Some 80 percent of all personal care ingredients are at least in part derived from petroleum and a large part of these consists of the so-called Peg-based, ethoxylated, products, as Ethylene Oxide is utilized in their production.
Peg-based products are still widely used in the personal care and cosmetics field for their performances, skin feel, compatibility with a very broad range of raw materials and biodegradability.
However, despite their large use and continuous growth and although all scientific committees for the evaluation of personal care ingredients (SCCS and CIR) have declared them safe, the Peg-based products are constantly under the scrutiny of consumers as they may be contaminated with measurable amounts of 1,4 Dioxane and free Ethylene Oxide.
Medolla Speciality Chemicals has developed 2 products based on Olive Oil and Pegs, specifically
Olivatis® 15C (Olive Oil Peg-8 Esters)
and very recently
Olivatis® 21 (Olive Oil Peg-6 Esters & Olive Oil Polyglyceryl-6 Esters).
Olivatis® 15C and Olivatis® 21 are produced by means of a very selective trans-esterification process that does not involve direct ethoxylation but where the glyceric fraction of Olive Oil Triglycerides is substituted by top quality Pegs that have undergone a vacuum stripping purification process that reduces 1,4 Dioxane and free Ethylene Oxide down to, respectively, 10 ppm max and 1 ppm max.
The trans-esterification process, carried out at temperatures >150°C, allows a further reduction of 1,4 Dioxane and free Ethylene Oxide basically to an undetectable level. Therefore, our Peg-based Olivatis® 15C and Olivatis® 21 undergo a double purification process that guarantees an extremely reduced content of impurities and makes it possible for customers to use products with excellent performances in terms of effectiveness and skin feel but ensuring at the same the utmost safety regarding possible traces of potentially dangerous substances.
Olivatis® 15C and Olivatis® 21 comply with the recommendations of the SCCS (Scientific Committee on Consumer Safety), Opinion on the Report of the ICCR Working Group: Considerations on Acceptable Trace Level of 1,4-Dioxane in Cosmetic Products, 15 December 2015, SCCS/1570/15.