What is it?
A cleansing agent (surfactant) made by joining glucose, a simple sugar, with fatty alcohols from coconut oil. It belongs to the alkyl glucoside family, along with decyl and lauryl glucoside. It foams, helps lift away oil and dirt and adds a conditioning feel, so it is used in shampoos, body washes, facial cleansers, bath products and some baby products, and glucosides also turn up in household cleaners.
Key information
- The CIR Expert Panel concluded in 2011 that coco-glucoside and 18 related alkyl glucosides are safe as used when products are formulated to be non-irritating.
- In human tests it was at most slightly irritating, and it caused no allergic reactions in a repeat patch test at 1 percent.
- A small share of people are allergic to glucosides, and published cases include reactions to coco-glucoside in shower gels, lotions and sunscreen.
More information
Coco-glucoside is made by reacting glucose with coconut fatty alcohols under acidic conditions. The result is a nonionic surfactant that can contain chains of several glucose units, which is why the family is also called alkyl polyglucosides. It contains no sulfate, is not made with ethylene oxide, and its name has none of the markers the FDA links to 1,4-dioxane. In 2011 it was reported in 350 cosmetic products, mostly rinse-off, at up to 15 percent in rinse-off products and 2 percent in leave-on products.
The Cosmetic Ingredient Review (CIR) Expert Panel reviewed it with 18 other alkyl glucosides. In human patch tests at 2 percent and soap-chamber tests at 1 percent, coco-glucoside was at most slightly irritating, and in a repeated-insult patch test at 1 percent it caused neither irritation nor allergic reactions. Because cleansers can irritate at higher strengths, the Panel concluded the glucosides are safe as used when products are formulated to be non-irritating. It also cautioned that glucosides can help other ingredients pass through the skin.
Allergy is the main caution. Alkyl glucosides were named the 2017 Allergen of the Year, and dermatologists have described patients who reacted to coco-glucoside and lauryl glucoside in shower gels, a hand lotion, a body lotion and sunscreen. People who react to one glucoside often react to others, so anyone with a known glucoside allergy should check labels for decyl glucoside, lauryl glucoside and caprylyl/capryl glucoside too.
Sources: Cosmetic Ingredient Review: Final safety assessment of decyl glucoside and other alkyl glucosides (2011); The Dermatologist: Update on alkyl glucosides (2017); FDA: 1,4-Dioxane in cosmetics, a manufacturing byproduct
