Sodium Cocoyl Glycinate (INCI) — Amino Acid Surfactant Ingredient Record

Aliases

[
 {
  "name": "Sodium N-Cocoyl Glycinate",
  "note": "Used in Regan et al. 2013 (J Clin Aesthet Dermatol / PMC3718747).",
  "source_class": "primary-academic"
 },
 {
  "name": "CAS 90387-74-9",
  "note": "CIR (2013) Amino Acid Alkyl Amides safety assessment PDF, ingredient definition table.",
  "source_class": "primary-regulatory"
 },
 {
  "name": "EINECS/ELINCS 291-350-5",
  "note": "Reported by SpecialChem INCI page; NOT independently confirmed against the EU CosIng database itself (direct fetch of ec.europa.eu CosIng returned only a JS shell / no readable data), so treat as unverified against the primary regulator.",
  "source_class": "secondary-media"
 },
 {
  "name": "COSING REF No. 58959",
  "note": "Same caveat as EINECS above — reported by SpecialChem, not independently confirmed on ec.europa.eu.",
  "source_class": "secondary-media"
 },
 {
  "name": "Pureact SCG (trade name, Innospec)",
  "note": "https://innospec.com/personal-care/surfactants/glycinates/",
  "source_class": "primary-brand-record"
 },
 {
  "name": "Glycine, N-coco acyl derivs., sodium salts (chemical-index style name)",
  "note": "SpecialChem schema.org ChemicalSubstance description field.",
  "source_class": "secondary-media"
 }
]

Inci name

Sodium Cocoyl Glycinate

Formula context

{
 "not_published": "No source I could verify states a specific finished-product % active recommendation from a supplier technical data sheet (Innospec's own Pureact SCG TDS is gated behind UL Prospector and was not reachable). A WebSearch AI digest separately claimed a patent example used a '30% aqueous solution, 24% active' grade, but I could not extract readable text from that patent PDF (US9833395, CCITT fax-encoded image) to verify this myself, so it is explicitly NOT included as evidence.",
 "documented_use_case": {
  "value": "Used as a co-surfactant alongside a directly-esterified fatty isethionate (sodium/ammonium cocoyl isethionate, 'DEFI') in a commercial body wash, allowing a reduction in SLES/total surfactant load while increasing lather via a synergistic (more-than-additive) effect, and reducing damage to stratum corneum proteins/lipids vs. leading moisturizing body washes tested.",
  "source": "Regan, Mollica & Ananthapadmanabhan (2013), PMC3718747",
  "source_class": "primary-academic"
 },
 "supplier_positioning": {
  "value": "Marketed by Innospec under the trade name Pureact SCG as a preservative-free, ethylene-oxide-free, sulfate-free, readily biodegradable mild anionic surfactant for shampoos, body washes, and facial cleansers, with an RSPO mass-balance version available on request.",
  "source": "Innospec 'Glycinates' product page",
  "source_class": "primary-brand-record"
 },
 "product_types_documented": {
  "value": "Predominantly rinse-off personal cleansing products: 31 of 32 reported US cosmetic uses (2012-2013) were rinse-off vs. 1 leave-on; no diluted-for-bath uses reported.",
  "source": "CIR (2013) Table 5a, frequency-of-use data (FDA VCRP / Personal Care Products Council survey)",
  "source_class": "primary-regulatory"
 }
}

Functional roles

[
 {
  "role": "Surfactant / cleansing agent (mild anionic, amino-acid-based)",
  "source": "CIR (2013) Amino Acid Alkyl Amides report, ingredient definition table",
  "source_class": "primary-regulatory"
 },
 {
  "role": "Hair conditioning agent",
  "source": "CIR (2013) ingredient definition table",
  "source_class": "primary-regulatory"
 },
 {
  "role": "Skin conditioning agent - misc.",
  "source": "CIR (2013) ingredient definition table",
  "source_class": "primary-regulatory"
 },
 {
  "role": "Foam booster / lather enhancer acting synergistically with a co-surfactant (documented specifically alongside sodium/ammonium cocoyl isethionate 'DEFI', not as a general standalone claim)",
  "source": "Regan, Mollica & Ananthapadmanabhan (2013), J Clin Aesthet Dermatol 6(6):23-30",
  "source_class": "primary-academic"
 }
]

Safety references

[
 {
  "url": "https://www.cir-safety.org/sites/default/files/aaaamd092013tent.pdf",
  "finding": "Sodium Cocoyl Glycinate is one of 115 amino acid alkyl amides the Panel concluded are 'safe in the present practices of use and concentration in cosmetics, when formulated to be non-irritating.'",
  "citation": "Cosmetic Ingredient Review Expert Panel, 'Safety Assessment of Amino Acid Alkyl Amides as Used in Cosmetics,' tentative report, September 2013",
  "source_class": "primary-regulatory"
 },
 {
  "url": "https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/1091581816686048",
  "finding": "Peer-reviewed published version of the CIR panel's final safety conclusion. Title/venue located via search; full text was not independently re-extracted in this session, so treat the underlying quantitative findings as sourced from the CIR PDF above rather than re-verified against this journal record.",
  "citation": "Burnett CL, Heldreth B, Bergfeld WF, et al. 'Safety Assessment of Amino Acid Alkyl Amides as Used in Cosmetics.' International Journal of Toxicology, 2017;36(2_suppl):17S-57S.",
  "source_class": "primary-academic"
 },
 {
  "url": "https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC3718747/",
  "finding": "Zein assay: the glycinate-containing cleanser caused significantly less protein damage than several leading moisturizing body washes tested. Corneosurfametry: colorimetric index of mildness (CIM) ≈56 for the glycinate formula vs. 26 for sodium dodecyl sulfate (higher = milder), indicating lower stratum-corneum damage potential. No clinical irritation scores (e.g., HRIPT) or cytotoxicity data were reported in this paper.",
  "citation": "Regan J, Mollica L-M, Ananthapadmanabhan KP. 'A Novel Glycinate-based Body Wash: Clinical Investigation Into Ultra-mildness, Effective Conditioning, and Improved Consumer Benefits.' J Clin Aesthet Dermatol. 2013;6(6):23-30.",
  "source_class": "primary-academic"
 }
]

Compatible systems

[
 {
  "url": "https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC3718747/",
  "system": "Directly-esterified fatty isethionate / sodium cocoyl isethionate (DEFI-type surfactants)",
  "evidence": "Combined as co-surfactants in a studied body wash; produced a synergistic (more-than-additive) increase in lathering and allowed a reduced total anionic surfactant load.",
  "source_class": "primary-academic"
 },
 {
  "url": "https://regimenlab.com/blogs/skincare-encyclopedia/sodium-cocoyl-glycinate",
  "caveat": "Treat as a claim, not confirmed evidence — the underlying blend data was described only as proprietary/undetailed.",
  "system": "Other mild co-surfactants generally (e.g., glutamate- or sultaine-type amino-acid/betaine surfactants) in sebum-removal / barrier-preserving cleanser blends",
  "evidence": "Described in a brand-authored skincare-encyclopedia entry citing an unspecified 'proprietary blend' comparison; not an independently verifiable primary dataset.",
  "source_class": "secondary-media"
 }
]

Conflicting systems

[
 {
  "system": "Low-pH (<5) formulations",
  "evidence": "Secondary sources state the ingredient precipitates/loses solubility below roughly pH 5 and is described as stable in the pH 5-10 range.",
  "source_class": "secondary-media",
  "not_published": "No primary-regulatory, primary-academic, or primary-brand-record source independently confirming the exact precipitation pH threshold was found — it appears only in secondary/aggregator content. Stated here as a recurring but unconfirmed claim, not as verified evidence."
 },
 {
  "system": "Cationic surfactants / cationic conditioning polymers (quats)",
  "evidence": "General anionic-surfactant charge-neutralization chemistry would predict incompatibility (precipitation/deactivation), but no source specific to Sodium Cocoyl Glycinate documenting this was found.",
  "source_class": "agent-inference",
  "not_published": "This is chemical-class reasoning, not sourced evidence, and is explicitly flagged as such per the evidence rules rather than presented as a fact."
 }
]

Aliases excluded note

SpecialChem's page also carried a schema.org 'alternateName' list containing 'SODIUM LAURYL SULFOACETATE', 'SODIUM COCOYL GLUTAMATE', and 'SODIUM LAUROYL SARCOSINATE'. These are the site's related-ingredient cross-links, not true synonyms — they are chemically distinct surfactants — so they were deliberately excluded here to avoid a false equivalence.

Concentration evidence

{
 "conflicting_or_unverified": "No conflict was found between sources on the 0.2-20% CIR range itself. No second independent quantitative concentration-of-use dataset was located to cross-check the CIR figures against, so that range stands as the sole verified quantitative concentration evidence.",
 "us_market_survey_2012_2013": {
  "url": "https://www.cir-safety.org/sites/default/files/aaaamd092013tent.pdf",
  "value": "32 total reported cosmetic product uses; maximum reported concentration-of-use range 0.2%-20% overall. By duration: leave-on = 1 use, concentration not reported (NR); rinse-off = 31 uses, 0.2%-20%. By exposure type: dermal contact = 32 uses, 0.2%-20%.",
  "source": "Cosmetic Ingredient Review, 'Safety Assessment of Amino Acid Alkyl Amides as Used in Cosmetics' (tentative report, Sept. 2013), Table 5a — compiled from FDA Voluntary Cosmetic Registration Program (VCRP) frequency-of-use data and a Personal Care Products Council concentration-of-use survey",
  "source_class": "primary-regulatory"
 },
 "material_physicochemical_spec": {
  "value": "pH 5.5 (as-supplied raw material); soluble in water; low viscosity.",
  "caveat": "This is a raw-material spec, not a finished-formula use concentration, and the underlying supplier TDS behind this table was not independently reachable.",
  "source": "SpecialChem INCI ingredient page, physicochemical properties table",
  "source_class": "secondary-media"
 }
}

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