Butylene Glycol: Butylene glycol (1.3-Butanediol) is a small “organic” (petroleum based) alcohol used as solvent and conditioning agent.
WHAT’S IT FOR: Fragrance Ingredient; Skin-Conditioning Agent; Solvent; Viscosity Decreasing Agent; Humectant; Masking; Skin Conditioning; Viscosity controlling
SCORE AT EWG: 0 to 1 (the lower the better)
FOUND IN: moisturizer, foundation, facial cleanser, sunscreen and in over 2500 products
http://www.ewg.org/skindeep/ingredient/700861/BUTYLENE_GLYCOL/
A petrochemical compound is an organic (based on carbon) compound derived from crude oil (petroleum) or natural gas, which were formed millions of years ago in the earth’s crust from decayed plants and animals.
These two primary classes of petrochemical are olefins (e.g. ethylene, butylene and propylene) and aromatics (e.g. benzene, toluene and xylenes) produced by chemical cracking (breaking large hydrocarbon molecules into simpler molecules, aided by a catalyst and high temperatures) and catalytic reforming (used to convert low-octane naphthas into high-octane gasoline blending components and often benzene, toluene and xylene aromatics for petrochemical uses.)
http://toxicbeauty.co.uk/blog/2009/02/09/petrochemical-compounds-an-introduction/
