What is Squalene?

Squalene (or Squalane) is a natural, organic compound in the form of an oil.

Squalene is a natural oil produced by our oil glands to hydrate and maintain the barrier of our skin. It has also been found to have an antioxidant effect. The amount of squalene our bodies naturally produce decreases as we age, so cosmetic and supplement brands include squalene in their products to moisturize the skin, claiming that the ingredient fights signs of aging.

Squalene is not only produced by humans but is also naturally produced by other animals such as sharks. For a couple hundred years, shark liver oil, which contains squalene, has been extracted for lamp fuel, leather tanning treatments, and medicine to name a few. But in the last 40 years or so, the cosmetic industry has become dependent on shark-based squalene for their products, because it was historically the cheapest and currently highest-yielding known squalene source. Squalene (shark and not) commonly shows up in sunscreens, lipsticks, eye shadows, lotions, and foundations; essentially anything that has a spreadable or creamy consistency. 

If you are already looking at some of your products at home and come across the ingredient “squalane,” do not pass over this! Squalane is a form of squalene, just hydrogenated. Simply put, hydrogenation is the process where squalene is converted from an unsaturated oil to a saturated oil, squalane. This makes the oil more skin-friendly and increases its shelf life within a product. So, do not be confused by the differences between the two words. For the sake of the shark conservation argument, it is the same. 

Squalene can not only be derived from animals, but can also be naturally found in many plants such as: olives, sugarcane, rice bran, yeasts and wheat germ (among countless others, more on this in a later blog). In our initial research the key issue seemed that plan-derived Squalene was thought to be 30% more expensive to produce than animal squalene. During recent work with sustainable squalene producers, we have learned that squalene derived from sugarcane is actually 1/3 of the cost of squalene extracted from sharks. Bloom Association conducted a survey to find that the cosmetic industry is the largest (90%) user of shark squalene. An astonishing 7 out of 8 creams surveyed had animal squalene. This equals roughly 2.7 million shark livers taken every year for our cosmetics and skincare routines. 

About half of the shark species who are targeted for their livers are listed as “Vulnerable” to extinction by the IUCN Red List. And just as deception runs rampant through the shark meat and fin trades, it also occurs in the squalene market. Suppliers sometimes fool businesses and brands, claiming that the squalene they are selling is plant-based, when in fact it is shark-based. This is done to earn a higher profit. Unfortunately, it is not widely known that squalene sold to the market frequently comes from sharks, so a company would need to specifically ask for plant-derived squalene from their supplier if they want to avoid acquiring the shark-derived version.