Undecylenamide MEA is a chemical compound, ethanolamide of trideceth-2. Ethanolamides consist of undecylenic acid.
MEA (2-aminoethanol) or Monoethanolamine belongs to the first generation of ethanolamines, is a primary amine and is a strongly alkaline agent, corrosion inhibitor and chemical intermediate.
Safety. MEA should not be included in products formulated as aerosols and in products containing N-nitroso. Scientific literature agrees that MEA can penetrate and absorb into the skin and cause skin irritation, particularly on the scalp.
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What it is used for and where
Cosmetics
Hair conditioning agent. A large number of ingredients with specific purposes can co-exist in a hair shampoo: cleansers, conditioners, thickeners, mattifying agents, sequestering agents, fragrances, preservatives, special additives. However, the indispensable ingredients are the cleansers and conditioners as they are necessary and sufficient for hair cleansing and manageability. The others act as commercial and non-essential auxiliaries such as: appearance, fragrance, colouring, etc. Hair conditioning agents have the task of increasing shine, manageability and volume, and reducing static electricity, especially after treatments such as colouring, ironing, waving, drying and brushing. They are, in practice, dispersing agents that may contain cationic surfactants, thickeners, emollients, polymers. The typology of hair conditioners includes: intensive conditioners, instant conditioners, thickening conditioners, drying conditioners.

Surfactant - Foam booster. Its function is to introduce gas bubbles into the water for a purely aesthetic factor, which does not affect the cleaning process, but only satisfies the commercial aspect of the detergent by helping to spread the detergent on the hair. This helps in the commercial success of a shampoo formulation. Since sebum has an inhibiting action on the bubble, more foam is produced in the second shampoo.

Viscosity Enhancing Agent - aqueous. Since viscosity is important for increasing the chemical and physical stability of the product, Viscosity Enhancing Agent acqueous is an important dosage factor in gels, suspensions, emulsions, solutions. Increasing viscosity makes formulations less sedimentary and more homogeneously thickened.
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CAS: 20545-92-0, 75046-17-2