Question from Jayne Hemming
Would you please tell me if vegetable stearic acid is a synthetic chemical (possibly petro-chemical) or a natural safe substance.
I have been told conflicting opinions so far and would be very interested in whatever information you can find out on this ingredient that I have recently found in a natural soap bar.
I have also been told two conflicting opinions about how this ingredient is made. One says that it is always a highly synthetic oleo chemical coming from a vegtable source and the other says that the stearic acid they know of is cold- pressed, not highly processed from a vegetable source ( I believe they said it was from Palm). The second claimed that it was not a synthetic chemical and was in fact a safe and natural substance. Any information you could give me about this would be gratefully appreciated.
Thank you.
Debra’s Answer
According to A Consumer’s Dictionary of Cosmetic Ingredients by Ruth Winter, which I have been using for years, stearic acid is a fatty acid that occurs naturally in butter acids, tallow, and other animal fats and oils. It is “a white waxy natural fatty acid…the major ingredient used in making bar soap and lubricants.”
My chemical dictionary says stearic acid is the most common fatty acid occurring in natural animal and vegetable fats. It is derived from tallow (animal fat) by water processing, to which is added a sulfur compound and napthalene (a petrochemical). Whether or not any traces of these reagents remain after processing is unknown to me. Stearic acid itself is considered nontoxic.
So, stearic acid is not a petrochemical. It could come from an animal or vegetable source, but since it is vegetable stearic acid, I’d say it probably comes from a vegetable source unless it it mislabeled.
I’d go with the opinion that it is a safe and natural substance.
