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Lubrizol Carbomer BP EP USP Pharma Grade stands as a cornerstone for pharmaceutical and cosmetic formulation. This carbomer appears in various solid forms — flakes, powders, or pearls — and all present as white, odorless, hygroscopic materials. The molecular structure revolves around crosslinked acrylic acid polymers, neutralized only as needed, with the core formula being (C3H4O2)n. On handling, you’ll notice it lacks flow unless agitated, and it takes up space like most bulk solid polymers. Being a high-molecular-weight polymer, it absorbs water rapidly and swells into a gel-like substance almost without effort, making it valuable where texture and viscosity matter.
Behind the scenes, the grade owes its texture to a 3D crosslinked network. In its dry state, it tends to look glassy and friable, breaking into solid shards, flakes, or powder depending on processing. Solubilized in water or through hydration with neutralization, the dry polymer transforms and builds viscosity fast — with less than a single percent in water producing a gel so thick it supports its own weight. Solubility stays low in organic solvents; it shines in aqueous and alcohol-water mixes. Often, the product ships with a bulk density between 0.2 and 0.5 g/cm³ for flakes, dropping a bit for the powder. This means a kilo could fill a whole liter container, thanks to the way the particles pack with lots of trapped air. Specific gravity huddles close to 1.4 g/cm³. It doesn’t dissolve in oils, but under gentle stirring, you can get it fully dispersed to let hydration begin.
You find Lubrizol Carbomer in the family of polyacrylates, anchored by acrylic acid units joined by allyl ether crosslinkers. This structure brings two clear wins: relentless water absorption and the ability to thicken or suspend just about anything that doesn’t degrade under moderate acidic or basic conditions. The product formula boils down pretty simply on paper — a repeating acrylic acid unit, slightly crosslinked, ready to take on water, ethanol, and mild bases. Handling the powder, dust, or flakes does not invoke harmful vapors; you get only faint static if it’s dry and the air lacks humidity. As raw material, it starts with high-purity acrylic acid and crosslinkers free of heavy metals or complex organic impurities, making this grade stand out for pharma workloads.
For regulatory heads or anyone tracking supply chains, Lubrizol Carbomer’s HS Code hovers around 3906.90.9090, lining up with polyacrylic acid crosslinked in solid form. Each batch rides in under strict specs: residue on ignition (ash) under 2%, heavy metals below 10 ppm, and microbe counts kept at negligible levels. Maximum allowed water content never sneaks past 2%, avoiding sticky or caked batches. Viscosity, tested at low concentration, climbs near 50,000 to 80,000 cP for 0.5% solutions, setting this material apart from food-grade or general industrial carbomers. No employee needs to treat this as an explosive dust risk, but basic safety steps matter — mask and gloves for fine powders, good ventilation for slinging dry powder where the air gets cloudy, keep water or neutralizer ready if you handle big batches.
Commercial choices include powder, flake, or pearls. In powder, the carbomer pours easily through chutes but tends to float off if you don’t add liquids slowly. Flakes break up a little less readily, giving less dust, and suit those who scale up with larger tanks or blending systems. Pearls get rare — mostly for specialty dosing. No liquid or crystal form gets sold; only after a neutralizer or base joins, water picks up the material and creates a thick hydrogel or solution. Operators dialing in pH with sodium hydroxide or triethanolamine find control of gel clarity and viscosity comes down to good agitation and slow neutralizer addition for even swelling. Anyone making bulk solution knows to keep containers closed — open ones pull in airborne carbon dioxide, which drags the pH down and can make gels collapse or thin out.
Pharmaceutical makers turn to this grade for gel bases: topical creams, eye drops, wound care gels, and oral suspensions. The USP and EP names reflect meeting the quality standards for both United States and European pharmaceutical work. Cosmetic labs lean heavy on it too — from clear gels to stable cream textures, the same backbone lets oils and actives stay suspended for months. Its safety profile fits products where strict ingredient traceability or patient contact exists. Safety sheets say this class as non-hazardous unless fallen into the eyes or swallowed in massive amounts. Cleanup stirs little trouble; hydrate spilled powder and scoop it, or sweep it dry for normal waste. The harmless nature usually means no pain for environmental disposal under most country codes, as neither polyacrylate nor its breakdown forms bioaccumulate.
Every chemist who’s spent hours blending this material learns to respect dust. Even a nontoxic dust loads up the nose fast and dries out the skin, especially with repeated exposure. Gloves, a mask, and goggles remove most risk. If the material flies into the air, or you see clumps in the gel, slow down mixing and scatter powder wide, not straight into vortexes. In terms of larger health questions, intake of carbomer by mouth pushes straight through the digestive tract, with no absorption worth talking about. Most spills handle smoothly: wet it, scrape up, and little trace is left. Environmental authorities, including US and EU regulators, class this grade as safe enough for routine transport. No known persistent breakdown products, and environmental decomposers take care of residues if washed down in small amounts. Sustainability challenges lie in the raw material source: acrylic acid prep comes from petrochemical routes, often natural gas or oil, and future versions may rely on biobased feedstocks if demand or regulation pushes the industry that way.
Carbomer’s big draw comes from thickening power and glassy hydrogel feel, which cannot always be matched by starch or biopolymer gums for transparency or stability, so for medical, cosmetic, and oral routes, the synthetic remains hard to beat. Still, demand for biobased alternatives grows, both to shrink the carbon footprint and to push lower the long-term reliance on oil and gas. The challenge lies in duplicating the clean, almost flavorless nature and purity at scale. Supply chain transparency will help ensure that pharma-grade carbomer keeps catching up with environmental goals. Factories must keep monitoring residual solvents, ultra-low heavy metal contamination, and batch traceability as both regulators and patients start reading labels with more scrutiny. Only steady investment in green chemistry and raw material sourcing will keep pharma-quality carbomer both competitive and respected in the decades ahead.
Chengguan District, Lanzhou, Gansu, China
