Ingredient file · Restricted

Is zinc oxide banned or restricted in cosmetics?

Q: What does EWG Skin Deep say about zinc oxide?

EWG Skin Deep scores zinc oxide 1 to 2 out of 10 with good data, and lists use restrictions as none listed. Read 23 October 2026.

Restricted, not banned: the EU permits zinc oxide within limits (Annex VI, entry 30; Annex VI, entry 30a), the lowest cap printed being 25% and the highest 25%, depending on the product. California, the EU and FDA's named list, read 23 October 2026, with EWG Skin Deep's score.

SlipperSkin finding

Read on 23 October 2026, zinc oxide is restricted by the EU (Annex VI) and not listed in California; EWG Skin Deep scores it 1 to 2 out of 10.

From the California statute, the EU Cosmetics Regulation as consolidated on 1 May 2026, FDA’s page and EWG’s ingredient page, read 23 October 2026. We report what each says; we do not rate the ingredient.

Is zinc oxide banned in cosmetics?

Restricted, not banned: the EU permits zinc oxide within limits (Annex VI, entry 30; Annex VI, entry 30a), the lowest cap printed being 25% and the highest 25%, depending on the product. California does not list it. FDA's named list does not include it. EWG Skin Deep scores it 1 to 2 out of 10 (data: good).

Zinc oxide: where it standsread 23 October 2026

Filled red marks a ban, blue a restriction, pale an ingredient that list does not name. FDA's page names 11 entries and none is zinc oxide. The EWG row marks its score; a bar shows a range.

What are the EU limits for zinc oxide?

The EU does not ban zinc oxide; it caps it by product type. The caps below are the annex cells as printed on the EUR-Lex consolidated text of 1 May 2026, with the decimal comma written as a point.

Zinc oxide: EU capspercent; consolidated 1 May 2026

Each bar is one figure printed in an annex entry (#321 means entry 321); where an entry prints several, the table below shows which product type each applies to.

Zinc oxide in the EU Cosmetics Regulation, found by CAS number 1314-13-2
Where	Annex	Cap, threshold and product type	Condition
Annex VI, entry 30 as printed: Zinc oxide	Permitted UV filters	25 % (3) all products	Not to be used in applications that may lead to exposure of the end-user's lungs by inhalation.
Annex VI, entry 30a as printed: Zinc oxide	Permitted UV filters	25 % (3) all products	Not to be used in applications that may lead to exposure of the end-user's lungs by inhalation. Only nanomaterials having the following characteristics are allowed: - purity ≥ 96 %, with wurtzite crystalline structure and physical appearance as clusters that are rod-like, star-like and/or isometric shapes, with impurities consisting only of carbon dioxide and water, whilst any other impurities are less than 1 % in to

Is zinc oxide on California's banned list?

No. It is on neither list (a), in force since 1 January 2025, nor list (b), in force from 1 January 2027, of California's Health and Safety Code section 108980.

What does EWG Skin Deep say about zinc oxide?

EWG’s page gives zinc oxide a hazard score of 1 to 2 out of 10 with good data. Its concerns line reads, in part: Persistence and bioaccumulation (moderate), Non-reproductive organ system toxicity (low_moderate), Ecotoxicology (low), and Occupational hazards (moderate). The use-restrictions concern is none listed, although the EU restricts it. The score is a hazard score on EWG's own scale; it is not a regulatory status.

Where is this read from?

Where to buy

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More ingredient files: Avobenzone · Octisalate · Titanium dioxide · all 66 ingredient files

Method: California's section 108980 and the EU's annexes were read in Chrome on 23 October 2026; EU lookups are by CAS number (1314-13-2) across Annexes II, III, V and VI; EWG's page was kept only if its name matched exactly; the PubChem link is the compound the CAS number resolves to. Statutes change and EWG revises pages, nothing here is a safety verdict, and an ingredient that is not on a list is not endorsed.