Barium Sulfate

What Is It?

Barium Sulfate occurs as white or yellowish crystals or powder. In cosmetics and personal care products, Barium Sulfate is used in the formulation blushers, eye lotions, eye makeup, face powders, foundations, lipsticks, moisturizers, skin products, bath products, suntan products and nail polish.

Why Is It Used?

Barium Sulfate reduces the clear or transparent appearance of cosmetics and personal care products and may be used in skin makeup for hiding blemishes.

Scientific Facts

Barium occurs naturally in ores containing mixtures of elements and combines with other chemicals such as sulfur to form Barium Sulfate. Barium Sulfate is sometimes used by physicians to perform medical tests and to take x-rays of the gastrointestinal tract.

Safety Information

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) includes Barium Sulfate on its list of indirect food additives. It is permited as component of adhesives and as a colorantIngredients that impart color to cosmetic products. In the United States, the FDA regulates which colorants may be used in cosmetics. in polymers having contact with food.

The International Programme on Chemical Safety (IPCS) has developed a health and safety guide on Barium in which it concluded that Barium, at concentrations normally found in the environment, does not pose any significant risk for the general population.
http://www.inchem.org/documents/hsg/hsg/hsg046.htm#PartNumber:3

Link to FDA Code of Federal Regulations for Barium Sulfate

Barium Sulfate is listed as CI 77120 in the Cosmetics Directive of the European Union and may be used as a coloring agent in all cosmetics and personal care products (see Annex IV). When used as a colorant in cosmetics and personal care products in Europe, this ingredient must be called CI 77120.

Link to the EU Cosmetic Regulation:
http://europa.eu/legislation_summaries/consumers/product_labelling_and_p…

Health Canada permits the use of Barium salts in cosmetics and personal care products only in the form of Barium Sulfate when used as a coloring agent or as a lake for preparation of other coloring agents and barium sulfide.
http://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/cps-spc/person/cosmet/info-ind-prof/_hot-list-cri…

More Scientific Information

Barium Sulfate is an inorganic salt. In cosmetics and personal care products, Barium Sulfate functions as an opacifying agentSubstances that reduce the clear or transparent appearance of cosmetic products. Some opacifying agents are used in skin make-up for hiding blemishes..

Resources

Find out more about the regulation of Food Additives by the Food and Drug Administration

Food Ingredients and Packaging: http://www.fda.gov/Food/IngredientsPackagingLabeling/default.htm

Food Contact Substances: http://www.fda.gov/Food/IngredientsPackagingLabeling/PackagingFCS/defaul…

Substances Generally Recognized As Safe (GRAS“GRAS” is an acronym for the phrase Generally Recognized As Safe. Under sections 201(s) and 409 of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (the Act), any substance that is intentionally added to food is a food additive, that is subject to premarket review and approval by FDA, unless the substance is generally recognized, among qualified experts, as having been adequately shown to be safe under the conditions of its intended use, or unless the use of the substance is otherwise excluded from the definition of a food additive.): http://www.fda.gov/Food/IngredientsPackagingLabeling/GRAS/default.htm

Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry’s (ATSDR) factsheet on Barium http://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/tfacts24.pdf

Medline Plus http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/druginfo/medmaster/a606010.html

Search the Code of Federal Regulations http://www.accessdata.fda.gov/scripts/cdrh/cfdocs/cfcfr/cfrsearch.cfm

EU Cosmetics Inventory http://ec.europa.eu/consumers/cosmetics/cosing/