MERCURIC OXIDE

What official classifications and rules say for each group. A classification describes the hazard of the pure substance, not the risk of a product that contains it, which depends on the dose and the exposure.

Prohibition or serious classificationThe text prohibits the substance for this use, or ranks it among the most serious hazards (known or presumed carcinogenic, mutagenic or reprotoxic, identified endocrine disruptor).Worth watchingThe text sets a condition or flags a hazard worth knowing: allergen, suspected effect, condition for children, hazard to the aquatic environment.For informationOfficial information with no condition on a finished product: warning to read, irritation of the pure substance.

• Pregnancy and breastfeeding

  No classification harmonised by the European Union covers reproduction, the unborn child or breastfeeding for this substance. This does not mean it has been judged to have no effect during pregnancy.

• Babies and children

  The Cosmetics Regulation sets no age-related condition for this ingredient.

• Skin, eyes and allergies

  No harmonised classification for sensitisation, irritation or eye damage, and no obligation to label it as an allergen.

• Environment

  No harmonised classification as hazardous to the aquatic environment, and it is not on ECHAEuropean Chemicals Agency.'s Candidate List as an endocrine disruptor for the environment.

• Read on the label

  The Cosmetics Regulation requires no warning to be printed for this ingredient.

Prohibited, with exceptions

CosIng links the name MERCURIC OXIDE to this entry. The cases of prohibition are explained above, in “In plain words”; the official title is given below.

Entry

Annex II, No 221

Substance

Mercury and its compounds, except those special cases included in Annex V

CAS

7439-97-6

EC

231-106-7

Identity

CosIng identifier

84965

CAS (according to CosIng)

21908-53-2

EC (according to CosIng)

244-654-7

Declared functions

Antimicrobial

United Kingdom (Great Britain)

• Prohibited, with exceptions (Annex II)

Same entries as in the European Union. Their maximum concentrations are compared in the “Comparison between countries” table; other conditions (product types, warnings) may differ.

Switzerland

Regulation (EC) No 1223/2009 applies in Switzerland (Article 54 of the Ordinance on Foodstuffs and Utility Articles).

United States, federal rules

• Restricted: Use of mercury compounds in cosmetics including use as skinbleaching agents in cosmetic preparations also regarded as drugs

  21 CFR 700.13. (a) Mercury-containing cosmetic preparations have been represented for many years as skin-bleaching agents or as preparations to remove or prevent freckles and/or brown spots (so-called age spots). Preparations intended for such use are regarded as drugs as well as cosmetics. In addition to such use as skin-bleaching agents, mercury compounds have also been widely used as preservatives in cosmetics such as hand and body creams and lotions; hair shampoos, hair sets and rinses, hair straighteners, hair coloring, and other preparations; bath oils, bubble bath, and other bath preparations; makeup; antiperspirants and deodorants; and eye-area cosmetics. (b) The toxicity of mercury compounds is extensively documented in scientific literature. It is well known that mercury compounds are readily absorbed through the unbroken skin as well as through the lungs by inhalation and by intestinal absor…

Washington State (United States)

• Prohibited: Mercury and mercury compounds (CAS 7439-97-6)

  RCW 70A.560.020 (1)(e), from 1 January 2025. Prohibited when intentionally added to a cosmetic product.