Since July 2012, the suspicion was high. Now, it is confirmed that ZinClear IM 50CCT, a zinc oxide-based sunscreen distributed by the Australian company Antaria, and widely used in the French sunscreens, especially in organic products, is, for sure, a nanomaterial.
The warning had been issued in Australia: the Friends of the Earth association stated that the “without nano-particles” claim on some sunscreens was misleading, when they contain zinc oxide available under the ZinClear IM 50CCT name. The association used, then, a study performed in cooperation with the Australian National Measurement Institute, which showed that, in the sunscreens that contain it, free nano-particles and aggregates are found.
Uproar in the organic cosmetics manufacturers, and questions by Ecocert, the certifying body. As its first action (in August), it suspended its approval for this raw material, a protective measure while waiting for more information, especially the results of the analyses to check the presence of nano-particles in ZinClear.
Ecocert promised to release its conclusions within three weeks: it took a bit longer. In fact, until January, when the certifying body issued its communiqué for its customers, “Following a suspected presence of nano-particles in one of the zinc oxides it has approved, ZinClear IM 50 CCT, Ecocert has decided to conduct investigations on the raw material (analyses and a request for the opinion on the interpretation of the European definition of nano-materials in the Regulation on Cosmetics), in cooperation with Antaria, the manufacturer of …
