Potassium Tallate

What Is It?

Tall Oil Acid, a clear, pale yellow liquid, is a byproduct of wood pulp. Ammonium Tallate, Potassium Tallate and Sodium Tallate are salts of Tall Oil Acid. In cosmetics and personal care products, Tall Oil Acid and its salts may be used in hair dyes and bleaches, shampoos, skin cleansing preparations and shaving cream.

Why Is It Used?

Tall Oil Acid and its salts clean skin and hair by helping water to mix with oil and dirt so that they can be rinsed away. These ingredients also help to form emulsions by reducing the surface tension of the substances to be emulsified.

Scientific Facts

Tall Oil Acid is a mixture of fatty acids and rosin acids that is obtained from tall oil, a byproduct from the pulping of pine trees. Ammonium Tallate, Potassium Tallate and Sodium Tallate are salts of Tall Oil Acid.

Safety Information

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) permits Tall Oil Acid and its ammonium and sodium salts to be uses as indirect food additives for use in components of coatings. The safety of Tall Oil Acid, Ammonium Tallate, Potassium Tallate and Sodium Tallate has been assessed by the Cosmetic Ingredient Review (CIR) Expert Panel. The CIR Expert Panel evaluated the scientific data and concluded that Tall Oil Acid and it salts were safe for use in cosmetic and personal care products.

CIR Safety Review:

The fatty acids found in Tall Oil Acid have been previously reviewed by the CIR Expert Panel. Oleic acid was assessed as safe for use in cosmetics. Oleic acid, in concentrations of 100% or 40-50% in mineral oil, was nonirritating in clinical primary and cumulative irritation studies. Single insult occlusive patch tests, soap chamber tests, and 21-day cumulative irritation studies of oleic acid in cosmetic formulations at 2-93% produced mild to intense erythema, but the results were generally not related to the fatty acid concentrations. No primary or cumulative irritation or sensitization was reported in clinical repeat insult patch tests, maximization tests, and prophetic patch tests with cosmetic product formulations containing a range of concentrations of <1-14% oleic acid. Cosmetic formulations containing 1-13% oleic acid produced no photosensitization in the subjects tested. Mascara formulations containing 2% and 3% oleic acid produced no treatment-related ocular irritation in female subjects involved in 3-week exaggerated-use studies. On the basis of the data included for Tall Oil Acid and oleic acid, a common fatty acid in Tall Oil Acid, the CIR Expert Panel concluded that Tall Oil Acid, Ammonium Tallate, Potassium Tallate and Sodium Tallate were safe for use in cosmetic and personal care products.

Link to FDA Code of Federal Regulations for Tall Oil Acid and its salts http://www.accessdata.fda.gov/scripts/cdrh/cfdocs/cfcfr/CFRSearch.cfm?fr…

Tall Oil Acid and its salts may be used in cosmetics and personal care products marketed in Europe according to the general provisions of the Cosmetics Regulation of the European Union.

Link to the EU Cosmetic Regulation: http://europa.eu/legislation_summaries/consumers/product_labelling_and_packaging/co0013_en.htm

More Scientific Information

Tall Oil Acid is a mixture of oleic, linoleic, other fatty acids and rosin acids derived from the tall oil, a byproduct of wood pulp. The fatty acids that make up Tall Oil are all considered “Generally Recognized as Safe (GRAS)” food additives by the FDA.

Resources

Find out more about the regulation of Food Additives by the Food and Drug Administration

Food Ingredients and Packaging: http://www.fda.gov/Food/IngredientsPackagingLabeling/default.htm

Food Contact Substances: http://www.fda.gov/Food/IngredientsPackagingLabeling/PackagingFCS/default.htm

Substances Generally Recognized As Safe (GRAS): http://www.fda.gov/Food/IngredientsPackagingLabeling/GRAS/default.htm

Search the Code of Federal Regulations http://www.accessdata.fda.gov/scripts/cdrh/cfdocs/cfcfr/cfrsearch.cfm

EU Cosmetics Inventory http://ec.europa.eu/consumers/cosmetics/cosing/