Polyacrylic Acid ●
TL;DR. This ingredient is used mainly as a thickener, gel former, and emulsion stabilizer in water-based formulas. It helps build viscosity, suspend particles, and improve spread without adding oiliness.
What does Polyacrylic Acid do in a cosmetic formula?
This ingredient is used mainly as a thickener, gel former, and emulsion stabilizer in water-based formulas. It helps build viscosity, suspend particles, and improve spread without adding oiliness.
Is Polyacrylic Acid clean?
Clean-beauty standards often flag it because it is a synthetic polymer with residual monomer specifications and limited natural-origin alignment. On skin, high-molecular-weight grades are generally well tolerated, with irritation more likely tied to formula pH or impurities than to the intact polymer.
Is Polyacrylic Acid sustainable?
This material is typically made from petrochemical feedstocks and is not readily biodegradable. It is water-soluble and not known for bioaccumulation, but its environmental profile is limited by persistence and end-of-life concerns for synthetic polymers.
Is Polyacrylic Acid COSMOS-approved?
It is not permitted under COSMOS-natural or COSMOS-organic as a conventional synthetic petrochemical polymer. From a Green Chemistry perspective, it performs efficiently at low levels, but its nonrenewable sourcing and poor biodegradability are clear drawbacks.
How does Polyacrylic Acid work chemically?
The molecule is a high-molecular-weight anionic polymer with repeating carboxylic acid groups that expand in water after neutralization, creating viscosity and gel structure. Typical use is about 0.1 to 2%, with best performance around mildly acidic to neutral pH, and viscosity can drop in high-electrolyte systems or with incompatible cationic materials.
Last updated 2026-05-13