Home Cosmetic Science Talk Formulating Polysorbates

  • Polysorbates

    Posted by mehrzadkia on November 30, 2019 at 6:33 pm

    Hello there,
    I have two bottles of polysorbate 60 & 80. I bought them about three months ago and kept them on a shelf in our lab. Both bottles are getting cloudy. Do you think I should discard them, or they will still work?!
    Thank you.

    ngarayeva001 replied 4 years, 3 months ago 3 Members · 3 Replies
  • 3 Replies
  • pharma

    Member
    November 30, 2019 at 6:51 pm

    They can get cloudy at lower temps ;) . Bring them to 25-30°C and if they become clear again, they’re okay. Polysorbates are very stable: Tween 60 is visually stable for years but might get cloudy at higher temps when getting old whilst polysorbate 80 starts smelling rancid before you see any degradation. I found some long forgotten bottles in our cellar which were over 20 years old and they only showed minor visual signs of ageing. Smell wasn’t okay but still far from rancid.

  • mehrzadkia

    Member
    November 30, 2019 at 9:07 pm

    Pharma said:

    They can get cloudy at lower temps ;) . Bring them to 25-30°C and if they become clear again, they’re okay. Polysorbates are very stable: Tween 60 is visually stable for years but might get cloudy at higher temps when getting old whilst polysorbate 80 starts smelling rancid before you see any degradation. I found some long forgotten bottles in our cellar which were over 20 years old and they only showed minor visual signs of ageing. Smell wasn’t okay but still far from rancid.

    Thank you very much
    So, I’m going to bring some 25-30°C. I have just these two bottles handy! 🙂 Hope they are OK. 

  • ngarayeva001

    Member
    December 1, 2019 at 11:54 am

    Thank you @Pharma. it’s very useful information as I am always concerned about shelf life of my ingredients. Repackagers don’t really like to state that information on the bottles and you have to write emails or even call them to get that info. I only bother with some actives and preservatives.

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