EWG Skin Deep® | What is ZINC PYRITHIONE

HOW WE DETERMINE SCORES Learn more About EWG VERIFIED®

Data: Fair

Zinc Pyrithione

This ingredient’s score is higher if used in products that are inhalable (e.g., sprays, powders) because of respiratory concerns.

IMAGE SOURCE: PubChem

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Other Concerns

Use restrictions (high), Persistence and bioaccumulation (moderate), Non-reproductive organ system toxicity (moderate), and Ecotoxicology (low)

SYNONYMS

● (T-4)-BIS(1-HYDROXY-2(1H0-PYRIDINETHIONATO-O,S) ZINC

● BIS(1-HYDROXY-2(1H)-PYRIDINETHIONATO)- ZINC

● BIS(1-HYDROXY-2(1H)-PYRIDINETHIONATO)ZINC

● PYRITHIONE ZINC

● ZINC BIS(2-PYRIDYLTHIO)-N-OXIDE

● ZINC PYRITHIONE

● ZINC PYRITHIONE SUSPENSION

● ZINC, BIS(1-HYDROXY-2(1H)-PYRIDINETHIONATO)-

● ZINC, BIS(1HYDROXY2(1H)PYRIDINETHIONATOO,S), (T4)

● ZINC, BIS[1-(HYDROXY-.KAPPA.O)-2(1H)-PYRIDINETHIONATO-.KAPPA.S2]-, (T-4)-

Unacceptable

Unacceptable: EWG VERIFIED products cannot contain this ingredient

Zinc Pyrithione is an aromatic zinc compound. In the United States, Zinc Pyrithione may be used as an active ingredient in OTC drug products. When used as an active drug ingredient, the established name for Zinc Pyrithione is Pyrithione Zinc.

Common concerns

See how this product scores for common concerns.

LOW

Cancer
LOW

Allergies & Immunotoxicity
MODERATE

Developmental and Reproductive Toxicity
HIGH

Use Restrictions

Ingredient concerns

CONCERNS
DATA SOURCES

Products with this Ingredient

shampoo	44 products
conditioner	35 products
hair treatment/serum	6 products
facial moisturizer/treatment	3 products
moisturizer	2 products
beard cleanser	1 products
	1 products
bar soap	1 products
hand cream	1 products

Use restrictions

CONCERN	REFERENCE
Violation of government restrictions - Banned or found unsafe for use in cosmetics	Open scientific literature
Violation of government restrictions - Restricted in cosmetics; use, concentration, or manufacturing restrictions - any	Open scientific literature
Restricted in cosmetics (recommendations or requirements) - use, concentration, or manufacturing restrictions - Japan - restricted for use in some types of cosmetics (concentration limit)	Japan's Standards for Cosmetics
Restricted in cosmetics (recommendations or requirements) - use, concentration, or manufacturing restrictions - any	CosIng

Persistence and bioaccumulation

CONCERN	REFERENCE
Persistent or bioaccumulative and moderate to high toxicity concern in humans	Environment Canada Domestic Substance List
Persistent, bioaccumulative in wildlife	Canada PBTs - Accelerated Reduction/Elimination of Toxics (ARET)
Not suspected to be bioaccumulative	Environment Canada Domestic Substance List

Developmental/reproductive toxicity

CONCERN	REFERENCE
Possible human reproductive or developmental toxin	Open scientific literature

Organ system toxicity (non-reproductive)

CONCERN	REFERENCE
Classified as expected to be toxic or harmful	Environment Canada Domestic Substance List
Limited evidence of any 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 a low human health priority	Environment Canada Domestic Substance List

Allergies/immunotoxicity

CONCERN	REFERENCE
Limited evidence of any toxicity or allergies	Open scientific literature

Ecotoxicology

CONCERN	REFERENCE
Suspected to be an environmental toxin and be persistent or bioaccumulative	Environment Canada Domestic Substance List
Suspected to be an environmental toxin	Environment Canada Domestic Substance List

Data gaps

CONCERN	REFERENCE
248 studies in PubMed science library may include information on the toxicity of this chemical	NLM PubMed

Open scientific/peer reviewed literature
Japan Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare. 2006. Standards for Cosmetics. Evaluation and Licensing Division. Pharmaceutical and Food Safety Bureau.
European Commission. 2013. Cosing, the European Commission database with information on cosmetic substances and ingredients. Accessed on March 1, 2013 at http://ec.europa.eu/consumers/cosmetics/cosing/ .
EC (Environment Canada). 2008. Domestic Substances List Categorization. Canadian Environmental Protection Act (CEPA) Environmental Registry.
EC (Environment Canada). 1994. Accelerated Reduction/Elimination of Toxics (ARET). ARET substance list of persistent, bioaccumulative and toxic chemicals.
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.
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