/6 Copolymer clean?
Clean-beauty frameworks often flag it because it is made through ethoxylation and propoxylation, processes associated with residual ethylene oxide, propylene oxide, and 1,4-dioxane if not tightly purified. It is generally low-irritation in finished formulas, but its processing profile creates clean-standard friction.
Is PEG/PPG-17/6 Copolymer sustainable?
This material is typically petroleum-derived, with feedstocks coming from ethylene oxide and propylene oxide chemistry rather than renewable sources. Biodegradability is less favorable than simple plant-derived humectants, and polyether materials can be slower to break down in water systems.
Is PEG/PPG-17/6 Copolymer COSMOS-approved?
It is not permitted under COSMOS-natural or COSMOS-organic standards because synthetic ethoxylated and propoxylated materials fall outside the standard’s allowed chemistry. From a Green Chemistry perspective, it has weaker alignment due to petrochemical feedstocks, reactive oxide processing, and limited biodegradability advantages.
How does PEG/PPG-17/6 Copolymer work chemically?
The molecule is an amphiphilic polyether built from oxyethylene and oxypropylene repeat units, with the numbers indicating average chain composition rather than a single exact structure. It is nonionic, broadly pH-stable in typical cosmetic ranges, water-dispersible to water-soluble depending on grade and formula context, and often used at low single-digit percentages.
Last updated 2026-05-13