Eastman Tenox™ Personal Care Antioxidants

For cosmetics and personal care products, the optimum level of antioxidant ranges from 0.02% to 0.1%.

Tenox™ TBHQ forms colored complexes with amines in fatty acid/amine emulsifier systems at alkaline pH so some discoloration may occur. To prevent discoloration, Eastman suggests neutralizing acids with amines to a pH of 7 or less.

The oil stability index (OSI) is an automated, accelerated method of measuring the effect of antioxidants on the stability of fats and oils.  The induction period is recorded as the number of hours at which rapid acceleration of oxidation occurs.  These charts show the effect of Tenox™ in comparison to other antioxidants on the oxidation of popular oils.