Cocamide DEA, or cocamide diethanolamine, is a diethanolamide

Diethanolamide

Diethanolamides are common ingredients used in cosmetics to act as a foaming agents or as emulsifiers. Chemically, they are amides formed from diethanolamine and carboxylic acids, typically fatty acids.Examples include:* Cocamide diethanolamine...

 made by reacting the mixture of fatty acid

Fatty acid

In chemistry, especially biochemistry, a fatty acid is a carboxylic acid with a long unbranched aliphatic tail , which is either saturated or unsaturated. Most naturally occurring fatty acids have a chain of an even number of carbon atoms, from 4 to 28. Fatty acids are usually derived from...

s from coconut oil

Coconut oil

Coconut oil is an edible oil extracted from the kernel or meat of matured coconuts harvested from the coconut palm . Throughout the tropical world, it has provided the primary source of fat in the diets of millions of people for generations. It has various applications in food, medicine, and industry...

s with diethanolamine. It is a viscous liquid and is used as a foaming agent

Foaming agent

A foaming agent is a surfactant, which when present in small amounts, facilitates the formation of a foam, or enhances its colloidal stability by inhibiting the coalescence of bubbles....

 in bath products like shampoo

Shampoo

Shampoo is a hair care product used for the removal of oils, dirt, skin particles, dandruff, environmental pollutants and other contaminant particles that gradually build up in hair...

s and hand soaps, and in cosmetics

Cosmetics

Cosmetics are substances used to enhance the appearance or odor of the human body. Cosmetics include skin-care creams, lotions, powders, perfumes, lipsticks, fingernail and toe nail polish, eye and facial makeup, towelettes, permanent waves, colored contact lenses, hair colors, hair sprays and...

 as an emulsifying agent. See cocamide

Cocamide

Cocamide is a mixture of amides of the fatty acids obtained from coconut oil. As coconut oil contains about 50% of lauric acid, in formulas only the 12-carbon chains tend to be considered. Therefore the formula of cocamide can be written as 310CH2, though the number of carbon atoms in the chains...

 for the discussion of the lengths of carbon chains in the molecules in the mixture. The chemical formula is CH₃(CH₂)_nC(=O)N(CH₂CH₂OH)₂, where n can vary depending on the source of fatty acids.

Safety

Cocamide DEA is an allergen that may cause contact dermatitis

Contact dermatitis

Contact dermatitis is a term for a skin reaction resulting from exposure to allergens or irritants . Phototoxic dermatitis occurs when the allergen or irritant is activated by sunlight....

 in individuals who are susceptible to skin allergies

Allergy

An Allergy is a hypersensitivity disorder of the immune system. Allergic reactions occur when a person's immune system reacts to normally harmless substances in the environment. A substance that causes a reaction is called an allergen. These reactions are acquired, predictable, and rapid...

. Cocamide DEA showed a high irritation potential.