Steareths derive their vegan and vegetarian status from ethylene oxide, stearyl alcohol.
| Vegan? Maybe | Vegetarian? Maybe |
Classifications are made based on the available commercial supply of the ingredient, and are made based on the criteria on our classifications page.
Commercially available steareths may be vegan depending on the source and may be vegetarian depending on the source.
Steareths like steareth-21 are used in cosmetics. They are manufactured by reacting ethylene oxide with stearyl alcohol.
Sources
- https://www.specialchem.com/cosmetics/inci-ingredients/steareth-21
- Fiume, M. M., Heldreth, B., Bergfeld, W. F., Belsito, D. V., Hill, R. A., Klaassen, C. D., Liebler, D., Marks, J. G., Shank, R. C., Slaga, T. J., Snyder, P. W., & Andersen, F. A. (2012). Safety Assessment of Alkyl PEG Ethers as Used in Cosmetics. International Journal of Toxicology, 31(5_suppl).
https://doi.org/10.1177/1091581812444141