EWG Skin Deep® | What is ZINC

HOW WE DETERMINE SCORES Learn more About EWG VERIFIED™

Data: Good

Zinc

IMAGE SOURCE: PubChem

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Other Concerns

Enhanced skin absorption, Persistence and bioaccumulation (moderate), Non-reproductive organ system toxicity (low), and Ecotoxicology (high)

SYNONYMS

LEAD REFINERY VACUUM ZINC; ZINC; ZINC DUST; ZINC DUST, ZINC, ZINC, DISSOLVED, ZINC, TOTAL, and ZN

Restricted

Restricted: EWG VERIFIED products cannot contain this ingredient without adequate substantiation

Common concerns

See how this product scores for common concerns.

LOW

Cancer
MODERATE

Allergies & Immunotoxicity
MODERATE

Developmental and Reproductive Toxicity
LOW

Use Restrictions

Ingredient concerns

CONCERNS
DATA SOURCES

Products with this Ingredient

antiperspirant/deodorant (men's)	11 products
antiperspirant/deodorant	10 products
lipstick	10 products
lip gloss	10 products
eye shadow	7 products
brow liner	6 products
body spray	3 products
recreational sunscreen	2 products
shampoo	2 products
lip balm	2 products
eye liner	2 products
facial powder	2 products
mask	1 products
lip balm with SPF	1 products
conditioner	1 products

Enhanced skin absorption

CONCERN	REFERENCE
Nano-scale ingredients with potential to absorb into the skin	Open scientific literature
Suspected nano-scale ingredients with potential to absorb into the skin	Nanomaterial Database

Occupational hazards

CONCERN	REFERENCE
Allowed workplace exposures restricted to very low doses	CPS&Q - Classification & Labelling

Persistence and bioaccumulation

CONCERN	REFERENCE
Persistent, bioaccumulative in wildlife	Canada PBTs - Accelerated Reduction/Elimination of Toxics (ARET)
Found to be persistent and bioaccumulative in wildlife	Open scientific literature
Not suspected to be bioaccumulative	Environment Canada Domestic Substance List

Allergies/immunotoxicity

CONCERN	REFERENCE
Limited evidence of immune system toxicity or allergies	Scorecard.org Toxicity Information
Limited evidence of any toxicity or allergies	Open scientific literature

Developmental/reproductive toxicity

CONCERN	REFERENCE
Possible human reproductive or developmental toxin	Open scientific literature
Limited evidence of reproductive toxicity	Scorecard.org Toxicity Information

Organ system toxicity (non-reproductive)

CONCERN	REFERENCE
Limited evidence of cardiovascular or blood toxicity	Scorecard.org Toxicity Information
One or more animal studies show classified as toxic effects at moderate doses (low dose studies may be unavailable for this ingredient)	EPA Toxic Release Inventory PBTs
Classified as not expected to be potentially toxic or harmful	Environment Canada Domestic Substance List
Classified as a low human health priority	Environment Canada Domestic Substance List

Ecotoxicology

CONCERN	REFERENCE
Wildlife and environmental toxicity	EPA Clean Water Act - Priority Pollutants
Not suspected to be an environmental toxin	Environment Canada Domestic Substance List

Data gaps

CONCERN	REFERENCE
Insufficient data to determine safety	EPA Integrated Risk Information System (IRIS)
119593 studies in PubMed science library may include information on the toxicity of this chemical	NLM PubMed

Miscellaneous

CONCERN	REFERENCE
Occupational hazards related to handling	CPS&Q - Classification & Labelling

Cancer

CONCERN	REFERENCE
Limited or incomplete evidence of cancer according to safety/hazard data – government assessment cannot classify as human carcinogen due to data gaps	EPA Integrated Risk Information System (IRIS)

Open scientific/peer reviewed literature
NanoWerk. 2007. Nanomaterial Database. Available online: http://www.nanowerk.com/phpscripts/n_dbsearch.php
CPS&Q (Consumer Products Safety & Quality) formely known as ECB (European Chemicals Bureau). 2008. Classification and Labelling: Chemicals: Annex VI of Directive 67/548/EEC through the 31st ATP.
EC (Environment Canada). 1994. Accelerated Reduction/Elimination of Toxics (ARET). ARET substance list of persistent, bioaccumulative and toxic chemicals.
EC (Environment Canada). 2008. Domestic Substances List Categorization. Canadian Environmental Protection Act (CEPA) Environmental Registry.
ED (Environmental Defense). 2006. Scorecard _ The Pollution Information Site. http://www.scorecard.org.
EPA (U.S. Environmental Protection Agency). 1999. Toxics Release Inventory Program. PBT Chemical Rule.
EPA (U.S. Environmental Protection Agency). 2008. Integrated Risk Information System (IRIS). Evidence for human carcinogenicity based on 1986-2005 guidelines.
NLM (National Library of Medicine). 2012. PubMed online scientific bibliography data. http://www.pubmed.gov.

Understanding scores

Cosmetics and personal care products are not required to be tested for safety before being allowed on the market. The Skin Deep® scoring system was designed to help the public understand whether a product is safe to use or whether it contains ingredients of concern.

Every product and ingredient in Skin Deep gets a two-part score – one for hazard and one for data availability. The safest products score well by both measures, with a low hazard rating and a fair or better data availability rating.

HOW WE DETERMINE SCORES

Hazard score

The Skin Deep ingredient hazard score, from 1 to 10, reflects known and suspected hazards linked to the ingredients. The EWG VERIFIED™ mark means a product meets EWG’s strictest criteria for transparency and health.

Data availability

The Skin Deep data availability rating reflects the number of scientific studies about the product or ingredient in the published scientific literature.

NONE LIMITED FAIR GOOD ROBUST

Low Availability

Moderate Availability

High Availability