Coconut diethanolamide: Uses and Safety

Introduction

Coconut diethanolamide is extracted from coconut oil and is used as a foaming and emulsifying agent in cosmetics and personal care products. It is also used in industrial cooling lubricants and hydraulic fluids. Other names of this compound are: cocamide DEA, coconut fatty acid diethanolamide, cocoyl diethanolamide, coconut oil acid diethanolamide, N, N-bis(2-hydroxyethyl) coco fatty acid diethanolamide. Coconut diethanolamides containing saturated medium-chain fatty acids exhibited excellent stabilities.

Uses

Coconut diethanolamide, tensioactive synthesized with coconut oil, is widely used in shampoos, soaps, shower gels, barrier creams, washing up liquids, metalworking fluids, and hydraulic oils[1].

Cocamide DEA 85% is a coco methyl ester-based amide produced via the 1:1 reaction. Cocamide DEA 85% is a non-ionic surfactant developed for Cosmetic cleansing products due to its foam boosting/stabilizing, thickening, and wetting properties. It is compatible with anionic, cationic, amphoteric, and non-ionic surfactants.

Safety

Cocamide DEA has rarely caused allergic contact dermatitis; in a study from 1985 to 1992 about occupational allergic contact due to cocamide DEA, only 6 patients were allergic to this component; their dermatitis involved the hands. The involvement of eyelids is not frequently reported in the literature with this allergen. Contact dermatitis to cocamide DEA and lauramide DEA in shampoos has already been reported in a 73-year-old man with worsening scalp psoriasis, itching, and eyelid dermatitis[2].

References

[1] Antoine Badaoui. “An outbreak of contact allergy to cocamide diethanolamide?” Contact Dermatitis 72 6 (2015): 407–409.

[2] Y. Dejobert. “P16 Eyelid dermatitis with positive patch test to coconut diethanolamide: Abstracts.” Contact Dermatitis 50 1 (2008): 183–183.