2011

MICRONIZED ZINC OXIDE

Zinc Oxide Zinc oxide has been used as the natural blocking agent as it is the only ingredient synthetic chemical or natural to effectively provide comprehensive protection against UVB and both short and long UVA radiation. Zinc oxide is the closest thing to a total sun block on the market today. It uniformly covers from 290 to 380 nm, thus protecting against UVB and most of the UVA spectrum. No other sunscreen ingredient provides broader protection. And unlike many chemical sunscreen agents, zinc oxide is never irritating. In fact, it is recognized by the Food and Drug Administration as a Category I skin protectant, meaning that it is safe for compromised or environmentally challenged skin. Zinc oxide has over a 300-year history of safety, with no known adverse reactions (which is why it is often used to treat babies). It is ideal for use in sunscreens and daily moisturizers. Zinc Oxide is also commonly used as the main ingredient in diaper rash creams - so you can feel good about slathering this on your little ones! Because it does not usually cause allergic reaction the way Titanium Dioxide does, you can use Zinc Oxide sunscreens on your face and even as under-eye protection. Zinc Oxide was initially used in cosmetics as a whitening agent to moisturizing lotions, facial creams and most sunscreens. Zinc Oxide has been the ingredient of choice for sunscreens, sun protection and cosmetics. Zinc Oxide is categorized as a physical sunscreen, therefore SPF labels are not given to the mineral. SPF or sun protected factor only relates to chemical sunscreens. Chemical sunscreens such as PABA and Oxybenzone absorb the suns rays; whereas Zinc Oxide actually blocks the rays. While some chemically-based sun protectionproducts include zinc, they cannot claim zinc as their primary component and must be labeled as such. Zinc Oxide works much like a diamond to bend (or refract) light. It is the only known element that can block both UVA (aging rays) and UVB (burning rays). Zinc Oxide has been approved and labeled by the FDA as safe for the skin as sun protection. It is important to note that Zinc Oxide is not an organic compound as it has undergone oxidation. Zinc Oxide should be 20 to 25 percent of ingredient in cosmetic or sunscreen to properly inhibit sun damage to the skin and prevent wrinkles from forming. As we all should know by now, one of the primary causes of aging skin and wrinkles, is the sun. If blocking sun rays, preventing wrinkles and aging skin werent enough, pure zinc has also been found to be very effective in the treatment and care of acne prone skin. Zinc regulates production of oil glands and hormone levels, two main triggers of acne. Zinc also helps absorb Vitamin A which promotes healing and fights bacteria. As with any acne treatment results may vary depending on diet and other environmental factors. It is always important to consult a dermatologist prior to

any acne treatment. Zinc is commonly used in ointments for diaper rash, minor scrapes and burns, dry scalp and irritated skin. In addition to the benefits on the skin zinc helps maintain many healthy body functions. Zinc plays a role in strengthening the immune system by assisting white blood cell development, protecting the body form infection. Lack of zinc to the body can result in a week immune system. As zinc plays a vital role in the immune system it is imperative to acquire the proper amount of zinc while pregnant. Zinc helps reduce inflammation and infection. Proper amounts of zinc in a diet have shown to contribute to proper growth, strength, and endurance. Zinc is also involved in stimulating many enzymes which play an essential role in metabolism. Zinc has been found to benefit the inside and outside health of our bodies and can be found in many topical creams, like Vivoderms zinc repairing cream, as well as in many nutrient rich foods. According to research carried out in recent years, zinc has the same properties of antibiotics such as tetracycline and it can fight the acne bacteria efficiently without the negative effects of antibiotics. Reportedly, zinc also enhances the immunity of the body when ingested as a supplement. There are many useful properties of zinc like providing the person with energy, prohibiting blindness, aiding the process of digestion by being a part of enzymes, supporting the reaction of more than 30 enzymes, strengthening the immunity, regulation of Vitamin E in the blood, helping the body absorb Vitamin A and B, speeding up the process of healing, regulating insulin, and it also fights bacteria. Zinc is also present in estrogen, testosterone and growth hormones. Zinc as such do not have any application in cosmetics, but once it is converted to nano zinc oxide particles or micronized zinc oxide particles they are widely accepted. There are a hand full of processes available for zinc oxide production. The following discussion is once such method. BACKGROUND Zinc oxide has an ability to absorb ultra violet radiations. However, zinc oxide produced by standard methods is a white, opaque powder and as such is unacceptable in appearance for use in certain applications where effective absorption of ultra-violet radiation is desirable, e.g. sunscreens, paints, varnishes, plastics, cosmetics etc. Reducing particle size of zinc oxide below the wavelength of visible light, the light will get transmitted through the zinc oxide thereby causing it to appear virtually transparent when in a dispersed form e.g. a dispersion in oil. Such a small particle size will more effectively scatter and absorb ultra-violet light. Methods have been developed in an attempt to provide zinc oxide having a reduced particle size so as to render it transparent when in a dispersed form. The so-called French process comprises oxidation of zinc metal vapour by mixing with air and quenching with excess air. The particle size of the resulting zinc oxide can be decreased by increasing the rate of mixing and quenching. However, the process inevitably produces a proportion of unreacted zinc metal in the zinc oxide product, and the smaller the particle size of the oxide product the higher the level of zinc metal impurity. Zinc metal is an extremely undesirable impurity,

particularly when the zinc oxide contaminated with it is to be used in products such as sunscreens, paints, plastics etc., because it is capable of reaction with air, moisture and organic media to generate undesirable gaseous products. In addition, it tends to impart a grey tinge to the product which is aesthetically undesirable, and is often coarser than the zinc oxide thereby tending to impart a gritty feel to the product.

In an article by S. Tichy, discloses "micronized" zinc oxide produced by first precipitating the basic carbonate from a purified solution of zinc sulphate or zinc chloride, washing and filtering the carbonate, and finally subjecting it to calcination. The process involves a number of separate steps each of which tends to give rise to a loss in yield of the final product. The "micronized" zinc oxide is transparent and allegedly has a particle size of about 20 nm and a surface area in the range 50 to 150 m2 /g. However, scanning electron micrograph studies of the "micronized" zinc oxide have shown it to have a particle size of around 1 m and to have a spongelike, or internally porous, structure which accounts for the high surface area. In addition, when zinc chloride is used in the process, the zinc oxide product tends to be contaminated with chloride which is undesirable, particularly in cosmetics applications, where purity of ingredients is essential. Another process comprises dissolving zinc acetate dihydrate in methanol, atomising this solution into very fine (around 2 m) droplets using an ultrasonic atomiser, and passing these first into a low temperature electric furnace and subsequently into a high temperature electric furnace. One disadvantage with this process is in the use of methanol as a solvent, since this is both expensive, particularly in the high volumes used compared to a relatively small amount of zinc acetate, and dangerous due to its high flammability. Another disadvantage resides in the use of ultrasonic atomisation since this is both difficult and expensive to apply to a large sale. The zinc oxide produced comprises slightly porous, spherical particles having a mean diameter of 0.15 m and having a surface area of about 50 m2 /g. Each particle consists of an agglomerate of a number of smaller individual, or "primary", particles each having a diameter in the range 100 to 200 nm. The relatively high surface area quoted is that of the agglomerate and includes the exposed surface area of each of the "primary" particles. It would be desirable to produce zinc oxide having a small particle size and that is free of zinc metal impurity by a process that is simple, safe and economical when applied to a large, or production, scale.

NEW METHOD OF PRODUCTION According to another claim, a process for preparing zinc oxide comprises the steps of: introducing, into an atmosphere, an atomised aqueous solution of a zinc salt that is thermally decomposable to zinc oxide, the atmosphere having a temperature sufficient to decompose the salt to the oxide, and recovering zinc oxide. This process is simple and cost-effective. In addition, the selection of certain

process conditions, described below, allow accurate control of the particle size of the resulting zinc oxide.

The aim is to produce Zinc oxide in the form of discrete particles all of which have an average particle size of 0.08 m or less in diameter and a surface area of at least 12.5 m 2 /g and which is free of zinc metal. By virtue of its discrete small particles the zinc oxide is very effective in blocking ultra-violet radiation. In addition, the absence of zinc metal impurity from the oxide means that the undesirable effects normally associated with that impurity, which are described above, are not experienced.