Cosmetic ingredient

PETROLATUM

Petrolatum is the English name recorded for PETROLATUM. The entry describes it as a complex combination of hydrocarbons obtained as a semi-solid from dewaxing paraffinic residual oil. It consists predominantly of saturated crystalline and liquid hydrocarbons with carbon numbers predominantly greater than C25.

INCIPE14 products

CAS number

8009-03-8

EC number

232-373-2

PETROLATUM: what it is

CAS number 8009-03-8 and EC number 232-373-2 accompany that identity. The technical description sets out the ingredient's origin and general composition without stating a concentration or performance in a specific cosmetic formula.

PETROLATUM: what it does in cosmetics

PETROLATUM is classified as ANTISTATIC and SKIN CONDITIONING - EMOLLIENT. The first function relates it to the antistatic category, while the second records it in the skin conditioning category with an emollient classification.

Those classifications describe roles assigned to the ingredient within a composition. They do not define the amount used, combination with other components or the effect of a particular package.

PETROLATUM: conditions and care

The entry records restriction II/904 for PETROLATUM, except where the full refining history is known and it can be shown that the substance from which it is produced is not carcinogenic. No maximum concentration or further condition is filled in for this record.

This wording should be read as a recorded condition for the restriction, not as a diagnosis or safety conclusion about a product. The entry does not provide the refining data of a particular package, so it cannot apply the exception to an individual case.

Use limits