Z-Cote is a commercial

zinc oxide Zinc oxide is an inorganic compound with the Chemical formula, formula . It is a white powder which is insoluble in water. ZnO is used as an additive in numerous materials and products including cosmetics, Zinc metabolism, food supplements, rubbe ...

line manufactured and owned by

BASF BASF SE (), an initialism of its original name , is a European Multinational corporation, multinational company and the List of largest chemical producers, largest chemical producer in the world. Its headquarters are located in Ludwigshafen, Ge ...

. Due to Z-Cote's photo-protective properties it is commonly used in

personal care product Personal care products are consumer products which are applied on various external parts of the body such as skin, hair, nails, lips, external genital and anal areas, as well as teeth and mucous membrane of the oral cavity, in order to make them ...

s and sunscreens. It is available in nano, non-nano, coated and uncoated forms. Z-Cote is a derivative of zinc oxide which is

Generally Recognized As Safe and Effective Generally recognized as safe and effective (abbreviated as GRASE, GRAS/E, or GRAS/GRAE) is designation for certain old drugs that do not require prior approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in order to enter the United States marketpl ...

(GRASE) by the FDA as a nutrient, cosmetic colour additive, skin protection active ingredient and other OTC products. Manufactured zinc oxide, such as Z-Cote, is only recognised as GRASE by the FDA when it is compliant with the

Good manufacturing practice Current good manufacturing practices (cGMP) are those conforming to the guidelines recommended by relevant agencies. Those agencies control the authorization and licensing of the manufacture and sale of food and beverages, cosmetics, pharmaceutic ...

(GMP) standard. The original Sunsmart and Submicro Encapsulation Technologies Z-Cote patent filed in 1991 for UV skin protection expired in 2015.

History

Z-Cote was acquired from SunSmart in 1999 by BASF. It has been used in sunscreen formulations since at least 1993 in microfine form. The initial 1991 Z-Cote patent placed emphasis on broad-spectrum protection, especially UVA. Only in 1993 did the FDA approve an alternative petrochemical sunscreen ingredient, avobenzone, that also provided protection against UVA.

Environmental impact

Plants

Z-Cote was studied to evaluate hypothetical agricultural impacts if it were to contaminate irrigated water. In the study it was found that Z-Cote had a negligible impact on

bean A bean is the seed of some plants in the legume family (Fabaceae) used as a vegetable for human consumption or animal feed. The seeds are often preserved through drying (a ''pulse''), but fresh beans are also sold. Dried beans are traditi ...

(''Phaseolus vulgaris'') pod production and increased root length and the concentration of more nutritional elements.

Reef

Zinc oxide is compliant with Hawaii Act 104 banning non-reef safe petrochemicals.

Zinc oxide producers

Croda International Croda International plc is a British speciality chemicals company based at Snaith, England. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange. History The company was founded by George William Crowe and Henry James Dawe in 1925. Crowe bought an aba ...

Umicore Umicore N.V., known as ''Union Minière'' before 2001, is a Belgian-French multinational materials technology company headquartered in Brussels, Belgium. It was formed in 1989 by the merger of four companies in the mining and smelting industri ...

References

{{Reflist Cosmetics Zinc oxide Sunscreening agents Natural products