Polysorbate 80 is a nonionic

surfactant Surfactants are chemical compounds that decrease the surface tension between two liquids, between a gas and a liquid, or interfacial tension between a liquid and a solid. Surfactants may act as detergents, wetting agents, emulsion#Emulsifiers , ...

and

emulsifier An emulsion is a mixture of two or more liquids that are normally immiscible (unmixable or unblendable) owing to liquid-liquid phase separation. Emulsions are part of a more general class of two-phase systems of matter called colloids. Althoug ...

often used in pharmaceuticals, foods, and cosmetics. This synthetic compound is a viscous,

water-soluble In chemistry, solubility is the ability of a substance, the solute, to form a solution with another substance, the solvent. Insolubility is the opposite property, the inability of the solute to form such a solution. The extent of the solub ...

yellow liquid.

Chemistry

Polysorbate 80 is derived from

polyethoxylated Ethoxylation is a chemical reaction in which ethylene oxide adds to a substrate. It is the most widely practiced alkoxylation, which involves the addition of epoxides to substrates. In the usual application, alcohols and phenols are converted in ...

sorbitan and

oleic acid Oleic acid is a fatty acid that occurs naturally in various animal and vegetable fats and oils. It is an odorless, colorless oil, although commercial samples may be yellowish. In chemical terms, oleic acid is classified as a monounsaturated o ...

. The

hydrophilic A hydrophile is a molecule or other molecular entity that is attracted to water molecules and tends to be dissolved by water.Liddell, H.G. & Scott, R. (1940). ''A Greek-English Lexicon'' Oxford: Clarendon Press. In contrast, hydrophobes are n ...

groups in this compound are poly

ether In organic chemistry, ethers are a class of compounds that contain an ether group—an oxygen atom connected to two alkyl or aryl groups. They have the general formula , where R and R′ represent the alkyl or aryl groups. Ethers can again ...

s also known as polyoxyethylene groups, which are polymers of

ethylene oxide Ethylene oxide is an organic compound with the formula . It is a cyclic ether and the simplest epoxide: a three-membered ring consisting of one oxygen atom and two carbon atoms. Ethylene oxide is a colorless and flammable gas with a faintly sw ...

. In the nomenclature of polysorbates, the numeric designation following polysorbate refers to the

lipophilic Lipophilicity (from Greek λίπος "fat" and φίλος "friendly"), refers to the ability of a chemical compound to dissolve in fats, oils, lipids, and non-polar solvents such as hexane or toluene. Such non-polar solvents are themselves lipo ...

group, in this case, the oleic acid (see polysorbate for more detail). The full chemical names for polysorbate 80 are: *Polyoxyethylene (20) sorbitan monooleate *(x)-sorbitan mono-9-octadecenoate poly(oxy-1,2-ethanediyl) The

critical micelle concentration In colloidal and surface chemistry, the critical micelle concentration (CMC) is defined as the concentration of surfactants above which micelles form and all additional surfactants added to the system will form micelles. The CMC is an important c ...

of polysorbate 80 in pure water is reported as 0.012 mM.

Other names

E number E numbers ("E" stands for "Europe") are codes for substances used as food additives, including those found naturally in many foods such as vitamin C, for use within the European Union (EU) and European Free Trade Association (EFTA). Commonly ...

: E433 Brand names: *Kolliphor PS 80 - Kolliphor is a registered trademark of

BASF BASF SE () is a German multinational chemical company and the largest chemical producer in the world. Its headquarters is located in Ludwigshafen, Germany. The BASF Group comprises subsidiaries and joint ventures in more than 80 countries ...

*Alkest TW 80 *Scattics *Canarcel *Poegasorb 80 *Montanox 80 – Montanox is a registered trademark of

Seppic SEPPIC designs and supplies specialty chemical products for health and wellbeing. The company is based in France, with distributors and production sites around the world. It has four main areas of business: personal care, pharmaceuticals and nutrit ...

*Tween 80 – Tween is a registered trademark of Croda Americas, Inc. *Kotilen-80 - Kotilen is a registered trademark of Kolb AG

Uses

Food

Polysorbate 80 is used as an emulsifier in foods. For example, in ice cream, polysorbate is added up to 0.5% (v/v) concentration to make the ice cream smoother and easier to handle, as well as increasing its resistance to melting. Adding this substance prevents

milk Milk is a white liquid food produced by the mammary glands of mammals. It is the primary source of nutrition for young mammals (including breastfed human infants) before they are able to digest solid food. Immune factors and immune-modulat ...

proteins from completely coating the fat droplets. This allows them to join in chains and nets, which hold air in the mixture, and provide a firmer texture that holds its shape as the ice cream melts.

Health and beauty

Polysorbate 80 is also used as a surfactant in soaps and cosmetics (including eyedrops), or a

solubilizer Micellar solubilization (solubilization) is the process of incorporating the solubilizate (the component that undergoes solublization) into or onto micelles. Solublization may occur in a system consisting of a solvent, an association colloid (a co ...

, such as in a mouthwash. The cosmetic grade of polysorbate 80 may have more impurities than the food grade.

Medical

Polysorbate 80 is a surfactant and

used in a variety of oral and topical pharmaceutical products. Polysorbate 80 is an

excipient An excipient is a substance formulated alongside the active ingredient of a medication, included for the purpose of long-term stabilization, bulking up solid formulations that contain potent active ingredients in small amounts (thus often referred ...

that is used to stabilize aqueous formulations of medications for

parenteral A route of administration in pharmacology and toxicology is the way by which a drug, fluid, poison, or other substance is taken into the body. Routes of administration are generally classified by the location at which the substance is applied. ...

administration, and used as an emulsifier in the making of the antiarrhythmic

amiodarone Amiodarone is an antiarrhythmic medication used to treat and prevent a number of types of cardiac dysrhythmias. This includes ventricular tachycardia (VT), ventricular fibrillation (VF), and wide complex tachycardia, as well as atrial fibril ...

. It is also used as an excipient in some European and Canadian

influenza vaccine Influenza vaccines, also known as flu shots, are vaccines that protect against infection by influenza viruses. New versions of the vaccines are developed twice a year, as the influenza virus rapidly changes. While their effectiveness varies f ...

s.Pandemic H1N1 (pH1N1) Influenza Vaccine Quick Reference Guide
''Winnipeg Regional Health Authority'' 2009 Influenza vaccines contain 2.5 μg of polysorbate 80 per dose. Polysorbate 80 is found in many vaccines used in the United States, including the Janssen COVID-19 vaccine. It is used in the culture of ''

Mycobacterium tuberculosis ''Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (M. tb) is a species of pathogenic bacteria in the family Mycobacteriaceae and the causative agent of tuberculosis. First discovered in 1882 by Robert Koch, ''M. tuberculosis'' has an unusual, waxy coating on it ...

'' in Middlebrook 7H9 broth. It is also used as an emulsifier in the estrogen-regulating drug Estrasorb.http://www.accessdata.fda.gov/drugsatfda_docs/label/2003/21371_estrasorb_lbl.pdf Polysorbate 80 is also used in granulation for stabilization of drugs and excipients when

IPA IPA commonly refers to: * India pale ale, a style of beer * International Phonetic Alphabet, a system of phonetic notation * Isopropyl alcohol, a chemical compound IPA may also refer to: Organizations International * Insolvency Practitioners A ...

binding.

Laboratory

Some

mycobacteria ''Mycobacterium'' is a genus of over 190 species in the phylum Actinomycetota, assigned its own family, Mycobacteriaceae. This genus includes pathogens known to cause serious diseases in mammals, including tuberculosis ('' M. tuberculosis'') and ...

contain a type of

lipase Lipase ( ) is a family of enzymes that catalyzes the hydrolysis of fats. Some lipases display broad substrate scope including esters of cholesterol, phospholipids, and of lipid-soluble vitamins and sphingomyelinases; however, these are usually ...

(enzyme that breaks up

lipid Lipids are a broad group of naturally-occurring molecules which includes fats, waxes, sterols, fat-soluble vitamins (such as vitamins A, D, E and K), monoglycerides, diglycerides, phospholipids, and others. The functions of lipids in ...

molecules); when these species are added to a mixture of polysorbate 80 and

phenol red Phenol red (also known as phenolsulfonphthalein or PSP) is a pH indicator frequently used in cell biology laboratories. Chemical structure and properties Phenol red exists as a red crystal that is stable in air. Its solubility is 0.77 grams per ...

, they cause the solution to change color, so this is used as a test to identify the

phenotype In genetics, the phenotype () is the set of observable characteristics or traits of an organism. The term covers the organism's morphology (biology), morphology or physical form and structure, its Developmental biology, developmental proc ...

of a strain or isolate. On RODAC agar plates used in microbiological control, polysorbate 80 counteracts disinfectants often found on sampled surfaces, thereby allowing the microbes found on these surfaces to grow.

References

{{reflist, 2 . Non-ionic surfactants E-number additives Adjuvants