Silica & Silicates
Silica & Silicates
Silica & Silicates
Cosmetics
The 2018 Cosmetic Ingredient Review Expert Panel members are: Chair, Wilma F. Bergfeld, M.D., F.A.C.P.;
Donald V. Belsito, M.D.; Ronald A. Hill, Ph.D.; Curtis D. Klaassen, Ph.D.; Daniel C. Liebler, Ph.D.; James G.
Marks, Jr., M.D.; Ronald C. Shank, Ph.D.; Thomas J. Slaga, Ph.D.; and Paul W. Snyder, D.V.M., Ph.D. The CIR
Executive Director is Bart Heldreth, Ph.D. This safety assessment was prepared by Christina L. Burnett, Senior
Scientific Analyst/Writer.
Memorandum
Enclosed is the Draft Amended Safety Assessment of Silica and Silicate Ingredients as Used in Cosmetics. (It is identified as
silica122018rep in the pdf document). In 2003, the Panel published a safety assessment on the following 17 silicate and clay
ingredients, with the conclusion that that these ingredients are safe as used in cosmetic products:
Aluminum Silicate Magnesium Aluminum Silicate
Attapulgite Magnesium Silicate
Bentonite Magnesium Trisilicate
Calcium Silicate Montmorillonite
Fuller's Earth Pyrophyllite
Hectorite Sodium Magnesium Silicate
Kaolin Zeolite
Lithium Magnesium Silicate Zirconium Silicate
Lithium Magnesium Sodium Silicate
At the June 2018 meeting, the Panel considered a re-review of the above safety assessment, and decided to re-open this report to
add an additional 23 ingredients. The add-on ingredients, listed below, include 9 silica and silicate ingredients that were
previously reviewed by the Panel and 15 ingredients that have not been reviewed by the Panel.
Aluminum Calcium Sodium Silicate* Aluminum Iron Calcium Magnesium Zirconium
Aluminum Iron Silicates* Silicates
Hydrated Silica* Ammonium Silver Zinc Aluminum Silicate
Magnesium Aluminometasilicate* Ammonium Silver Zeolite
Potassium Silicate* Calcium Magnesium Silicate
Silica* Gold Zeolite
Sodium Metasilicate* Silver Copper Zeolite
Sodium Potassium Aluminum Silicate* Sodium Magnesium Aluminum Silicate
Sodium Silicate* Sodium Silver Aluminum Silicate
Activated Clay Titanium Zeolite
Aluminum Iron Calcium Magnesium Germanium Tromethamine Magnesium Aluminum Silicate
Silicates Zinc Silicate
Zinc Zeolite
In this amended safety assessment, the Panel will find that CIR staff has merged the safety assessment on Silica (final 2009) into
this new amended document and has heavily edited the document to conform to the current CIR report format. This reformatting
effort is still a work in progress, with additional tables planned for incorporation. CIR staff welcomes any additional suggestions
for this report reorganization effort.
According to 2018 VCRP data, Silica has the most reported uses in cosmetic products, with a total of 8024; the majority of the
uses are in leave-on eye makeup preparations and makeup preparations. Kaolin has the second most reported uses in cosmetic
products, with a total of 1794; the majority of the uses are also in leave-on eye makeup preparations and makeup preparations.
-1-
The reported numbers of uses for the remaining ingredients in this report are much lower. The uses for both of these ingredients
have greatly increased since the original safety assessments were finalized: in 2009, Silica was reported to have 3276 uses and in
1998, Kaolin was reported to have 509 uses. The results of the concentration of use survey conducted in 2018 by the Council
indicate Silica has the highest reported maximum concentration of use; it is used at up to 82% in face and neck products and 50%
in mascaras. Kaolin is used at up to 53% in “other” manicuring products and up to 35% in rinse-off “other” skin care preparations.
According to the original safety assessments, the maximum use concentration for Kaolin was 100% in leave-on “other” skin care
preparations and the maximum use concentration for Hectorite was 100% in rinse-off skin cleansing preparations (the maximum
leave-on concentration was 15% in makeup foundations). Silica was reported to be used at up to 44% in eye shadows.
Since the June Panel meeting, CIR has received the concentration of use survey for Silica ingredients (both original and add-on
ingredients), an updated concentration of use survey for Silicate ingredients (both original and add-on ingredients), and a notice
from the Council that Aluminum Calcium Magnesium Potassium Sodium Zinc Silicates has been deleted from the INCI
Dictionary (identified as silica122018data_1 through silica122018data_5 in the pdf document). Because this ingredient is no
longer in the Dictionary, it has been deleted from this report. Comments provided by the Council prior to the June meeting on the
re-review document have been addressed (silica122018 pcpc).
Minutes from the original deliberations of the original review, the original deliberations from the other reports named above, and
the minutes from the June 2018 meeting have been included:
• September 1999 and February 2000 - Aluminum Silicate, Calcium Silicate, Magnesium Aluminum Silicate, Magnesium
Silicate, Magnesium Trisilicate, Sodium Magnesium Silicate, Zirconium Silicate, Attapulgite, Bentonite, Fuller’s Earth,
Hectorite, Kaolin, Lithium Magnesium Silicate, Lithium Magnesium Sodium Silicate, Montmorillonite, Pyrophyllite, and
Zeolite [silica122018min1_origsilicates]
• December 1999, May 2000, December 2000 and June 2001 - Potassium Silicate, Sodium Metasilicate, and Sodium
Silicate [silica122018min2_saltsilicates]
• June 2009 and September 2009 - Silica and Related Cosmetic Ingredients [silica122018min3_silica]
• June 2018 – Re-review discussion for this current report [silica1221018min4_current review]
If no further data are needed, the Panel should formulate an updated Discussion and issue a Tentative Amended Report. However,
if additional data are required, the Panel should be prepared to identify those needs and issue an Insufficient Data Announcement.
__________________________________________________________________________________________
1620 L Street, NW Suite 1200, Washington, DC 20036
(Main) 202-331-0651 (Fax) 202-331-0088
(Email) cirinfo@cir-safety.org (Website) www.cir-safety.org
RE-REVIEW FLOW CHART
INGREDIENT/FAMILY____Silica and Silicates _____________________
MEETING _______ December 2018_______________________________________________________
New Data; or
announce 15 years OR request
since last
review
IJT 22 (Suppl 1): 37-
102, 2003
Re-review
to Panel
PRIORITY LIST June 2018
YES
NO
DRAFT AMENDED
DAR REPORT Dec 2018 Are new ingredients
appropriate for
inclusion/re-open?
Table
Table IDA TAR 9 potential add-ons from
other reports (IJT 24(Suppl
1): 103-17, 2005; CIR
Yes No 2009)
Table
Table
Tentative
Amended Report
Issue
TAR
Table
*If Draft Amended Report (DAR) is available, the Panel may choose to review; if not, CIR staff prepares DAR for Panel Review.
Distributed for comment only -- do not cite or quote
Silicates History
2003– The CIR’s Final Report on the Safety Assessment of Aluminum Silicate, Calcium
Silicate, Magnesium Aluminum Silicate, Magnesium Silicate, Magnesium Trisilicate,
Sodium Magnesium Silicate, Zirconium Silicate, Attapulgite, Bentonite, Fuller’s Earth,
Hectorite, Kaolin, Lithium Magnesium Silicate, Lithium Magnesium Sodium Silicate,
Montmorillonite, Pyrophyllite, and Zeolite in the IJT after the report was finalized by the
Panel in 2000. Based on the available animal and clinical data available at that time, the
Panel concluded that these ingredients are safe as cosmetic ingredients in the practices of
use and concentrations as described in the safety assessment.
2005 – The CIR’s Final Report on the Safety Assessment of Potassium Silicate, Sodium
Metasilicate, and Sodium Silicate in the IJT after the report was finalized by the Panel in
2001. Based on the available animal and clinical data available at that time, the Panel
concluded that these ingredients are safe for use in cosmetic products in the practices of
use and concentration described in the safety assessment when formulated to avoid
irritation.
2009 – The CIR issued a Final Report on the Safety Assessment of Silica and Related
Cosmetic Ingredients, which has not been published in the IJT. Based on the available
animal and clinical data available at that time, the Panel concluded that Silica, Alumina
Magnesium Metasilicate (now called Magnesium Aluminometasilicate), Aluminum
Calcium Sodium Silicate, Aluminum Iron Silicates, Hydrated Silica, and Sodium
Potassium Aluminum Silicate are safe as cosmetic ingredients in the practices of use and
concentrations as described in the safety assessment.
April/May 2018 – Review of the available published literature since 2000 was conducted
in accordance to CIR Procedure regarding re-review of ingredients after ~15 years.
June 2018 - The Panel decided to re-open the 2003 Silicates report and add an additional
23 ingredients, which include 9 silica and silicate ingredients that were previously
reviewed by the Panel and 14 ingredients that have not been reviewed by the Panel.
The Panel noted that for many of the previously reviewed ingredients, uses have
increased significantly.
Distributed for comment only -- do not cite or quote
Silica and Silicates Data Profile –December 2018 – Writer, Christina Burnett
Composition/Impurities
Irritation/Sensitization
Irritation/Sensitization
Clinical Studies/Case
Reproductive and
Physical/Chemical
Toxicity Studies
Developmental
Other Relevant
Ocular/Mucosal
Repeated Dose
Carcinogenicity
Toxicokinetics
Acute Toxicity
Manufacturing
Genotoxicity
Phototoxicity
- Nonhuman
Properties
Method of
- Human
Toxicity
Toxicity
Reports
In-Use
Aluminum Silicate X X X X X X X X X X
Calcium Silicate X X X X X X X X
Magnesium Aluminum
X X X X X X X X X X X
Silicate
Magnesium Silicate X X X
Magnesium Trisilicate X X X X X
Sodium Magnesium Silicate X X X X
Zirconium Silicate X X X X
Attapulgite X X X X X X X X
Bentonite X X X X X X X X
Fuller’s Earth X X X
Hectorite X X X X X X X
Kaolin X X X X X X X X
Lithium Magnesium Silicate X
Lithium Magnesium Sodium
X
Silicate
Montmorillonite X X X X X
Pyrophyllite
Zeolite X X X X X X X X X X X
Potassium Silicate X X X X X
Sodium Metasilicate X X X X X X X X X
Sodium Silicate X X X X X X X X X X X X
Silica X X X X X X X X X X X X X X
Hydrated Silica X X X X X X X X X X X X X
Aluminum Calcium Sodium
X X X
Silicate
Aluminum Iron Silicates
Magnesium
X
Aluminometasilicate
Sodium Potassium
X X X
Aluminum Silicate
Distributed for comment only -- do not cite or quote
Silica and Silicates Data Profile –December 2018 – Writer, Christina Burnett
Composition/Impurities
Irritation/Sensitization
Irritation/Sensitization
Clinical Studies/Case
Reproductive and
Physical/Chemical
Toxicity Studies
Developmental
Other Relevant
Ocular/Mucosal
Repeated Dose
Carcinogenicity
Toxicokinetics
Acute Toxicity
Manufacturing
Genotoxicity
Phototoxicity
- Nonhuman
Properties
Method of
- Human
Toxicity
Toxicity
Reports
In-Use
Activated Clay
Aluminum Iron Calcium
Magnesium Germanium
Silicates
Aluminum Iron Calcium
Magnesium Zirconium
Silicates
Ammonium Silver Zeolite
Ammonium Silver Zinc
X
Aluminum Silicate
Calcium Magnesium Silicate
Gold Zeolite
Silver Copper Zeolite
Sodium Magnesium
X X
Aluminum Silicate
Sodium Silver Aluminum
Silicate
Titanium Zeolite
Tromethamine Magnesium
Aluminum Silicate
Zinc Silicate X X X X
Zinc Zeolite X
“X” indicates that data were available in the category for that ingredient.
Distributed for comment only -- do not cite or quote
Silicates
Ingredient CAS # InfoB SciFin PubMed TOXNET FDA EU ECHA IUCLID SIDS ECETOC HPVIS NICNAS NTIS NTP WHO FAO NIOSH FEMA Web
Re-Review Ingredients
Aluminum 1327-36-2 √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √
Silicate
Aluminum 1344-01-1 √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √
Calcium Sodium
Silicate
Aluminum Iron √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √
Silicates
Attapulgite 12174-11-7; √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √
1337-76-4
Bentonite 1302-78-9 √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √
Calcium Silicate 1344-95-2 √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √
Fuller’s Earth 8031-18-3 √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √
Hectorite 12173-47-6; √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √
68084-71-9
Hydrated Silica 10279-57-9; √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √
112926-00-8;
1343-98-2;
63231-67-4;
7631-86-9
Kaolin 1332-58-7 √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √
Lithium 37220-90-9 √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √
Magnesium
Silicate
Lithium 53320-86-8 √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √
Magnesium
Sodium Silicate
Magnesium 12408-47-8 √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √
Aluminometasili
cate
Magnesium 12199-37-0; √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √
Aluminum 12511-31-8
Silicate
Magnesium 1343-88-0 √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √
Silicate
Magnesium 14987-04-3 √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √
Trisilicate
Montmorillonite 1318-93-0 √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √
Pyrophyllite 11349-10-3; √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √
113349-11-4;
113349-12-5;
12269-78-2;
141040-73-5;
141040-74-6
Distributed for comment only -- do not cite or quote
Ingredient CAS # InfoB SciFin PubMed TOXNET FDA EU ECHA IUCLID SIDS ECETOC HPVIS NICNAS NTIS NTP WHO FAO NIOSH FEMA Web
Silica 112945-52-5; √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √
60676-86-0;
7631-86-9
Sodium √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √
Magnesium
Silicate
Sodium 12736-96-8; √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √
Potassium 66402-68-4
Aluminum
Silicate
Zeolite 1318-02-1 √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √
Zirconium 10101-52-7; √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √
Silicate 1344-21-4
Sodium Silicate 1344-09-8 √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √
Sodium 6834-92-0 √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √
Metasilicate
Potassium 1312-76-1 √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √
Silicate
Sodium Silver √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √
Aluminum
Silicate
Tromethamine √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √
Magnesium
Aluminum
Silicate
Activated Clay √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √
Ammonium √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √
Silver Zinc
Aluminum
Silicate
Ammonium √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √
Silver Zeolite
Aluminum Iron √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √
Calcium
Magnesium
Germanium
Silicates
Aluminum Iron √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √
Calcium
Magnesium
Zirconium
Silicates
Calcium 12765-06-9 √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √
Magnesium
Silicate
Distributed for comment only -- do not cite or quote
Ingredient CAS # InfoB SciFin PubMed TOXNET FDA EU ECHA IUCLID SIDS ECETOC HPVIS NICNAS NTIS NTP WHO FAO NIOSH FEMA Web
Silver Copper 130328-19-7; √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √
Zeolite 168042-42-0
Sodium 12040-43-6 √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √
Magnesium
Aluminum
Silicate
Zinc Silicate 13597-65-4 √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √
Gold Zeolite √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √
Zinc Zeolite √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √
Titanium Zeolite √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √
Total references ordered/downloaded from initial searches = 45 (some relevant hits were duplicates)
Search updated October 2018, no new relevant studies.
Distributed for comment only -- do not cite or quote
Search Strategy: Re-review ingredients limited time frame from 2000-2018, except where noted
PubMed
Re-review ingredients
Aluminum Silicate – 11825 hits, limited with toxicity = 770 hits, limited with irritation = 14 hits (4 relevant), limited with sensitization = 9 (0 relevant), limited with dermal = 20
hits (5 relevant)
Aluminum Calcium Sodium Silicate – 6 hits (0 relevant)
Aluminum Iron Silicates - 281 hits, limited with toxicity = 27 hits, limited with irritation = 0 hits, limited with sensitization = 0 hits, limited with dermal = 0 hits
Attapulgite – 231 hits, limited with toxicity = 13 hits (3 relevant), limited with irritation = 0 hits, limited with sensitization = 0 hits, limited with dermal = 0 hits
Bentonite – 2155 hits, limited with toxicity = 161 hits, limited with irritation = 3 hits (1 revelant), limited with sensitization = 0 hits, limited with dermal = 7 hits (1 relevant)
Calcium Silicate – 1181 hits, limited with toxicity = 79 hits, limited with irritation = 0 hits, limited with sensitization = 0 hits, limited with dermal = 1 hit (0 relevant)
Fuller’s Earth – 50 hits (12 relevant)
Hectorite – 89 hits (0 relevant)
Hydrated Silica (limited to 2009-2018) – 12440 hits, limited with toxicity = 1764 hits, limited with irritation = 14 hits (4 relevant), limited with sensitization = 9 hits (0 relevant),
limited with dermal = 28 hits (6 relevant)
Kaolin – 1964 hits, limited with toxicity = 160 hits (4 relevant), limited with irritation = 2 hits (0 relevant), limited with sensitization = 17 hits (0 relevant), limited with dermal = 1
hit (0 relevant)
Lithium Magnesium Silicate – 3 hits (0 relevant)
Lithium Magnesium Sodium Silicate – 2 hits (1 relevant)
Magnesium Aluminometasilicate – 24 hits (0 relevant)
Magnesium Aluminum Silicate – 80 hits (1 relevant)
Magnesium Silicate – 776 hits, limited with toxicity = 31 hits (3 relevant), limited with irritation (0 relevant), limited with sensitization = 1 hit (0 relevant), limited with dermal =1
hit (0 relevant)
Magnesium Trisilicate – 198 hits (2 relevant)
Montmorillonite – 3385 hits, limited with toxicity = 214 hits (8 relevant), limited with irritation = 6 hits (1 relevant), limited with sensitization = 0 hits, limited with dermal = 8
hits (1 relevant)
Pyrophyllite – 946 hits, limited with toxicity = 60 hits (0 relevant), limited with irritation = 3 hits (0 relevant), limited with senstitzation = 0 hits, limited with dermal = 0 hits
Silica (limited to 2009-2018) – 47,440 hits, limited with toxicity = 3342 hits, limited with irritation = 30 hits (2 relevant), limited with sensitization = 41 hits (0 relevant), limited
with dermal = 84 hits (3 relevant)
Sodium Magnesium Silicate – 66 hits (1 relevant)
Sodium Potassium Aluminum Silicate – 8 hits (0 relevant)
Zeolite – 6699 hits, limited with toxicity = 193 hits (1 relevant), limited with irritation = 4 hits (1 relevant), limited with sensitization = 6 hits (0 relevant), limited with dermal = 5
hits (1 relevant)
Zirconium Silicate – 350 hits (0 relevant)
Sodium Silicate – 338 hits (3 relevant)
Sodium Metasilicate – 84 hits (5 relevant)
Potassium Silicate – 912 hits, limited with toxicity = 25 hits (1 relevant), limited with irritation = 4 hits (0 relevant), limited with sensitization = 0 hits, limited with dermal = 0 hits
Distributed for comment only -- do not cite or quote
Add-on ingredients
Sodium Silver Aluminum Silicate - 18 hits (0 relevant)
Tromethamine Magnesium Aluminum Silicate – 0 hits
Activated Clay – 383 hits (0 relevant)
Ammonium Silver Zinc Aluminum Silicate – 1 hit (0 relevant)
Aluminum Calcium Magnesium Potassium Sodium Zinc Silicates - 2 hits (0 relevant)
Aluminum Iron Calcium Magnesium Germanium Silicates – 0 hits
Aluminum Iron Calcium Magnesium Zirconium Silicates – 0 hits
Sodium Magnesium Aluminum Silicate – 19 hits (0 relevant)
Zinc Silicate - 70 hits (0 relevant)
Ammonium Silver Silcate – 4 hits (0 relevant)
Gold Zeolite - 62 hits (0 relevant)
Zinc Zeolite – 222 hits (0 relevant)
SciFinder: Re-review ingredients limited time from from 2000-2018, except where noted, and to Adverse Effects and English
Re-review ingredients
Aluminum Silicate – 10 hits, 0 relevant (CAS#1335-30-4), 25 hits, 0 relevant (CAS#1327-36-2)
Aluminum Calcium Sodium Silicate (from 2005-2018) – 15 hits, 2 relevant
Aluminum Iron Silicates (from 2005-2018)
Attapulgite – 11 hits, 5 relevant
Bentonite – 119 hits, 7 relevant
Calcium Silicate - 5 hits, 1 relevant (CAS# 10034-77-2), 60 hits, 4 relevant (CAS#1344-95-2)
Fuller’s Earth – 13 hits, 0 relevant
Hectorite – 4 hits (CAS# 12173-47-6)
Hydrated Silica (from 2005-2018) - 0 hits (CAS#870616-37-8), 0 hits (CAS#68918-35-4), 1 hit, 1 relevant (CAS#112926-00-8), 18 hits, 0 relevant (CAS#63231-67-4), 2 hits, 0
relevant (CAS#10279-57-9), 54 hits, 1 relevant (CAS#1343-98-2)
Kaolin – 132 hits, 1 relevant
Lithium Magnesium Silicate – 0 hits
Lithium Magnesium Sodium Silicate – 1 hit, 1 relevant
Magnesium Aluminometasilicate – 0 hits
Magnesium Aluminum Silicate – 4 hits, 1 relevant (CAS#1327-43-1), 0 hits (CAS#12511-31-8), 20 hits, 0 relevant (CAS#12199-37-0)
Magnesium Silicate – 11 hits, 1 relevant
Magnesium Trisilicate – 7 hits, 1 relevant
Montmorillonite – 47 hits, 7 relevant
Pyrophyllite – 0 hits (CAS#141040-74-6), 0 hits (CAS#141040-73-5), 0 hits (CAS#13349-12-5), 0 hits (CAS#113349-11-4), 0 hits (CAS#113349-10-3), 0 hits (CAS #12269-78-
2)
Silica (from 2005-2018) – 3606 hits, further limited by dermal OR irritation OR sensitization OR cosmetic = 6 hits, 0 relevant;
Sodium Magnesium Silicate – 0 hits
Sodium Potassium Aluminum Silicate (from 2005-2018) – 0 hits
Zeolite – 140 hits, 1 relevant
Zirconium Silicate – 5 hits, 0 relevant (CAS#10101-52-7), 5 hits, 0 relevant (CAS#1344-21-4)
Sodium Silicate – 16 hits, 1 relevant
Sodium Metasilicate – 13hits, 5 relevant
Distributed for comment only -- do not cite or quote
Add-on ingredients
Sodium Silver Aluminum Silicate – 0 hits
Tromethamine Magnesium Aluminum Silicate – 0 hits
Activated Clay- 0 hits
Ammonium Silver Zinc Aluminum Silicate – 0 hits
Aluminum Iron Calcium Magnesium Germanium Silicates – 0 hits
Aluminum Iron Calcium Magnesium Zirconium Silicates - 0 hits
Ammonium Silver Zeolite – 0 hits
Sodium Magnesium Aluminum Silicate – 0 hits
Zinc Silicate – 0 hits (CAS #127734-84-3), 0 hits (CAS#126755-25-7), 0 hits (CAS#13814-85-2), 1 hit, 0 relevant (CAS#13597-65-4) 0 hits (CAS#11126-29-7)
Ammonium Silver Silcate – 0 hits
Gold Zeolite – 0 hits
Calcium Magnesium Silicate – 1 hit, 0 relevant
Silver Copper Zeolite – 0 hits
Zinc Zeolite – 0 hits
Titanium Zeolite – 0 hits
Distributed for comment only -- do not cite or quote
LINKS
Search Engines
Pubmed (- http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed)
Toxnet (https://toxnet.nlm.nih.gov/); (includes Toxline; HSDB; ChemIDPlus; DART; IRIS; CCRIS; CPDB; GENE-TOX)
Scifinder (https://scifinder.cas.org/scifinder)
Pertinent Websites
wINCI - http://webdictionary.personalcarecouncil.org
FDA databases http://www.ecfr.gov/cgi-bin/ECFR?page=browse
FDA search databases: http://www.fda.gov/ForIndustry/FDABasicsforIndustry/ucm234631.htm;,
EAFUS: http://www.accessdata.fda.gov/scripts/fcn/fcnnavigation.cfm?rpt=eafuslisting&displayall=true
GRAS listing: http://www.fda.gov/food/ingredientspackaginglabeling/gras/default.htm
SCOGS database: http://www.fda.gov/food/ingredientspackaginglabeling/gras/scogs/ucm2006852.htm
Indirect Food Additives: http://www.accessdata.fda.gov/scripts/fdcc/?set=IndirectAdditives
Drug Approvals and Database: http://www.fda.gov/Drugs/InformationOnDrugs/default.htm
http://www.fda.gov/downloads/AboutFDA/CentersOffices/CDER/UCM135688.pdf
FDA Orange Book: https://www.fda.gov/Drugs/InformationOnDrugs/ucm129662.htm
OTC ingredient list: https://www.fda.gov/downloads/aboutfda/centersoffices/officeofmedicalproductsandtobacco/cder/ucm135688.pdf
(inactive ingredients approved for drugs: http://www.accessdata.fda.gov/scripts/cder/iig/
HPVIS (EPA High-Production Volume Info Systems) - https://ofmext.epa.gov/hpvis/HPVISlogon
NIOSH (National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health) - http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/
NTIS (National Technical Information Service) - http://www.ntis.gov/
NTP (National Toxicology Program ) - http://ntp.niehs.nih.gov/
Office of Dietary Supplements https://ods.od.nih.gov/
FEMA (Flavor & Extract Manufacturers Association) - http://www.femaflavor.org/search/apachesolr_search/
EU CosIng database: http://ec.europa.eu/growth/tools-databases/cosing/
ECHA (European Chemicals Agency – REACH dossiers) – http://echa.europa.eu/information-on-chemicals;jsessionid=A978100B4E4CC39C78C93A851EB3E3C7.live1
ECETOC (European Centre for Ecotoxicology and Toxicology of Chemicals) - http://www.ecetoc.org
European Medicines Agency (EMA) - http://www.ema.europa.eu/ema/
IUCLID (International Uniform Chemical Information Database) - https://iuclid6.echa.europa.eu/search
OECD SIDS (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development Screening Info Data Sets)- http://webnet.oecd.org/hpv/ui/Search.aspx
SCCS (Scientific Committee for Consumer Safety) opinions: http://ec.europa.eu/health/scientific_committees/consumer_safety/opinions/index_en.htm
NICNAS (Australian National Industrial Chemical Notification and Assessment Scheme)- https://www.nicnas.gov.au/
International Programme on Chemical Safety http://www.inchem.org/
FAO (Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations) - http://www.fao.org/food/food-safety-quality/scientific-advice/jecfa/jecfa-additives/en/
WHO (World Health Organization) technical reports - http://www.who.int/biologicals/technical_report_series/en/
www.google.com - a general Google search should be performed for additional background information, to identify references that are available, and for other general
information
Distributed for comment only -- do not cite or quote
Aluminum Silicate, Calcium Silicate, Magnesium Aluminum Silicate, Magnesium Silicate, Magnesium
Trisilicate, Potassium Silicate, Sodium Magnesium Silicate, Sodium Metasilicate, Sodium Silicate, Zirconium
Silicate, Attapulgite, Bentonite, Fuller’s Earth, Hectorite, Kaolin, Lithium Magnesium Silicate, Lithium
Magnesium Sodium Silicate, Montmorillonite, Pyrophyllite, and Zeolite
Dr. Schroeter said that his Team agreed that the ingredients in this review could be separated into two groups,
soluble salts, which may be active (Sodium Metasilicate, Potassium Silicate, and Sodium Silicate) and minerals of
solids (or clays) within the same report. He noted that the clays have no absorption and are basically safe, except for
the possibility of irritation. Dr. Schroeter also noted that cosmetic use includes sprays and that the issue of
inhalation exposure could be addressed in the report discussion as a cautionary item. Furthermore, he said that the
irritation potential of clays could be addressed in the report discussion by stating that concentrations in formulation
that induce irritation should be avoided.
Dr. Andersen said that according to yesterday’s Team discussions, the principal issue concerning the soluble salts
relates to irritation. Therefore, he said that if the conclusion on this group of ingredients could reflect the need to
formulate so that products are not irritating, then that concern could be eliminated.
Dr. Andersen also said that it may be possible for the Panel to issue a tentative conclusion on this group of
ingredients. He recalled that, except for the issue of inhalation exposure to clays, there are no other safety issues
and, thus, the clays could be considered safe as used.
Dr. Belsito agreed that a safe as used conclusion could be issued on the clays. He also said that it could be stated in
the report discussion that data on the use of clays in aerosolized products are insufficient.
Dr. Shank expressed concern over the possibility of silicosis following inhalation exposure to dust particles.
Dr. McEwen said that silicosis is not a concern because these ingredients are not composed of crystalline silicone.
However, he noted that pneumoconiosis may be a concern.
Dr. Belsito proposed dividing the current document into two reports. One of the reports will contain a safe as used
conclusion on the clays and the other report on the salts will be re-reviewed as a separate document. Dr. Belsito
speculated that the issue of irritation will be the only safety issue relating to the salts.
Dr. Schroeter confirmed that the issue of inhalation relating to the clays will be addressed in the report discussion.
The Panel voted unanimously in favor of issuing a Tentative Report with a safe as used conclusion (and appropriate
report discussion) on the clays.
The Panel also voted unanimously in favor of incorporating the data on the soluble salts from the current report into
a separate document that will be reviewed by the Panel.
Dr. Bergfeld stated that the report on the soluble salts will be reviewed at the next Team meeting.
Distributed for comment only -- do not cite or quote
Dr. Belsito said that the fact that talc is not one of the ingredients in this review should be stated in the report
introduction and discussion, and also noted that talc will be the subject of another review by the CIR Expert Panel.
The Panel voted unanimously in favor of issuing a Final Report with a safe as used conclusion on the Aluminum
Silicate ingredient family.
Because of the number of ingredients to date for which the issue of particle size (relating to inhalation or aerosol
exposure) has been raised, Dr. Bergfeld asked Dr. Belsito to review the caveat relating to particle size that has been
included in CIR reports. Dr. Bergfeld informed the Panel that this caveat will be discussed at the upcoming Panel
meeting.
Dr. Bergfeld also noted that because it is likely that the Panel will review talc at some point, the Panel’s
prioritization of this ingredient for review should be considered.
Dr. Belsito added that it is his understanding that FDA has reviewed talc and has not found that the data warrant any
immediate action. He said that talc should be added to the CIR Priority List, but should not necessarily be added at
the top of the list.
Dr. Bailey said that there are some aspects of talc that would be of interest, more so from the perspective of setting
standards or specifications for talc in terms of particle size. He noted that the results of an NTP inhalation study
(animals) on talc indicated exposure-related carcinogenic effects that were attributed to particle size. In this study,
the particle size of the talc was smaller than that used in cosmetics. Dr. Bailey added that he has not reviewed any
comprehensive data that address the particle size of talc that is used in cosmetics (i.e., the particle size distribution).
In light of the NTP finding, he also said that in order for one to have a higher level of confidence relative to
inhalation exposure, data on particle size distribution (in cosmetics) would be very useful.
Dr. McEwen said that the NTP study results were not linked directly to the talc, but to the overload and a secondary
mechanism. He also said that the effects of talc in miners and millers of this chemical have been studied over a
period of 50 to 60 years. The magnitude of the lung effects seen in a specific talcosis is basically pneumoconiosis,
which can be identified by the crystalline structure in X-rays. Dr. McEwen added that lung cancer has never
resulted from exposure to talc itself. However, talc that is mined from asbestiform-containing mineral deposits has
been implicated in cancer, specifically, the asbestiform particulate. According to Dr. McEwen, the specification for
cosmetic grade talc indicates that it contains no asbestiform particulate.
Dr. Bailey wanted to know the extent of industry compliance with the CTFA specification for cosmetic grade talc.
He said that it would be nice to have some assurance that the standard is being implemented.
Dr. McEwen said that relevant sampling would have to be done in order to insure this.
Dr. Bailey said that the Expert Panel could request these data, and that the Panel’s efforts may be more successful
than those of FDA.
Dr. Bailey also said that another issue relates to perineal use of talc and ovarian cancer, and that, based on the
available data, FDA has not arrived at any conclusion relative to this issue.
Dr. Bergfeld said that information relating to particle size will be retrieved from CIR reports for review. She noted
that the Panel has been faced with issues relating to aerosol exposure to cosmetic ingredients, and that previous
statements regarding particle size need to be captured for future use in safety assessments.
Distributed for comment only -- do not cite or quote
(1) Physical and chemical properties, including octanol/water partition coefficient and impurities data
(2) UV absorption (while these ingredients are not expected to have significant UV absorption, the Panel
believes the report would be improved if these data were available rather than assumed)
(3) Gross pathology and histopathology in skin and other major organ systems associated with repeated
dermal exposures; and, if these data are suggestive, reproductive and developmental toxicity data may be
needed
(4) Dermal irritation and sensitization (what is the highest non-irritating dose?)
(5) Mammalian genotoxicity data
(6) Ocular irritation, if available; with the view of establishing the highest non-irritating dose
He also stated that his Team determined that item 6 above is unnecessary and should be deleted from the list of data
requests.
Dr. Schroeter also noted that the hypersensitivity test on Sodium Metasilicate that is being conducted by the
National Toxicology Program study is nearing completion and that the preliminary data appear to be negative.
Concerning item 5 above, Dr. Belsito noted that the Panel has negative Ames test data on the silicate, but no test
data on the metasilicate. Thus, the Belsito Team determined that Ames test data on the metasilicate and mammalian
genotoxicity data on the silicate and metasilicate are needed.
Dr. Slaga recalled that Ames mutagenicity test data on Sodium Silicate are included in the CIR report.
Dr. McEwen did not see the need for another non-mammalian mutagenicity assay, considering that assays of this
type are included in the report.
Dr. Klaassen noted that bacterial mutagenicity data on Sodium Metasilicate are not included in the CIR report and
need to be requested.
Dr. McEwen said that based on the negative Ames test data on Sodium Silicate, it is expected that the other two
ingredients also are not mutagenic. He did not see the need for additional mutagenicity tests on either of the three
ingredients.
Dr. Belsito noted that his Team did not mention specific ingredients in any of the other data requests and asked
whether this should be done because of differences in chemical structure.
Distributed for comment only -- do not cite or quote
Dr. Slaga noted that the three chemicals in this review are very similar and it is possible that data on one chemical
may be used to evaluate the safety of another.
The Panel voted unanimously in favor of issuing an insufficient data announcement with the following data
requests:
(1) Physical and chemical properties, including the octanol/water partition coefficient and impurities data
(2) Gross pathology and histopathology in skin and other major organ systems associated with repeated
dermal exposures; and if these data are suggestive, reproductive and developmental toxicity data may be
needed
(3) Human dermal irritation and sensitization (specifically, the Panel wants to know the highest non-
irritating dose)
(4) Two genotoxicity studies for Sodium Metasilicate, one of which should be in a mammalian system; and
one mammalian genotoxicity study for either Potassium or Sodium Silicate
(5) Ocular irritation data, if available (again with the view of establishing a non-irritating dose)
Dr. Schroeter stated that unpublished data from industry were received in response to the preceding announcement
and that the Panel also received additional published studies. He then noted that his Team concluded that the
available data on Potassium Silicate, Sodium Metasilicate, and Sodium Silicate are no longer insufficient for the
following reasons, addressing each item on the list of data requests:
(1) Data on chemical and physical properties (Item 1) are available and further information is not needed.
The octanol/water partition coefficient (Item 1) is not needed because these ingredients are probably poorly
absorbed through the skin.
(2) Item 2 above is not needed because there was no evidence of developmental toxicity and these
ingredients are probably poorly absorbed through the skin.
(3) Item 3 is not needed. Irritancy may be a problem, but appropriate formulations should decrease the
likelihood of skin irritation.
(4) Item 4 is not needed. On the basis of limited skin absorption, mutagenicity and genotoxicity data are
not necessary.
(5) Item 5 is not needed. Ocular irritation may be avoided by formulation in rinse-off products to create a
non-irritating product. Leave-on product cautionary statements may also be developed.
Dr. Schroeter said that, based on the preceding comments, the reasons why the data originally requested are no
longer needed should be stated in the report discussion.
Dr. Belsito noted that Sodium Silicate is used in skin cleansing products, which include cleansing lotions, liquids,
and pads (which may be considered rinse-off products) and cold creams (which may be considered leave-on
products). He also noted that Sodium Silicate is used in skin cleansing products at concentrations up to 10.0%, and
that any leave-on product containing 10.0% Sodium Silicate may be irritating to the skin. Dr. Belsito added that a
safe as used conclusion for ingredient use at this concentration in a cold cream would probably be inappropriate,
given the uncertainty as to whether or not the skin cleansing cold creams are classified as leave-on products.
Distributed for comment only -- do not cite or quote
The possibility of concentration limits for Sodium Silicate (up to 4.0%, based on available data) as well as Sodium
Metasilicate in leave-on products was also mentioned, taking into consideration that Sodium Metasilicate has a
different type of irritation potential when compared to Sodium Silicate. Dr. Belsito said that a concentration limit
for Sodium Metasilicate needs to be determined.
Dr. Shank noted that Sodium Metasilicate is used only in rinse-off products.
Dr. Schroeter said that the irritation potential of Sodium Silicate should be addressed by indicating in the report
discussion that products containing this ingredient should be formulated to avoid skin irritation. He did not feel that
a concentration limit should be established for this ingredient.
Dr. Belsito agreed that Potassium Silicate, Sodium Metasilicate, and Sodium Silicate are safe as used in cosmetic
products when formulated to avoid skin irritation, and proposed this statement for the report conclusion.
The Panel voted unanimously in favor of issuing a Tentative Report with the following conclusion: Based on the
animal and clinical data included in this report, the CIR Expert Panel concludes that Potassium Silicate, Sodium
Metasilicate, and Sodium Silicate are safe as used in cosmetic products when formulated to avoid skin irritation.
Dr. Schroeter also noted that unpublished data (clinical skin irritation studies on Sodium Silicate and Sodium
Metasilicate) considered by the Panel at its December 2000 meeting have been incorporated into the report text, and
that these data do not warrant any change in the Panel’s tentative conclusion.
The Panel voted unanimously in favor of issuing a Final Report with the following conclusion: Based on the
available data contained within this report, the CIR Expert Panel concluded that Potassium Silicate, Sodium
Metasilicate, and Sodium Silicate are safe when formulated to avoid irritation in cosmetic formulations.
Distributed for comment only -- do not cite or quote
MR. PAVLICH: As for the acronym, when I reserved the domain name I thought for sure I'd get some interesting
calls from people to buy it, but that didn't happen. I'm also sure that there are people who go to that website and
they're disappointed by what they found, and amorphous silica is probably not what they had intended to see.
The Synthetic Amorphous Silica and Silicate Industry Association is an association that has been around for a
number of years but was actually incorporated and formed in July 2007. The eight founding companies that are
listed here, J.M. Huber, Evonik, Wacker Chemical, Cabot Corporation, Rhodia, PPG Industries, PQ Corp. and W.R.
Grace, you may or may not recognize them as being the major global producers of synthetic amorphous silica, but
they are. We are also associated with a group that's a subgroup called the Amorphous Silica and Silicate Producers,
so we've done some work with them in doing research, that's a group that we're associated with and we meet with
them every year. I'm also here with two other representatives from SASSI companies, Dr. Jim Hathaway from
Rhodia, and Dr. Gregg Daum from W.R. Grace. Dr. Hathaway is going to come up here in a little bit and go
through some of the details of our comments, but at this point I'll give an introduction of why we're here.
The basic reason is that the circumstance of CIR's review of silica fits our mission particularly well, and our
association's mission is to further the understanding of synthetic amorphous silica and silicate health and safety
within the industry, to monitor the regulation of synthetic amorphous silica and silicates by government, to educate
the public and government on the views of the industry, and to consult and cooperate with state officials and state
agencies on matters having industry-wide significance, and I would add other groups like CIR. That's our purpose
here.
We'd like to thank Dr. Andersen for working with us. He did attend our spring meeting in March and gave us an
overview of the CIR process for reviewing silica, and then gave us the opportunity to review the March 25 scientific
literature review. We did send comments in on May 12 on that review and a number of those were incorporated into
the latest version of the scientific literature review, but there were a number of things that we felt were not
addressed, and those are the comments that we're going to make today. I'll highlight here seven issues that we'd like
to address, and then I'll introduce Dr. Hathaway to go through those in detail.
First of all, obviously a reason for our existence is to differentiate synthetic amorphous silica from other forms of
silica. In the SLR we definitely feel that there is a need to have fair and accurate differentiation of SAS from other
forms of silica. Also the SLR we feel needed to focus more on just synthetic amorphous silica since that's the form
used in cosmetics and limit the discussion in reference to other forms of silica. This is a document that's published
and is going to be available, and obviously SASSI members are concerned about misinterpretation of information.
Similarly, there are a number of manufacturing processes that are mentioned in the summary that are not
contemporary and do not reflect the processes that are used for commercial manufacturing of synthetic amorphous
silica, and we feel that there is too much emphasis on those noncommercial processes and the composition of the
materials from those processes. Along the same lines, those references also give some information about the
impurity levels which we feel incorrectly represent synthetic amorphous silica. In the toxicological studies that are
referenced, there are a number of factors that Dr. Hathaway will emphasize that are important in interpreting the
judging the applicability of the studies on synthetic amorphous silica. The bibliography of the SLR is very lengthy.
We feel that it's relatively comprehensive but that because of the number of studies that are referenced that there is
little effort to identify the more current information that's available and to emphasize the importance of that data.
Finally, we were relatively surprised that in the summary, the information quoted was there were 3,276 products that
contain synthetic amorphous silica and the only specific reference was to hair spray with little identification of other
Distributed for comment only -- do not cite or quote
cosmetic products of routes of exposure that are suspected for those products. I'll now introduce Dr. Hathaway to go
through those comments in detail. Thank you.
DR. HATHAWAY: I appreciate the opportunity to provide additional comments to the CIR expert panel. I think
the thing that we're most concerned about is having a very clear and accurate differentiation from synthetic
amorphous silica and other forms of silica particularly crystalline silica or products that contain crystalline silica.
Unfortunately, there's a tremendous amount of confusion between these that is occurring all the time. Just a couple
of years ago the insurance carriers for all of the member companies wanted to have an exclusion against any product
liability for silica. Part of the problem is there's one cast number for all forms of silica and a lot of people don't
understand the difference. Companies had to have extensive discussions with their insurance carriers. Once they
understood the difference they limited it to crystalline silica, but to the extent that the document which will be
available publicly has some confusion in it, we'd very much appreciate it if those things could be corrected so that
we don't get something else out there that misinforms or confuses the public.
Instead of using the term silica, we would prefer that every time that you're referring to synthetic amorphous silica,
that either that full term be used or that it be abbreviated SAS and be very clear that the abbreviation stands for
synthetic amorphous silica.
Also the document contains a lot of references to the other forms of silica which I don't think adds anything of
benefit to the review, and we would prefer that you have something that I'll show you in a couple more slides, a very
limited discussion of the other forms of silica, and then following that strictly limiting the rest of it to synthetic
amorphous silica.
Hopefully you can read it a little bit better in the document that you have. There are some things here that are not
quite as clear as I had hoped they would be. If you look right here, that's the form of amorphous silica, it's called
fused silica. It's essentially made by melting crystalline silica to a molten form. You form a kind of glass. In the
document this was listed as if it were the major form of production of synthetic amorphous silica. I guess it's a
synthetic amorphous silica, but it's not what goes into cosmetics. It would be a hunk of glass and it's not ground up
and put into synthetic amorphous silica at all.
Over here in this group here, that's natural diatomaceous earth from diatoms. In nature it contains about 2 to 3
percent crystalline silica and the rest is amorphous silica. The ones that are further down that list are calcined, and
when you calcine diatomaceous earth, a lot of this is used as a filter aid for filtering various products in their
manufacturing processes, you form up to 70 percent crystalline silica. There are a lot of problems with the
epidemiology studies that are talking about amorphous silica because in some cases they found cases of silicosis, but
these are ones where there was exposure to the calcine diatomaceous earth which is up to 70 crystalline silica, and so
it's very important to make a very clear distinction between what we're calling synthetic amorphous silica and these
other forms that can actually contain crystalline silica themselves.
Right here, this particular area is what we think should be the focus of the document. These are the synthetic
amorphous silicas that would be used in cosmetics. There are two essential processes here. One is the way process
that produces precipitated silica and also silica gel, and the other one is a thermal process that produces pyrogenic
silica. Unfortunately, the historic name for pyrogenic silica was fumed silica and this has the potential for
tremendous confusion. Let me just show you. Over there there's a thing called silica fume. It sounds a lot like
fumed silica. Unfortunately, silica fume contains crystalline silica. I think the person who drafted the document had
some confusion between these two and we would of course like that cleared up as well and we would strongly prefer
that the thermal process, synthetic amorphous silica, always be called pyrogenic to help avoid this confusion in
terms of terminology.
As I mentioned before on that fused silica where they essentially melt crystalline silica, this is really not a
commercial process that's used in anything that goes into there. It would probably be best that it be taken out of the
document. You can show the kind of table that we presented in the previous slide and then after that limit the
discussion to the true synthetic amorphous silicas that are used in cosmetics.
Distributed for comment only -- do not cite or quote
I think I've pretty much discussed both of these things already, the confusion with heating the crystalline silica to
form a type of glass, and the confusion between silica fume and pyrogenic silica.
In some of the discussion of pyrogenic silica which in the document is referred to as fumed silica, they have a
reference saying that it may contain up to 6 to 8 percent crystalline silica. We're pretty sure that was confusion with
silica fume. Then it follows immediately after that reference with a reference from Cabot saying that their stuff is
99.8 percent pure as if there's maybe some discrepancy in which one do you want to believe. The pyrogenic silica
from Cabot Corporation is indeed 99.8 percent, and any of the producers of the pyrogenic form have a very high
level of purity. The precipitated silica is less pure mostly because it contains a certain amount of water and the
pyrogenic is very dry. It appears to call into question the claims about Cabot Corporation about the purity and we
think the way these things are juxtaposed they are potentially very misleading to reader.
In terms of the toxicology studies, I think the ones that discuss oral toxicity and dermal toxicity are pretty much fine.
This is a compound that is considered safe to use in food products. In terms of skin exposure there is very little in
the way of issues. Synthetic amorphous silica can absorb water, so if you put the powder directly on your skin it
may cause some drying of the skin and some irritation. I don't imagine that this would be an issue the way it's used
as ingredients within cosmetics, however. It could be an issue in the workplace. But there is a very key thing when
we're considering inhalation or intratracheal injection studies. One of the things that creates an anomaly here is that
these products as they're produced are about 100 microns in diameter and for some applications they are milled
down into the maybe the 10 or 20 micron range, and that's actually a relatively smaller percentage of the total. Most
of the material is actually in 100 micron range or at least about 30 or 40 microns in diameter as it would be used in
most cosmetic ingredients. But if you're going to do an inhalation study and you have material that's big, anything
above 10 microns is not going to get down into the lungs. So the various groups like OECD that do the toxicology
protocols require that these things be broken up into something that averages 4 microns in diameter, and indeed all
of the toxicology studies have had to do this in order to comply with these protocols. So you get an artificial
situation where this material can now be inhaled or it can be injected down into the trachea. What happens when
this is done is you have the smaller particles that have a higher surface area and although synthetic amorphous silica
if you look up some of the references on solubility, they will say it's insoluble; everything is relative. Crystalline
silica for example is pretty much insoluble. Synthetic amorphous silica is relatively insoluble. As you get to a
larger surface area for the mass of material, you do get some of this material dissolved and it dissolves to form
silicic acid. If you do break up these particles either by dispersion or by milling or by whatever means and you have
an inhalation toxicology study, you're going to get some silicic formed on the alveoli of the experimental animals
and you're going to get some corrosive effects from the acidic silicic acid. This is not something that you would see
from even inhalation of cosmetic products or from the manufacture of these things in the protocols that workers
might be exposed to during the manufacturing process because they're just not respirable in the form that they're
being used. In a sense it's almost an artificial situation, and they do cause inhalation toxicity if they are broken up to
those smaller sizes. One of the interesting things is though that because they are somewhat soluble under these
circumstances, there are a number of clearance studies that show that this material is completely cleared from the
lungs and that the reason that the studies don't find fibrosis that you would find with crystalline silica. It's something
that we would recommend that before they go into the animal inhalation studies that they talk about this particle size
and the fact that it's an artificial situation with all of the inhalation and intratracheal toxicology studies that were
done and that you would not see this with the larger particles that are used commercially.
As Dave mentioned, the review covers an enormous number of studies. Unfortunately, there's not a lot of I guess
what you'd call interpretation of weighing of which of the studies are most significant. We would like to see a little
bit more of this done and perhaps more emphasis be given to some of the newer or more credible studies rather than
just simply listing them all and leaving it up to the reader to try to judge which ones are most important. Most of the
older inhalation toxicity studies did not discuss this particle size difference in terms of the materials being dispersed
or milled down to a small particle size, that's unfortunate, and so the abstracts don't discuss that at all, but the reader
is going to wonder which ones of these are really the correct situation. If you want, we would be willing to go and
try to give some assistance here in terms of pointing out what we think are the more reliable and credible studies.
As Dave mentioned, we were surprised that there wasn't more discussion of the actual applications in cosmetics.
That really is not a big issue with us, but it's something that you might want to consider in terms of improving the
document. Here we have the spelling of our names and our website and so forth.
Distributed for comment only -- do not cite or quote
I'd be happy to address any questions that any of the panel members have.
DR. SLAGA: Just to have it straight, the 100 percent that is supplied to the cosmetic industry is between 10 and 100
microns?
DR. SLAGA: And only in some of the studies did an inhalation was it at 4 micron?
DR. HATHAWAY: Correct. They either break it up and disperse it some form or mill it down to that smaller
diameter so it can get in there. In fact, in order to comply with the testing protocols they have to do this even though
it's not representative of the material that would be involved in worker exposure or consumer exposure.
DR. LIEBLER: I appreciate the silica family tree that you provided us. I think it's helpful in organizing our
thinking about this. I have two questions that relate to this. One is are there any sort of milestone dates in terms of
synthetic amorphous silica manufacturing processes that would be useful in helping us interpret some of the older
literature? In other words, in the 1970s or 1980s or sometime were there any changes in manufacturing processes
that yielded the materials that are used in cosmetics now?
DR. HATHAWAY: I'm going to go out on a limb and make some guesses. I'm thinking that these processes
probably were introduced in the 1950s or earlier. There is certainly much more production now than there was in
that timeframe. But many of these articles that are from the 1950s to the 1970s still are talking about older
processes and maybe there was some use of this glass that was formed from melting crystalline silica and I'm not
sure what it would be today. I think a relatively small amount of these materials go into the cosmetic field. I know
of the stuff that our company produces probably 80 percent goes into tires to reduce rolling friction and most of the
other 20 percent goes into toothpaste, so relatively small amounts go into the cosmetic industry, but it's probably
widely used in a lot of products.
DR. LIEBLER: It doesn't sound like there's a clear dividing line of any sort in the manufacturing process that would
be helpful to us.
DR. HATHAWAY: Unfortunately not, but I would say the studies that would have dates after 1990 certainly would
be probably more credible than ones that had dates before that.
DR. LIEBLER: I have one other question. What is the analytical method that's used to determine the content of
crystalline silica in a background of synthetic amorphous silica?
DR. HATHAWAY: Usually this would be a microscopic thing. I was recently at our plant that manufactures this
and even though we expected to find no crystalline silica, we went ahead and had some industrial hygiene sampling
done at the site to reassure our own employees, and they do a microscopic analysis for the three forms of crystalline
silica and they found nondetectable levels at extremely low levels, whereas when they measured total particulates
which would include the larger particles, indeed there was a certain amount of dust exposure during the
manufacturing process.
DR. LIEBLER: So the analytical methodology then probably would have been the same for a long time if you say
it's microscopic evaluation?
DR. BELSITO: As you may or may not be aware, and I guess that's my question, we're already issued two prior
reports on silicates and this is the third to capture all of the ingredients that we failed to capture before. Did you
have the opportunity to review those two prior published reports?
Distributed for comment only -- do not cite or quote
DR. HATHAWAY: This would have been before the one that came out in March?
DR. HATHAWAY: I don't think we were aware of that. Dave, were you aware of anything?
DR. MARKS: In the manufacturing of the cosmetics, are there any physical changes that would occur as with a
natural amorphous silica where there would be more crystalline silica produced in the end product or the use?
DR. HATHAWAY: I'm not familiar with how they're done in cosmetics. I would assume these are simply
blendings, and unless you have a process that introduces very high heat, I don't believe you'd form any crystalline
silica.
DR. HILL: I want to get clarification in that regard. So if they were truly amorphous rather than crystalline and
they were inhaled because it was in some powdered product or some spray, what we would expect is dissolution to
silicic acid and the lung is able to clear that and you'd probably talking about small amounts where there wouldn't be
a toxicity issue. Is that what I heard you to say?
DR. HATHAWAY: I have a hard time imagining very much is going to be inhaled from any cosmetic use.
DR. HATHAWAY: But even hair spray I have a hard time imagining.
DR. HATHAWAY: There was one reference in the review that talked about hair spray and I believe that they said
that the particles were in the 30 to 50 micron range for that particular product which is way above the respirable size
and I would imagine that the proportion that might be below 10 would be very, very small. Most of the things that
we've looked at have been at least 99 percent above 10 in terms of total mass of the dust. So these the amount of
fines that might be below 10 is going to be below 1 percent and I would suspect considerably below 1 percent.
DR. HILL: And what is produced under those circumstances you're telling us that the lungs should be able to clear?
DR. HATHAWAY: Even when they used very large amounts of the dispersed material, this clears in the lungs. I
think the half-life is less than 30 days even with a significant amount. Between SASSI and ASAP, the European
equivalent of ours, we've done these dissolution studies to demonstrate this. There is also a study of three German
manufacturing for synthetic amorphous silica in terms of epidemiology studies where they're looking both at
pulmonary function and chest X-rays and I believe this is in the process of being written up for publication and
they've found no evidence of any fibrosis.
DR. MARKS: There was one reference in which Epstein in the early 1960s injected colloidal silica subcutaneously
and developed granuloma formation. Is this an example where we don't really know what was in that colloidal silica
that was not synthetic amorphous silica?
DR. HATHAWAY: I'm really not sure. Colloidal sounds like it would probably be amorphous, but I have a hard
time knowing. I'm not familiar with that particular article.
DR. HATHAWAY: There are an awful lot of things that can cause granulomas. If you implant a diamond in a rat
you're going to get granulomas forming. I'm not sure it's directly related to any kind of an inhalation type of toxicity
or exposure to the exterior of the skin. There are lots of things just because of their geometric shape and so forth
Distributed for comment only -- do not cite or quote
will cause granulomas in experimental animals especially rats. When I was in the Army and we were looking at
issues with the safety of Kevlar for bulletproof vests, they implanted some Kevlar in the rats and you form
granulomas around them.
DR. SNYDER: Related to slide 7, the reliability of the studies, do you have additional data that you could provide
us that are not in the reports?
DR. HATHAWAY: We provided two documents that are relatively recent and I think pretty thorough reviews of
the issue. One of these is called the Jack Report that was produced in Europe. It's a very, very large document.
Then we recently produced another document that I think is around 50 pages long that's maybe a condensed
summary of a lot of that information and we did this as a voluntary effort with the Environmental Protection Agency
because they're concerned about nanoparticle issues. In the manufacturing process, you start off with nanosized
amorphous silica and it forms aggregates and then agglomerates to get up to the 100 micron size so the primary
particles are nanosized and this was the reason that we provided that summary. It's a shorter summary but I think it
covers the manufacturing processes very well. There are pretty good summaries on the epidemiology and the
toxicology studies. It also talks about the bonding of the agglomerates. These things do not break up under normal
circumstances. You have to go to pretty significant mechanical forces to get these things to break up into smaller
particles. Thank you very much.
Distributed for comment only -- do not cite or quote
Okay, so this is -- we got some pages here, information that was not in the book, unpublished data, and basically it
was two human studies, 27 individuals each, exposed to 17 percent concentration of hydrated silica with negative
sensitization.
And then we got a guinea pig sensitization study on hydrated silica -- the shortest study I've ever seen, or at least the
shortest summary -- and this was 10 percent in distilled water with a challenge that induction from 1 to 20 percent,
and that was on 10 animals, and that was negative.
And then we got a summary from the FDA on line just lots of data that I didn't think had added anything to the
report.
And then we had a rather SASSI talk this morning, so hopefully you've heard more than you need to hear already
today on silicates.
And so the question here is, what are we -- where are we going with this? And I thought probably, you know, safe
as used, I sort of did agree with the comments this morning that we need to be very careful about the amorphous
silica because I got like really confused reading the document as to where we're going.
And I guess the other questions I have are, how do we handle these prior reports from 2003 and 2005? Do we want
to lump them now? Do we want to wait till 2018 when the first 2003 report comes up for re-review, and then lump
them all together? Or where do we go with those? And table 10 was missing from my document.
DR. BELSITO: Table 12 was where -- table 12 continued was where Table 10 was supposed to be, so --
B - SPEAKER: Microphone.
DR. BELSITO: And table 12 continued belongs after belongs after table 12? Okay. Or is table 12
continued -- really Table 10? Which one is table --
SPEAKER: The first table 12 continued on page 78, the table --(off mike).
DR. BELSITO: Oh. So it's really not table 12 continued. Oh, okay, good. Well, that helped me out there.
(Inaudible chatter) I thought I was Hebrew reading from right to left.
DR. SNYDER: So all of that data, that other data has been added in?
MS. BECKER: That I have except for what just this little bit you got handed.
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DR. LIEBLER: I would quite agree with the revision suggested in the staff, the presentation this morning, on
clarifying the definition of the form to use and minimizing the emphasis on crystalline silica.
DR. LIEBLER: No, I -- well, I got the impression that it's good to know that what is being discussed is not
crystalline silica.
DR. BELSITO: And probably just summarizing that a) we're not talking about crystalline silica, and so that means
things in the nature of silicosis, pneumoconiosis, those types of issues that people associate with silica are going
away.
DR. LIEBLER: Exactly. But if you don't mention that, if you don't mention it's not crystalline silica, then people
are going to get confused and asked why you're ignoring all that stuff.
DR. BERGFELD: But there are a lot of citations here that --(off mike).
DR. LIEBLER: Yeah. And I guess I had a question, in the older literature where it may not have been clear what
form of silica was actually used in some of these older studies, and what effects are valuated? Should those studies
be included?
That's why I asked the question this morning, was there any milestone or change in manufacturing process that
would have sort of invalidated earlier studies, because the material that was tested was no longer applicable to
current cosmetic use. And it sounds like it's not that straightforward.
But where it's not clear that the material study was the material that is used in current cosmetic use, I think that stuff
should be deleted.
MS. BECKER: Whenever I was unclear on whether it's crystalline or amorphous, I left it out. I only did thinks I
could definitely say were amorphous from the test to this paper.
DR. BERGFELD: You have the fume silica. Fume silica, that would be one of --
MS. BECKER: If they called it fumed silica. If it says silica fume, I never saw that.
DR. BERGFELD: But that's different from the crystalline form, then.
DR. BAILEY: I would recommend taking from the presentation this morning that in some detail the
characterization and definition and so forth, and put that into the appropriate part of this report, because there is a
huge amount of confusion. And your assessment will be for the synthetic amorphous silica. And I think you need
to, in the discussion, strongly make that distinction and separate from the crystalline silica, because this is an area
where there's so much confusion, and the terms used and, you know, questions about silicosis and, you know, being
related to silicos used in cosmetics. That really needs to be clarified.
And your expectations need to be clarified that we're talking about, you know, that we're talking about the, you
know, synthetic amorphous silica in the process.
DR. BELSITO: Right. But as Paul pointed out, you know, a lot of the studies, and I guess what really threw, you
know, a monkey wrench into -- and again I think it's safe as used -- but I mean I think you want to present the
correct data and not incorrect data that you have to argue against: Was the fumed silica versus silica fumed, and one
is actually crystalline and not amorphous, and the other is amorphous.
DR. BELSITO: And so when we're referring a lot of the studies in here is a fumed silica which -- is that silica
fumed or fumed silica? Is it amorphous, or is it crystalline?
And, you know, I don't -- you know, based upon that, I don't know how to proceed with this. Should we --
DR. HATHAWAY: Unfortunately, there's different categories of amorphous silica. What's used in the cosmetics
are synthetic amorphous silica, and there is the two processes, you know, the wet and the thermal that was described.
There is also a whole bunch of other things that are called amorphous silica that typically contain a certain amount
of crystalline silica. And so that adds to additional confusion. You have the diatomaceousers which contain a little
bit to start with.
When they're calcine they contain a lot. And then you have on the other side of the other amorphous ones is silica
fume, which is usually called an amorphous silica, but it contains a certain amount of crystalline silica.
So it presents a potential point of confusion, and we offered to work with -- I forget your name --
DR. HATHAWAY: Lillian -- you know, to try to come up with some, you know, perhaps a better way of presenting
the characterization of the material, you know, early on in the report.
DR. BELSITO: -- and ask Lillian to work with the SASSI -- but we don't want to get too sassy in the process,
Lillian -- and go through and look at each of the references that are here and make sure that a) that when they're
talking about fume silica, it's the amorphous and not the crystalline.
And then spoof up the document and have it come back to us with the notion that at least I'm comfortable, Paul and
Curt, with the idea that this is going to be safe as used, but we want the information in the document to be what is
actually used in cosmetics and not what is not used in cosmetics or --
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MS. BECKER: I --
MS. BECKER: I was. That's one of the things that took me so long in getting started on this particular -- was going
through and combing through all of that and figuring out what was amorphous and what was not.
MS. BECKER: And all I have to go on is what, you know, the writers wrote. And what the writers wrote I did
quote in there. If they say colloidal, I put it in there; if they say silica so I'll put it in there so that I did not
interpretation other than its amorphous or not.
So unless they know something I don't know about the papers, I don't think I can -- you know.
DR. BAILEY: (off mike) -- these are really editorial changes. I mean they may be more editorial than we're maybe
used to, but I think if you feel comfortable with the, you know, conclusion, and working with SASSI folks to make
these corrections and editorial changes, that, you know, we would -- I would recommend going ahead and giving
your conclusion and moving the documents forward.
DR. BAILEY: With the idea that you'll have a chance to look at it, you know, with those editorials when corrected.
MS. BECKER: And then when we get through, it might be more clear –
DR. BELSITO: So, then, why don't -- well, then, the suggestion is we move forward, tentative final, safe as used.
Lillian will get together with the SASSI people for editorial corrections, and I guess I would like to see done what
was done for the cyclomethicone report where there are comments that we should delete something that is currently
in here. If they could keep it, then just underline that whole paragraph with a comment that, yeah, in review we're
recommending this be deleted because in reality it was not amorphous silica, and then we can say, oh, okay. You
know, rather than just having a whole bunch of material disappear from this document and us now knowing why it
disappeared.
DR. BERGFELD: Well, can I offer another suggestion that maybe, when they're working on their draft, that they do
that? But then they give us the second draft of deleting all of that, because I think it's going to be confusing with all
that fume stuff in there. It's everywhere.
DR. SNYDER: But isn't the fume silica the pyrogenic silica which is one of the forms of a --
DR. BERGFELD: Well, maybe. You did say, Dr. Hathaway, that some of that had a high crystalline level.
DR. HATHAWAY: Unfortunately, the two terms are very similar. That's why, you know, and the editorial changes
we would strongly recommend that you use the term "pyrogenic" instead of fume silica. We're trying to do that in
the industry to, you know, avoid that confusion.
DR. ANDERSEN: Don, I think with due respect to the industry input that we've received today, I'm not prepared to
turn this report over to industry for writing it.
DR. BELSITO: Well, I don't think for writing, but for comment that we can review.
DR. ANDERSEN: Comment can be made by any interested party when the tentative document is issued for public
review. If we get some further input, I'd love to receive that.
DR. ANDERSEN: But there is nothing that I’ve heard in terms of fundamental flaws that says this should stop.
Should we include up front maybe a further glossary that explains to the reader that some of the terminology you're
going to be seeing may look strange, and, in fact, the current preferred term for fume silica is pyrogenic silica. We
can put that up front so that the explanation is provided.
But if the author of the published study called it fume silica, we can't recreate what was said in that published study.
The fact that we think that's pyrogenic silica, you can in fact state positively that we think it is.
DR. ANDERSEN: That's a fine way to deal with it. But I don't -- I'm not hearing anything that says that there is a
fundamental flaw in this document. The data that are there don't raise particularly any safety issues. It is axiomatic
that we must be clear that this is not a safety assessment of crystalline silica.
DR. ANDERSEN: So however we do that, you know, it's going to be like teaching high school history: Tell 'em
what you're going to tell 'em; tell 'em and tell 'em what you told 'em. If we don't say it that many times, we will not
have done our job. So we can look at it from that point of emphasis, but unless there is a study that's included in
here that is known to be crystalline silica and shouldn't be in there, there's nothing to deal with here.
DR. BELSITO: Okay. So then we're not going to make any changes, except to perhaps a little stronger emphasis in
the --
DR. ANDERSEN: -- point about minimizing the crystalline silica part, that I don't have a problem with that.
DR. ANDERSEN: But that is indeed, as John pointed out, it's editorial. And that's just a level of finessing this that
is important. I mean I think we heard clearly this morning that to any reader they better see clearly the focus of this
is away from crystalline silica.
DR. ANDERSEN: I think we're very close to that anyway, but a little more emphasis can't hurt.
Distributed for comment only -- do not cite or quote
DR. BAILEY: I mean I -- from the industry's perspective, I would like to see this document, you know, set sort of a
framework for future use of terms, and understanding of what is what. A glossary would certainly do that.
DR. LIEBLER: You had a figure 1 that's sort of like what I called the silica family tree –
DR. LIEBLER: -- earlier in this morning's presentation. And I think, you know, maybe sitting here with a couple
cups of coffee and listening to it here to get off to the second time made it more clear to me that there were some
nice distinctions that emerged from this morning's presentation that I just didn't get first time reading it. And that
might have been me, not you, but I think it's worth making the point about pyrogenic silica being -- also being called
in the literature "fumed silica," and how that can lead to confusion of that material with "silica fume."
And if that can be briefly explained in the introductory material so that it allows, then, the reader to go to the
original language in the literature report and not be baffled.
DR. BELSITO: Okay. And then just to get back to my prior point about we have two prior reports out, the 2003,
2005, do we want to collapse all of those ingredients into this report? And then a final point is in one of those two
our conclusion was when formulated not to be irritating. In this series of reports we really don't have any data to
suggest that these materials are in fact irritating when used.
But now this will be the third silica document. One I think was safe as used, and one had a conclusion that -- that
potassium, sodium, and silicate is the one that says "when formulated to avoid irritation." And then the other one
was just "are safe as used in cosmetic products."
DR. BERGFELD: You could -- you could handle that with "should not be irritating in the product." I mean like we
did before.
DR. BELSITO: I understand that, but my point, Wilma, is that in this current document --
DR. BELSITO: -- with these current ingredients, we have no data to suggest that irritation is, in fact, the problem.
And, in fact, the irritation that we had --
DR. BELSITO: And that was, you know, I think because we had data as in all cases where, you know, 100 percent
there was some irritation or something, and this was back when we -- I don't know what we were doing -- but so if
we don't combine these documents, then we're going to have two reports on silicates that say safe as used, and one
that says safe as used when formulated not to be irritating.
And it's just, to me, if I were not on this panel, and I'm looking, okay, so what's the difference between calcium and
sodium silicate, and why can one be safe as used and one only be safe as used when it's formulated not to be
irritating?
DR. ANDERSEN: Well, I think that the answer is not in this report, but the answer is in fixing the other report. The
only data that suggested a concern was actually sodium metasilicate.
DR. ANDERSEN: And the conclusion could have focused on that ingredient in the earlier report; we just didn't do
that. But all of the other simple salts were not irritating, continuing the pattern. So I don't think that you lose
anything by not perpetuating the problem here but rather when we come back to the previous report fixing it. Or if
industry is particularly concerned, they can suggest an amendment as needed to the earlier safety assessment.
DR. HATHAWAY: I might be able to add a little bit of clarification. The sodium metasilicate is a very alkaline
material, and that may be the reason why in some formulations, if it's not very careful to adjust the overall pH of the
product, you could end up with an irritating situation. We really didn't comment on that; we focused really only on
the synthetic amorphous silica things, but that's probably why it was there in the older ones.
DR. BERGFELD: And our summary from the older document mentions that.
DR. BELSITO: Okay, so we're going ahead with the safe as used. We're going to do -- clean just as little bit,
strengthen the introduction to clarify exactly what we're looking at, the fume versus fumed silicate -- silicate fumes,
and, I gather from what Alan said, we're not going to add in the ingredients from the reports we previously did, we're
worry for the 2018 people.
DR. SLAGA: It's too complicated. Unless all these things are changed and number two, I would like to see us
relook at -- even if informal -- the other two that we -- has been approved in the past.
MS. BECKER: I'm just trying to catch up, so I think I'm just going to sit in while I listen here.
DR. MARKS: No. Not -- actually nothing was said. Basically the suggestion was made that this be tabled so we
can go ahead and integrate the presentation we heard this morning. Thank you. And then also look at the two
previous safety assessments that were done and, in fact, one of the -- the potential suggestion --
DR. SLAGA: Well, even Belsito wanted them to look at those two. I mean --
DR. MARKS: Well, one of the potential tacts I thought was we just reopen the old safety assessments and group all
of this together.
DR. MARKS: And that could be -- so it could be tabled with that idea also as to consider do we group all -- all of
the safety assessments.
DR. MARKS: I'm tomorrow. So it will be easy if it's tabled. But I should think we need to know what we want
other than obviously integrating the data we've heard today.
MS. BECKER: Well, of the data you heard today, the papers that they talked about are already integrated into the
report. I got the information in time to integrate it for you guys. So you've already read everything they've given us.
DR. SLAGA: Oh, okay. It's been changed over what they were --
Distributed for comment only -- do not cite or quote
MS. BECKER: Yes. They gave me the stuff -- I already -- I stayed up late at night putting all this stuff in so you
guys could have it. You have it.
DR. SHANK: You made it clear about the crystalline versus amorphous. Is that what you're talking about?
DR. MARKS: Yeah, it's in the introduction -- the second paragraph. It's very clear. There are two
categories -- crystalline and amorphous -- and only the amorphous ones are used in cosmetics. That's page one.
DR. HATHAWAY: Part of the problem is that a lot of amorphous forms are not used. It's really only the synthetic
amorphous forms. And -- you know -- we would appreciate it if even though the data is in there, particularly the
section on the silicas -- you know -- I think it could be clarified so that it would be a lot less confusing to other
people. It may not affect your safety assessment, but since it would be a public document -- you know -- we would
like it to be -- you know -- as straight forward and easy for -- you know -- someone else to read and understand it.
MS. BECKER: When I was going through all the papers in many papers it is very difficult to figure out which type
of silica it was and I gave their -- the author's description of the silica as given and that is clear as I can make it. If
you know something I don't as in -- you know -- we know this guy only worked on this type of silica, which is never
used, we could -- you know --
DR. HATHAWAY: No, I understand that. The confusion comes as I mentioned this morning. This one amorphous
silica that's formed by melting crystalline silica -- you know -- ends up forming a solid object, you know. Maybe it
doesn't become a glass like this, but it's a type of glass. So it's not really relevant to this and then the confusion
between silica fume, which is considered another amorphous form but has a certain amount of crystalline silica in it
and the pyrogenic silica -- that a synonym is fumed silica -- you know there's a problem there. You know we would
just like -- we would very much appreciate it if -- you know -- all of these terminologies were clarified so there
would be not confusion on the part of an outsider reader and -- you know -- we're willing to work with you to try to
get that squared away.
MS. BECKER: Yeah, because as far as -- my information -- with the information I have, it's as clear as I can make
it. So if you've got better information --
DR. SLAGA: Some of the publications won't be clear. That's -- I think that's the point you make.
DR. ANSELL: Well, a lot of them do have scriptors -- precipitated study, aerosols, silica, undescribed, (off mike)
silica. Perhaps we could clarify --
DR. HATHAWAY: No. There's no question the revision is a lot better than the -- than the initial draft, but there's
still, we feel, could be improved to avoid -- you know -- confusion by people reading it.
SPEAKER: Well, I --
DR. ANSELL: Could you identify which of these are the cosmetic silicas as opposed to the (off mike) silicas?
DR. SHANK: Inclusion of that flow sheet that you gave us this morning would be helpful.
DR. MARKS: Yeah. It's in there which -- so I think we're -- if we decide to issue a tentative report, that gives the
opportunity for you to comment and do some of this suggestions you have.
DR. HATHAWAY: I mean -- yeah. I mean if you'd be willing to -- you know -- have us work with you --
DR. HATHAWAY: I think the section on describing the forms of silica is an area that we would like to see
changed.
DR. HATHAWAY: And maybe some introduction on the inhalation intratracheal thing on particle size -- you
know -- just to clarify. I mean you have it in there, but it was right at the very beginning -- you know -- that kind of
prefacing all of these studies, even though many of the studies may not have specifically referenced particle
size -- particularly some of the older ones.
DR. MARKS: And sometimes that appears in the discussion and the discussion at this point hasn't actually been
written, so these nuances are often included in the discussion to put it in perspective. So that can -- all that can be
done.
SPEAKER: Let's help through the discussion focus on the most relevant studies versus (off mike).
SPEAKER: -- which is that we do have an administrative process which includes a time period during which
comments are solicited and welcome and we really would like people to submit valuable comments -- to submit
them during that time frame, not afterwards. Because that really messes up our process and it doesn't allow us to
incorporate the changes in a timely way so that you can see them before the panel meeting and the panel can see
them.
DR. MARKS: Right. And that's a 60 day time period, so we'll have plenty of --
DR. MARKS: -- plenty of time to add these wording. We haven't even seen the discussion on this. We are
basically today to decide --
SPEAKER: Okay.
DR. PAVLICH: As we understood the process when Dr. Andersen visited, we were given the opportunity to look
at the first draft of the scientific review and we sent in our comments and then he told me that we probably wouldn't
have a chance to get those comments incorporated into the review before this meeting and therefore just to come and
give our presentation. So that was our -- that's how we understood the process. So -- I mean -- we had these
prepared last week, but we -- our understanding was that it wouldn't make it any difference if we sent them in early
or not.
DR. MARKS: So, Ron, Ron and Tom -- Ron, Tom and Ron -- whichever way I want to go is -- do you want to
move this forward to make a conclusion on these ingredients as a cosmetic ingredient and keep it as such? Do you
want to group this with the other reviews (off mike)?
DR. SLAGA: Well, based on a lot of changes have already made, there's -- we can do it with the others later. We
don't have to deal with them (off mike).
DR. SLAGA: -- and right now, I don't think we have to based on what we have already heard that we have to deal
with the other two that have been already out in literature.
DR. SHANK: With one question. The iron -- the which is it called -- aluminum iron silicate. We have almost no
data on any of the metal silicates. But calcium silicate, sodium silicate -- that doesn't bother me. But the adding
aluminum iron -- especially if it's inhaled with a high oxygen content of the lung -- the iron atom could produce
oxidative damage which would not be expected by any of the other silicates. So I would not include aluminum iron
silicate without data. The others I can add. That's the only change.
DR. SHANK: Insufficient for -- well, these are add- ons, aren't they or whatever?
DR. SHANK: So it would be insufficient for the aluminum iron silicate and you'd need inhalation data unless -- you
could say since it's not respirable.
DR. HATHAWAY: Well, I don't think any of our member companies produce that compound, so I don't have any
information.
DR. SHANK: Okay. We had no data on it. But if it's -- if it's not respirable, then it's not a problem.
SPEAKER: I have no idea what the (off mike) for that is.
DR. SHANK: But, since we have no data on it, we would need some data.
DR. MARKS: So we'll move that this be a tentative safety assessment and it's these ingredients are safe with the
exception of aluminum iron silicates, which would be insufficient data --
DR. HILL: And I'm answering a question while you're writing sort of from this morning is -- and I'm thinking in
particular of hairspray formulations where there -- the amounts are small anyway. I understood you to say that as
manufactured -- according to your knowledge -- there are large enough aggregates that even assuming that whatever
Distributed for comment only -- do not cite or quote
liquid accompanied the droplets evaporated before somebody inhales this, that the particle sizes are still too large to
go any farther than the trachea. So I --
DR. HATHAWAY: Correct. When they're -- when they're in a solution -- whether it's aqueous or a combination of
other solvents or whatever -- it's not going to disaggregate.
DR. HILL: So then my question became at least based on your knowledge of the companies that are manufacturing
this stuff, that are in products available to Americans at least, that there are no nanosize particles -- anything smaller
than four microns that are fines -- what we always called fines working with silica in the lab -- in products as they
are manufactured, but the finished products -- the hairsprays and such.
DR. HATHAWAY: We ran it by -- you know -- the companies on both sides of the Atlantic. Initially we had down
there 16 to 100 microns because that's pretty much what all the people on this side had and they recommended we
drop it to 10, because I guess they must have some products that are down closer to 10.
DR. HATHAWAY: But -- you know -- we checked with -- you know -- the eight companies are the same
companies on both sides of the Atlantic. They may have different plants and have -- you know -- slightly different
product mix, so we certainly checked with all of the European and the North American manufacturers.
MS. BECKER: Could we get a letter or memo saying that so I can put it in the document?
DR. PAVLICH: It's in the -- it's in our summary. Ten to 100 was quoted in that summary.
DR. MARKS: Okay. Any other comments? We'll issue -- we will move -- I will move since I'm the one that will
be presenting this -- issue a tentative safety assessment with a finding that aluminum magnesium (off mike)
aluminum calcium, sodium silicate, hydrated silica and a sodium potassium aluminum silicate are safe for use in
cosmetic ingredients. And that the aluminum iron silicates -- there's insufficient data and we need the inhalation
data to decide whether that's safe. And, Ron, if there's any discussion --
SPEAKER: Do we have anything you want in the discussion other than inhalation?
DR. MARKS: And we can use the same words as they used in the 2004 report.
DR. SHANK: In the discussion for this document, you can just use the discussion on inhalation with cosmetic
sprays --
DR. HATHAWAY: Just to say that although I mentioned hairspray, face powders is in here. So this is a totally
theoretical question.
SPEAKER: Alright.
DR. MARKS: Not really. Thank you very much for your patience and comments.
DR. MARKS: This morning and also right now. Thank you.
DR. MARKS: In the March meeting of the CIR Panel, a scientific literature review was announced, and we're now
seeing the draft report on silica, alumina magnesium metasilicate, aluminum calcium sodium silicate, alumino-iron
silicates, hydrated silica, sodium potassium aluminosilicate. And we had the presentation yesterday by the SASSI
group clarifying the difference between synthetic amorphous silica, which is used in cosmetics and other forms of
silica, and based on the information that we reviewed, we move to issue a tentative safety assessment that has the
ingredients safe with the exception of aluminum iron silicates. We move that that be insufficient data, because of
concern about inhalation toxicity.
DR. MARKS: Ron can -- well, that would be the inhalation data. If it's not respirable, then it's not an issue.
DR. BERGFELD: And there's no other comment on the motion? Second? Second, Ron? Discussion?
DR. SHANK: I worry about the -- or I have concern about the iron atom going into the lung, high-oxygen
environment. There could be oxidative damage, which would not expect that the other silicates –
DR. SHANK: If not, we can say this is formulated (off mike). That takes care of the issue. But we don't have that
information.
DR. BELSITO: I thought the information we have was that cosmetic formulations -- the particle size was such that
it's in a pump or a spray it's not respirable.
DR. SHANK: Okay, but this one doesn't have a stated use, does it?
DR. BELSITO: But how would it be used as an aerosol other than as a hairspray?
DR. ANDERSEN: We did have the information yesterday from the synthetic amorphous silica group that said the
particle size of the amorphous silica material is between 10 and 100 microns in diameter, so independent of what
happens to it after that, the particle size as produced by the suppliers is already of a size to be not respirable.
DR. ANDERSEN: From that point, it doesn't matter what formulation it goes into. Not much can happen beyond
that, and in order to conduct the inhalation toxicity studies that were described, further unnatural reduction particle
size had to be done, but that doesn't represent what's actually on the market from the suppliers. So, we could rely on
that information that was presented to make the assertion that in fact the panel does not expect that these particles
are respirable and put that burden on the industry for all of the amorphous silica, including the iron one. So, it
would be a way to assert the panel's expectation of non-respirable.
DR. MARKS: I'll retract the previous motion with that clarification, and that being captured in the discussion so
that all these silica cosmetic ingredients would be safe and that we issue a tentative safety assessment of that
conclusion.
DR. BERGFELD: Second. And with the assumption that the discussion will take the place or support your worry.
DR. BAILEY: Yeah, at yesterday's team meeting I emphasized the importance of stating clearly in this document
the synthetic amorphous silica as the material that's used in cosmetics, because we have a lot of confusion inquiries
coming in that rather it's crystal and we're amorphous and we'd like to be able to use this document to clear that up
both for people who have concerns in the public but also for the users of the ingredients so that that's clearly
communicated to them what they're supposed to do.
DR. BERGFELD: I think that I sat on Don Belsito's team and he discussed that and which to do with that, did you
not?
DR. BELSITO: Yeah, a very strong statement up front in the introduction going over basically that slide of silica
production and where we are and that this is not crystal and then the amorphous, so I think Dan had -- Did you
actually beef up your introduction, or --
DR. LIEBLER: But I think it's most important to -- because some of the original literature refers to silica
forms -- for example, as fume silica -- and that there's a preferred term now, pyrogenic silica, for that, but there
needs to be a very clear sort of glossary in the introduction section to provide the reader with some guidance as they
go forward in the report, because we did have some discussion about whether to change in the body of the report
reference to fume silica -- change that to pyrogenic -- but that would be essentially, as Alan pointed out,
replacing -- revising the literature inappropriately, and I agree with that, so a glossary up front that clarifies the
terminology for names and points out where you're going to have confusion between silica fume and fume silica, for
example.
DR. BERGFELD: Paul, any comment? Greg? Coming over here. Don? Ron? Rob? Jim? Is there any other
comments? Okay. Motion has been placed that this ingredient is safe and discussant points have been added, so all
those in favor please raise your hand for a safe review. Thank you very much. It's a unanimous vote.
Distributed for comment only -- do not cite or quote
DR. BELSITO: I must have addressed it. Okay. I thought, Lillian, you did a great job and I really thought that
Figure 1 and 2 were really great in this report. And I think it really addressed concerns of our team, at least
particularly Dan's concern of getting everything up front and making it clear. I like the way you've boxed that out in
Figure 1.
DR. BELSITO: It was really a superb way of handling that to show exactly where we're focusing.
DR. LIEBLER: One little note on that on Figure 1 -- so I completely echo Don's praise for your work on this -- but
one little thing I would change is under the box where you've got – where it says the types of silica in this safety
assessment, and it's got a little box around that -- that that actually kind of hides that because everything else in the
figure has a box around it. And that's actually a message that you want to stand out and putting the box around it
makes it blend in. So what I would say is take the box out of it and then use a bigger font and italicize it just so it --
DR. LIEBLER: Or right under the box or, yeah, lower the box a little bit and stick that in the box. Yeah, that's a
good idea.
MS. BECKER: Yeah. That's what I'm drawing right now actually.
DR. LIEBLER: Okay. But that's just a tweak. It's very nice. Huge improvement.
DR. BELSITO: On page 17, under parenteral silica one, two, three, four, five, six lines down, it says lymphocytes
were less numerous and new.
MS. BECKER: Okay, few. Probably -- yeah, few. Probably something (off mike) said.
DR. BELSITO: So if it's less numerous and few, then you don't even need few.
DR. KLAASSEN: Probably don't need numerous either. There were lots of lymphocytes.
DR. BELSITO: Page 29. Things were moved around so perhaps I missed it, but in the prior document there was an
ECETOC 2006 report of two subchronic oral and toxicity studies that I couldn't find again.
Distributed for comment only -- do not cite or quote
MS. BECKER: If I remember correctly, a couple of short-term -- I'm sorry, long-term and chronic got moved
around just because of dates, but I don't -- did you check to see if it's just in a different time section?
DR. BELSITO: I tried to do that and I couldn’t find it, but, I mean, it's entirely possible. The reference though is
gone, at least as an ECETOC 2006 reference, so I'm wondering if someone recommended it be deleted or was it, in
fact, maybe published under a different title?
MS. BECKER: There was also a couple that were thought to be duplicates of the other large document I had and we
picked one or the other.
DR. BELSITO: Okay. But then that ECETOC 2006 reference doesn't occur in your references.
DR. BRESLAWEC: If you look at the reference there's nothing that says ECETOC.
DR. BELSITO: And there are some ECETOC on page 31 that refers to some 2006 unpublished studies, which are
different from the studies that I was talking about.
Okay. On page 35, the fifth line up the bottom, starting from the line above that it says although there was a trend of
more frequent incidence in those exposed to pyrogenic silica, it was obscured in some control animals. Interstitial
fibrosis was associated with yadda, yadda, yadda. And some of the rats of the control treatment groups, although
there was a trend to more frequent incidence in those exposed, but was obscured in some control animals. I'm
assuming it wasn't significant because it was seen in control animals or --
DR. BELSITO: I just think that needs to be stated a little bit more clearly.
DR. BELSITO: Page 54, the third paragraph, silica subcutaneously instilled in humans. Next sentence, the cells --
DR. BELSITO: Silica subcutaneouslyinstilled in humans caused granulomatous inflammation with seven days and
persisted for months. The cells invested blood vessels?
MS. BECKER: Something like that would have been stolen wording. Yes, that was wording from Epstein 63. That's
47 and that would have been his wording. That's not something I would have picked up, but I try not to interpret too
much. Is that 47? Epstein 63.
DR. LIEBLER: Just strike the whole sentence. It doesn't add anything.
DR. BELSITO: Okay. In our conclusion, do we really need to isolate aluminum iron silicates?
MS. BECKER: That was Dr. Shank and his concern about the iron.
DR. BELSITO: I understand and I remember the discussion, but we decided that it wasn't going to be (off mike)
even in the current form that it was used. So do we need to put that in the conclusion or just the discussion? I mean,
I think, you know, its ingredients and practice of use in concentration as described in the safety assessment is
sufficient. If there's any concern that could go in the discussion that the size of these particles, irrespective of how
they would be used that was captured in the minutes, would not be respirable.
Beyond that, we know that the way pumps and sprays are formulated it wouldn't be respirable either. But as Alan
pointed out at the last meeting, you literally would have to break down the silicates in order to make them of a size
where they would be respirable. So, taking that out and putting it into the conclusion I think is a bit much.
DR. BELSITO: I would just move that to the discussion if there's any concern at all.
DR. LIEBLER: -- just use the first sentence and then add aluminum iron silicates to the first sentence.
DR. BELSITO: The last thing that I couldn't find and maybe you can tell me where it was is -- and maybe it was
decided to get rid of it -- but in the old document there was a statement about natural silica levels in rabbits. And I
couldn't find where that was moved to, but the reference was retained.
DR. BELSITO: I would agree that it's not necessary. Then we just need to delete the reference if it's not in the
document. I mean, just check because -- I mean, you could just do a quick word search and see if it pops up
someplace in the document other than the references.
MS. BECKER: Okay. That's going to be my major task this weekend actually.
DR. BELSITO: I think that's all that I had. So before we address the Sassi comments, any other comments?
DR. LIEBLER: Page 2 and 3, I recommend a couple of additional tweaks. Just moving sections to make the
presentation more logical in terms of the flow.
So, on top of page 2, you have Chemistry, major heading, then subhead Definition and Structure, and then
Amorphous versus Crystalline Silica. You have two paragraphs. Then you've got Silica, which is really the very
most introductory information about silica. And I suggested moving that stuff there that's subtitled Silica, beginning
with the CAS Number 7631, all the way through the top of the next page where it says, "The current terminology for
silicon dioxide fumed is pyrogenic silica." That whole chunk, move it up between Definition and Structure and
Amorphous versus Crystalline Silica. And I pointed -- I drew it on my copy for you.
MS. BECKER: Okay. All right. We're changing a lot of things as CIR, but normally we keep all of the definitions
of all the ingredients together. Would that -- I'm just asking if that -- separating silica out separately from the
aluminum magnesium, metasilicate, et cetera, would that be confusing?
DR. LIEBLER: I don't think so because the way you have it now you begin by talking about amorphous versus
crystalline silica. And then at the bottom of page 2, you start out by explaining what silica is. It seems like you
should start out by explaining what silica is and then get into the distinction between amorphous versus crystalline.
It just seems more logical to me.
DR. LIEBLER: And so you can move that section up to the top. And then you also have, at the bottom of page 3,
you have the section on hydrated silica. That can go right after amorphous versus crystalline silica. And then you
get into the aluminum magnesium salts and the silicates.
DR. LIEBLER: And so that way you're doing pure silica first, then the salts, to just introduce the chemistry.
DR. BELSITO: Except I guess the only issue that I'd have with that, Dan, is that we're doing -- you know, we're
looking only at the amorphous. So then you would have amorphous and then you'd mix in amorphous with
crystalline and then go back to the amorphous forms. That could be confusing. So that I guess if you wanted to
move things around would be to move the amorphous and crystalline to the end of the whole thing and list the things
that we're discussing first and then making the point of the difference between amorphous and crystalline at the end.
Distributed for comment only -- do not cite or quote
DR. LIEBLER: So, instead of moving the things I moved, just take amorphous versus crystalline and move it to the
end?
DR. LIEBLER: I'm fine with that. That accomplishes the same thing. I just thought that you have amorphous
versus crystalline at the top of the description of all the silica and silicates and it was premature to address that at
that point. So, Don's suggestion takes care of that as well and I agree with it.
DR. SNYDER: I had some issues with the nomenclature again. It's just really confusing because on page 5 we
introduce silica gel and precipitated silica for the first time. And then on page 6 we introduce colloidal silica. And
on page 8 we bring in the sodium metasilicate, hydrated silica, and silica solution. So I was a little confused as to
where those all --
DR. LIEBLER: So under hydrated silica, Lillian has these bullets of synonyms, and silica gel and precipitated silica
are listed there. So the reader will have encountered those definitions before they got to where you're concerned
about.
DR. SNYDER: On the third paragraph on down, silica sols, colloidal silica.
DR. LIEBLER: Does colloidal fall under one of these? Lillian, do you know?
DR. LIEBLER: I want to double-check that. If it can be defined there, that's a good place to put it if that's correct.
MS. BECKER: The issue was that through the literature the naming conventions are not consistent. And unless
they gave me something that said I can identify it as exactly what we have as our definition, I used the terminology
of the author.
DR. LIEBLER: So in Table 1 with the box around the forms that are defined in the safety assessment on page 61,
you have silica gel or colloidal silica.
DR. LIEBLER: So the reader will have seen this figure at that point. It's just that colloidal silica isn't listed under
the bullets that you have on pages 2 and 3.
MS. BECKER: Right. Yeah, and what I just explained is also in the introduction that I did not guess what the
authors were trying to say.
DR. BRESLAWEC: So on page 3, you said include that in the bullets there?
MS. BECKER: So that -- well, okay, but that's another reference, so that would be slightly different.
DR. BELSITO: But you could add it just so it's clear and just put that reference so we know where each of them
falls.
DR. LIEBLER: I mean, there must have been a basis for in Figure 1 including colloidal silica with silica gel.
DR. SNYDER: And then there's in the nomenclature you get all the way to page 19 and we start talking about ultra
fine and then fine silica. And we haven't defined that (off mike).
DR. SNYDER: So then for this use, does this have an aerosol use?
DR. LIEBLER: You know what? I'm sorry, just to -- fine versus ultra fine, on page 5, under Particle Size and
Form, we've got amorphous silicas are composed of very fine particles, average 20 microns. Very fine, ultra fine,
fine.
SPEAKER: The point comes into question that we do have data here that says that the sum of the particles are
respirable size, certainly the.01 to.1 micron diameter particles.
DR. LIEBLER: I don't know if there's a standard nomenclature of, you know, fine, ultra fine, very fine, that actually
corresponds to giant particle diameter ranges. It might be something to look for and see because you list very fine in
a way that just might mean it's sort of a kind of ordinary colloquia descriptor as opposed to whether or not very fine
Distributed for comment only -- do not cite or quote
means a particular size range. And if there is any definition in the literature that assigns the term "fine," "very fine,"
"ultra fine," the size range, this would be a good place to put it. This would be the ideal place to put it. So if there is
any additional information you could find that would put it there, that would be useful there.
DR. LIEBLER: I mean, I realize this whole area is a mess, but, you know.
DR. LIEBLER: Yeah. I'm not sure where you could ask, but someone might be able to point you in the right
direction. I forget who was here last time that made -- the Sassi people, I guess, you know, provided some input on
– some clarification on the nomenclature and forms. They may know something or be able to point you in the
direction on sizing nomenclature. If there is any and if it's referred to in the types of particle study, it probably
should be up front in this report.
DR. KLAASSEN: On page 5, about the fifth or sixth line, it says there that very fine particles had an average of 20
micrometers.
DR. LIEBLER: Yeah, that's what I was pointing to. Yeah. Yeah. So I'm assuming fine is more than 20
micrometers and ultra fine is less.
MS. BECKER: Well, I think the phrase that might solve all of it, is right after the 20, is "which tends to aggregate
loosely in the air." So something that size doesn't exist very long. It adheres onto others and makes larger particles.
DR. BELSITO: And then going on it says aggregates assemble in chains, fumed or clusters precipitated in gel.
Agglomerates are assembled -- assemblies of aggregates held together by strong physical adhesion forces and not in
a dispersible nano-size less than 100 nanometers.
DR. BELSITO: So the concept of very fine is a laboratory concept, not a real concept in nature?
DR. BELSITO: At least not as it would be formulated into a cosmetic product. I seem to remember them telling us
that, too. They rapidly sort of adhere together.
DR. LIEBLER: I was just looking for a way to address Paul's question about whether --
DR. SNYDER: I mean, it was deep in the document and all of a sudden this popped up. And I thought if we could
pop in appropriate information to define that, that would be useful. If any of the subsequent literature refers to
particle size and distinguishes effects on the basis of anything having to do with particle size, then I think we need to
deal with it.
DR. BELSITO: But then we could put -- we could move that issue of the aggregation of these very fine particles
into the discussion as well since there is a hairspray use. And I see that the panel noted data on the use of very fine,
fine molecular structures, average of 20 microns.
DR. BELSITO: Right. But it is our understanding that these aggregate into chains, fumed or clusters, precipitated
in gel to particle sizes that would not be respirable in cosmetic formulations.
DR. KLAASSEN: In general, to get things down into the alveoli you want to have it between 1 and 10. Larger than
10 they don't get to the alveoli very well and if they're smaller than 1 they don't settle in the alveoli. They just blow
them back out again. So, even at this 20 microns here they're relatively safe as far as getting them into the alveoli.
You still have them in the bronchi, et cetera. So, what Don said I agree with. This just gives us even further
protection.
DR. SNYDER: We have a statement on page 53 in the fourth paragraph, the last sentence, related to -- in relation to
monkey status, it says the frequency and the size of the cell aggregates vary with the type of silica precipitated in
greater (off mike) and greater than gel. So that's what we should capture there.
DR. HOWARD: It is in the discussion -- I mean, the summary. So you want that clearly in the discussion?
DR. SNYDER: Well, I mean, I think that's just some more data --
DR. BELSITO: Well, I think we did, particularly now that we've moved the aluminum iron silicates out of the
conclusion. We're going to make mention about it in the discussion anyway. So then we could just expand upon it a
little bit if the panel noted data on use of very fine silicas, average molecular size 20 microns. However, we noted
that these tend to aggregate into -- help me.
DR. BELSITO: Tend to form aggregates of a size that would not be respirable.
DR. LIEBLER: But is the passage you're referring to, Paul, is that referring to the silica particles or cells
aggregating? Because it says the frequency and size of the cells aggregates.
DR. LIEBLER: I'm trying to see if there's anything that's being said about clumps or aggregates of, like,
lymphocytes.
DR. SNYDER: No, I mean, to me (off mike) the other way. I read it that it was the aggregates as in aggregates of
silica. I mean, I guess there's nothing in that paragraph to suggest otherwise, is there?
DR. LIEBLER: So I'm just wondering what that actually refers to. Because the preceding paragraph refers to
considerable cellular infiltration of the alveoli and the alveolar septa.
DR. LIEBLER: And with the extension and accumulation of acetate and macrophages. See, that could easily be
referring to clumps of macrophages, perhaps. That's how I would read that. So maybe check that language there.
DR. KLAASSEN: And if true, then this sentence should go up in the other paragraph.
DR. KLAASSEN: Well, into the previous paragraph. It really has to do with macrophage. If it really has to do
with cells and the aggregation of cells, then it probably is more appropriate in the previous paragraph. But we, first
of all, need to make sure what's going on here.
MS. BECKER: It's the study on page -- it starts at the very bottom of 35.
DR. SNYDER: Yeah. It's macrophage and (off mike) aggregate. So just change that to "Frequency and size of the
inflammatory cell aggregates varied with the type of silica," and move it up to the previous paragraph, to the
paragraph that begins, "Rabbits and (off mike)."
MS. BECKER: These are two different experiments. I'm sorry. Say what you want to change again.
DR. BELSITO: These are two different studies in monkeys. So that paragraph has to – I mean, you can't move it
anywhere.
DR. BELSITO: The monkeys were exposed to different types of silica. The precipitated silica had lower lung
volumes. No change in parameters, ventillary performance, mechanical parameters, dynamic lung compliance and
FEP. When exposed to silica gel, the frequency and size of cellular aggregates varied with the type of silica.
DR. SNYDER: I would just change that sentence. So the frequency and size of inflammatory cell aggregates varied
with the type of silica.
DR. BELSITO: So the frequency and size of inflammatory cell aggregates varied with the type of silica. Okay.
DR. BELSITO: Okay. Industry comments from Sassi, page 53. It says: In our opinion the following statement on
page 53 does not accurately describe the commercial pyrogenic process used to manufacture synthetic amorphous
silica. Amorphous silica is the product of a high heat process applied to crystalline silica. The contemporary
pyrogenic process is accurately described on page 6 of the report and should be substituted for the description on
page 53.
DR. BELSITO: They may be referring to the old report. I don't know.
DR. SNYDER: Here it is on page 50, the second paragraph. (off mike) pyrogenic silica is a product of high heat
process applied to crystalline and silica.
DR. BELSITO: So --
DR. BELSITO: Well, no. They're saying that it's not the way it's produced. The way it's produced is --
DR. BELSITO: What we said on page 6: Precipitated silica and silica gels are produced from an alkaline metal
silicate dissolved in water and then acid, usually sulfuric.
DR. LIEBLER: No, they are actually probably referring to the bottom of page 5 on the current report, amorphous
pyrogenic silica.
DR. LIEBLER: So here it says, on page 5, the bottom of our current report, it says, "Amorphous pyrogenic silica is
manufactured by the hydrolysis of volatile silanes, usually silica and tetrachloride, in the flame of an oxygen
hydrogen burner."
And then page 50, second paragraph of our second report, it says, "Amorphous pyrogenic silica is the product of a
high heat process applied to crystalline silica."
DR. BELSITO: Right. So what they're saying is that's not -- the contemporary pyrogenic process is the process
currently described on page 5.
DR. BELSITO: You want the amorphous pyrogenic silica, you just want to --
DR. LIEBLER: Yeah, right. So the sentence on page 50, the first sentence of the second paragraph, amorphous
pyrogenic silica through -- applied to crystalline silica, delete that sentence and in its place copy the sentence from
the bottom of page 5, "Amorphous pyrogenic silica through oxygen hydrogen burner." It's the same definition word
for word from the bottom of page 5 instead.
DR. BELSITO: Okay. The next comment from Sassi is we noted in our earlier comments the lack of differentiation
between silica fumes and the commercial product called fumed silica, i.e., pyrogenic silica, leads to a clear
misunderstanding of the significance of the statement on page 8 -- may be different -- regarding the high level of
crystalline silica impurity 6 to 8 percent noted in the Swensson 1971 study.
DR. BELSITO: Since silica fume is a commercial product not classified as synthetic amorphous silica, we
recommend deleting this reference on the basis of irrelevance. So, that's now on page 7.
DR. KLAASSEN: So you want to eliminate the first paragraph? Is that what we're talking about?
DR. BELSITO: You have the Cabot Corporation. They're not saying anything about --
DR. BELSITO: So it would just be, "Cabot Corporation 2004 states that its silicate products are greater than 99.8
percent pure." The moisture content, yeah, treated silicas are susceptible to.
Okay. Next comment from Sassi. On page 3, two references to Spiron as a technical name for silica are noted. Our
members are not aware of this technical name and suspect it is a trade name.
DR. BELSITO: That may have already been removed because I'm not seeing Spiron here anywhere.
MS. BECKER: You have that little table somewhere (off mike)?
DR. BELSITO: No, it would have just -- it would have been on the page. I mean, maybe it was in the old report
and it's already been deleted. Again, this letter seems to be addressing the old report and not --
MS. BECKER: Yeah, because they would have got the version that I produced right after the last panel meeting.
MS. BECKER: It's been edited since then one more time before you got it.
DR. BELSITO: Okay. What you may want to do, Lillian, again, just do a word search for "Spiron." Make sure that
it's been deleted.
Distributed for comment only -- do not cite or quote
Okay. Page 24, a reference to a UNEP 2004 study mentioned the LC50 of.69 1 milligrams per liter. We believe the
greater than symbol was omitted in error on the LC50, so.
DR. BELSITO: Okay. So you need to check and be certain that they're correct, that the LC50 was greater than.691.
DR. BELSITO: Okay. In the discussion we noted that the last sentence to the paragraph was incomplete. It appears
a word may have been omitted. I didn't notice a word omitted, so this may again --
DR. BELSITO: It just says, "in the discussion session section on page 50A." Well, it's not relevant anymore. We
noted that the last sentence of the paragraph was incomplete.
MS. BECKER: Okay. Okay, it wasn't quite the last sentence. My guess is that the whole section was completely
removed.
DR. BELSITO: Right. Okay. That was it from the silica council.
DR. SNYDER: They changed that sentence anyway. So instead of saying no pursuant silica is used -- to the panel
determined that silicosis is not an issue since crystalline silica is not an ingredient used in cosmetics.
DR. LIEBLER: I had a -- again, in the front on pages 4 and 5 of our current document, the use of subheads under,
for example, Physical and Chemical Properties and then Properties.
DR. LIEBLER: On page 4, Physical and Chemical Properties. And then you hove Properties and then you have the
subhead Silica. And then there's no other compound like silicates referred to.
I think when you don't have any other compound referred to, you can just delete the Silica subheading. I made a few
notes like that, but then I stopped. I think it's a question if there's going to be silica and then you're going to do
aluminum magnesium silicate, then you have the subheads for each. Otherwise, you just delete silica subheads.
DR. BELSITO: Except that I find it helpful because then you know exactly what information you have under that
particular heading. You can quickly, very visually see it rather than -- I know what you're saying.
DR. BELSITO: It's like you look at properties and the only properties we're going to get are on silica. It's not going
to be on something else.
DR. BRESLAWEC: May I suggest that we do whatever the JAMA format requires us to do in terms of the IJT
publication on that?
DR. BELSITO: Sure. Okay, good. That sounds reasonable. Anything else on this silica?
SPEAKER: What?
DR. BELSITO: Okay. So no other comments. We'll move to sodium and potassium bromate.
DR. BELSITO: We're going final. And I think the change moving the aluminum iron out of the conclusion is really
editorial. I mean, it's not substantive so I don't think we need to send it out again.
Distributed for comment only -- do not cite or quote
DR. SHANK: I think the conclusion is okay. The SASSI suggestions I agree with to put in as they have requested.
There is a UNEP report of 2004. On page 21 SASSI refers to the LC50, we say 0.691 and SASSI says it should be
less than 0.691. That can be checked by going to the UNEP report. On page 45 under "Clinical Assessment of
Safety," it says that the oral lethal dose is 15 grams per kilogram. That would be over 1 kilo per person, so that there
is something wrong there, and it really doesn't add anything. I would just throw it out. It's an FDA comment or
something. With due respect to FDA, I don't think that could possibly be correct that the oral lethal dose is 15 grams
per kilo. It would be pretty hard to take a kilogram for an adult. Those are my only comments.
DR. MARKS: Lillian will capture those then. I'm not sure we need to mention that tomorrow unless you feel we
need to.
DR. BERGFELD: I'd like to make a comment that I thought it was nicely reorganized and redefined so that we
were not as confused in reading it. Thank you.
DR. MARKS: I suspect tomorrow that our team will be seconding a motion that a final report be issued with the
conclusions as stated on page 55, that these are safe and with the proviso that aluminum iron silicates are not
respirable. Let's take a break for 5 minutes. You have more comments? After your comments, Jay.
DR. ANSELL: Just on the wording, this is the first report we hit where we put in this "were ingredients in this
group not currently to be used in the future. The expectation is that they be used in product categories and
concentrations comparable to others in the group," is a little tortured.
DR. MARKS: We've discussed that at some time in the past, Jay. Do you have a proposal to make it clear and less
tortured?
DR. MARKS: When you come up with the proposed change, let us look at it. I know we all worked on it, and Alan
particularly.
Distributed for comment only -- do not cite or quote
DR. BELSITO: Yes, at the last meeting we issued a tentative safety assessment that these ingredients -- silica,
aluminum magnesium metasilicate, aluminum calcium sodium silicate, hydrated silica, sodium potassium aluminum
silicate -- are safe as cosmetic ingredients in the practice of use in concentrations as described in the safety
assessment, and put a caveat in that conclusion that aluminum ion silicate is safe as a cosmetic ingredient, the
practice of use in concentration as described in the safety assessment when formulated to be non-respirable.
We thought that we would like to make a minor editorial change in that conclusion and just put aluminum ion
silicate into the list of other silica products that are safe as used and move the discussion of the ability of these
particles to be inhaled, which essentially they cannot be because of their size -- they tend to aggregate into large
molecular sizes -- into the discussion rather than putting it into the conclusion.
DR. BELSITO: Yeah, in the discussion itself just putting -- stressing that these do tend to aggregate into larger
molecular weight particles in formulation, stressing that a little bit more.
DR. BERGFELD: Any other discussion? Seeing none, I call the question. All those in favor of this conclusion
please indicate by raising your hands. Unanimous. No abstainers. Okay.
Distributed for comment only -- do not cite or quote
MS. BURNETT: Correct. And I handed out at the table this morning to help clarify what add-ons are where,
hopefully to help your discussion.
DR. BELSITO: Yes, I didn’t see that. I said combined them all, add in the new ones. We need to take a look
regardless. Usage has increased astronomically for many, and we need a sense of concentration of use, regardless of
what we decide to do. That was my analysis.
DR. LIEBLER: Yeah, I said reopen to add all the new ingredients. This is a chemically heterogeneous group, so
the new ingredients easily belong. That’s the benefit of the dog’s breakfast, by the way.
However, their properties aren’t significantly different, and existing data covers the entire group. No need for new
data, we can affirm the previous conclusion.
DR. BELSITO: I don’t know that we can confirm it until we get a sense of concentration of use.
DR. EISENMANN: And the report is not correct. The concentration of use survey has not been started on silica
and hydrated silica. Those weren’t included in the list they gave me. And I don’t expect that to be -- if I get it
started -- those are high use ingredients, so it’s going to take at least --
DR. BELSITO: No, I mean, that’s fine. I just thought that we could open, merge them all, add in the new ones.
But the use has increased astronomically, which is part of the reason to look at it again anyway.
DR. EISENMANN: I was a little concerned about -- see I think this isn’t chemistry that drives the toxicity of these
ingredients, it’s more structure. And it wasn’t really addressed at all in this report. There is a discussion that’s in
the silica report about amorphous versus crystalline. I don’t know, that’s part of my concern about combining this,
that that might get lost.
DR. BELSITO: Okay, so, run that by me again. Your concern here is not the chemistry it’s the structure.
DR. BELSITO: Dan, you need to address that because that’s above my head.
DR. EISENMANN: Right, and I’m not an expert in it either. I just know that was a big issue in the report, and the
report hasn’t been published, so I’m a little concerned about --
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MS. BURNETT: Because that report hasn’t been published, pretty much the entirety -- it will be reorganized into
current format. But the bulk of the data will still be there. It’s not going to be like the published paper re-review,
where we italicize it, and then it doesn’t get published. This will go directly into this paper; and so, it will be like a,
you know, silica 2.0 version for the panel to review.
MS. FIUME: I don’t know. It may have been internal. It may have been journal, I’m not sure. But it did need
some reorganization. So, it’ll be incorporated in here and all of the information will get published.
DR. BERGFELD: With the mention of the structural differences, is it possible to reorganize according to the
structure?
DR. LIEBLER: To the extent that they’re all structurally characterized. I suppose. The structure issue, as opposed
to the chemical substance issue, Don, is like these crystalline silica versus amorphous silica. Chemically, in a
chemical composition sense, they’re about the same. In the way that the structure is, they’re very different. And
because the structure is different, they interact with biological components differently.
MS. BURNETT: I’m still reading and trying to understand the original report. But as I have read the physical
properties and method of manufacture section, we have clearly stated that the cosmetic silica is amorphous not
crystalline.
So as far as I understand, the data that is in this report is only on the amorphous silica. And there are like different
names within the amorphous silica, but we go by the INCI names. So, if the amorphous silica is the silica, that’s
what the report is on.
DR. LIEBLER: I use that as an example of a structure difference for Don to explain, I think, what Carol was
pointing out. I don’t know how these partition into crystalline or amorphous. If the data you have so far says these
are all amorphous silicates, then that’s what they are. And I guess we’re going to need more data to make decisions
about grouping them.
DR. LIEBLER: Are you going to think about subgrouping them? I don’t know if we are. I don’t know if we need
to.
DR. KLAASSEN: Here we do have, in contrast to one of the chemicals we were talking about this morning, you
know, It is well known -- and as you know -- that some silica compounds can cause silicosis, which is a real lung
disease. And so, we need to make sure that we know which ones might cause silicosis and which ones don’t cause
silicosis.
DR. BELSITO: But isn’t that the point Christina was making with the amorphous versus crystalline? Because it’s
the crystalline ones that cause silicosis.
DR. KLAASSEN: But that’s what I’m saying; we need to make sure that all of these that we have here -- or what is
known about it to make -- we need to make sure that these are all the amorphous. And how strong is the data, first
of all, that it has to be an amorphous compared to a crystalline, et cetera; which I don’t know offhand.
MS. FIUME: I do know, looking at the minutes, PDF Page 54, maybe that’s the 2009 review; where the Panel
determined that silicosis is not an issue since crystalline silica is not an ingredient used in cosmetics. So, that’s what
was discussed at that time, that it’s not crystalline.
DR. BELSITO: So, as you go through the add-ons, et cetera, just make sure that what we’re talking about is
amorphous. Anything else?
Distributed for comment only -- do not cite or quote
MS. BURNETT: This morning, to help in the discussion -- I apologize, when I wrote this report, I didn’t put in a
table summarizing which ingredients were the existing ingredients, which were the previously reviewed ingredients,
and which were the brand new potential add-ons.
It was clear to me because I had my table, but I didn’t include it in the report. I handed that out this morning to help
you see which was which; so that when you’re talking you know which ingredients --
MS. BURNETT: No. I’m good, I have mine. I have it on my computer, so I can view it.
DR. MARKS: Thank you, Christina. I know when I went through this I was going back to the original reports,
which the last one I have is on page 226 of the PDF, which was the conclusion on the silicate aluminum magnesium,
et cetera. Okay.
As Christina documents in her memo on May 23rd, this is a re-review. And basically, we have a conglomeration of
stuff. There are ingredients -- there is the suggestion to consolidate ingredients from three reports previously. And
they are on page 89, 155 and 226, for those who want to refer to that. And then 16 add-ons.
And then, in terms of the reports themselves, in 2003, there are 17 silicates that were safe. Then in the next
paragraph, Christina talks about the 16 possible add-ons. And then, let me see, in the 2005 and 2009 reports with --
I have to look at the conclusions. Did I put -- are they all safe? Or one them was irritation, wasn’t there?
MS. BURNETT: 2005 the potassium sodium, metasilicate and sodium silicate have a formulated to be
nonirritating.
MS. BURNETT: They were part of the original group, that were reviewed, and the panel decided to split them off.
Then during the discussion in 2009, for the silica report, it was mentioned that when these were re-reviewed, that
they would all be grouped together. I don’t know if you saw that; but I had a good laugh when I read that. Saying,
we will let the folks in 2018 deal with it. Well, guess what? You guys are all still here.
Distributed for comment only -- do not cite or quote
MS. BURNETT: And just to remind the panel, the final report of the 2009 silica report was never published.
DR. MARKS: Yeah. Okay. Yeah, the irritation and sensitization were okay, except the silicates were irritating.
That’s page 83.
I think the first question, is do we want to open this? Obviously this 2003 report. And that can either be for
changing the conclusion, or it can be for add-ons and consolidation. Do we want to reopen or not?
DR. SLAGA: I’ve been with reopening this; I like combining all of these together.
DR. SLAGA: I don’t remember who pushed to have it separated a long time ago. I know the panel did, but I --
MS. BURNETT: The team minutes were not really published back then, so I can’t really tell.
DR. SHANK: I don’t see how it’s useful, what that accomplishes. And I think you may have trouble publishing
that if most of the report is already -- if you put it all together, you’re going to have to justify it, to some journal, that
it’s already been published, now we’re putting it together. I don’t see -- it’s not worth the effort.
DR. MARKS: Yeah. That’s the question I would add, is the new 16 add-on ingredients that have never been
reviewed before.
DR. SHANK: Okay. There’s very little data on those 16, and only two of them are used. So that could be handled
in the re-review summary without reopening. I certainly would not combine --
DR. ANSELL: That’s really our comment for recommending not reopening; is that we would like to hear a much
more substantive discussion as to why these three reports form a relevant family.
DR. HILL: Here’s what I wrote. I think in general, maybe we should bring everything together and get a global
view of properties; and then respectively separate into either different reports, or at least different subsections very
carefully constructed so any read across that is or isn’t used is very clear.
Sodium metasilicate is very different from synthetic amorphous silica or zeolite. And I’m also not prepared to read
across from sodium silicate to something like sodium aluminum silver silicate, or silver copper zeolite, where there
are different metals with different redox properties, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. Anyway, so I guess I’m at a level
agreeing with Dr. Shank.
DR. SLAGA: But how do we deal -- there’s two of them that are being used.
DR. SLAGA: Would that be worthwhile to add those two? I mean, being consistent with earlier, where we didn’t
want to add them because they were not in use. But two of them are in use out the 16.
DR. ANSELL: Well, then we would just open up that report. We don’t have to open all three of them to merge
them. If we feel that --
DR. SLAGA: No, no. Eliminate the others that have been published already. I’m talking 2 out of 16.
DR. HILL: Well then actually, the six that haven’t been published from 2009.
MS. FIUME: Right. So, it would be 22 that have not been published yet.
MS. FIUME: The 2009 ingredients, that report has not been published. So, it wouldn’t be republishing existing
information.
MS. FIUME: The 2009 report. The silica and silicate ingredients. I mean, if there’s commonality to create a
family out of all of these -- or any of these; because we do need to consider, number one, the re-review. But once
you reopen the re-review, you don’t have to read across. You can make a split conclusion if the family fits together,
but you don’t have enough information to decide on all of them.
Distributed for comment only -- do not cite or quote
You can do a split conclusion. It doesn’t have to be read across. Once you decide to reopen, you know, if you’re
combining -- because there are different conclusions among the ingredients you would be combining. Then you can
start a whole new review.
DR. ANSELL: I think we would have an issue with reopening to add an ingredient, and then determine that the
existing data is insufficient to support that new ingredient.
DR. ANSELL: Yeah. It would need its own report, which you guys could always do.
DR. SHANK: Why were the six ingredients in 2009 never published?
MS. FIUME: I believe the journal may have liked to see some additional information, or it may have needed a little
bit of --
DR. SHANK: So, it was sent to a journal and the peer review said change it?
MS. FIUME: I’m not sure if it’s an internal decision or if it was a journal decision. I’m not sure, at that point, if it
was done or not.
DR. ANSELL: Yeah. And I think that’s our core point. I mean, safety is one thing. We just don’t understand why
we would reopen for purposes of merging these without --
MS. FIUME: Well, we have done it in the past, where we’ve reopened and based on the ingredients themselves,
the conclusion it may not have been worthwhile to go forward. But we have created bigger families and looked at it
as a full report, not simply -- once the decision was made to reopen because some of them were no brainers, those
were brought in, because we were initiating a full report.
So, we’ve done it both ways in the past. But again, it’s the panel’s purview as to how they’d like to go forward,
with this group, based on the similarity -- the information that’s already included.
DR. HILL: For me, the 2003 grouping is a strange looking family. I mean, I would have put the clays together and
that’s it. You know, and then some of these other silicates together and that’s it.
And then some of the new ones and some of these ones in the other report fit with that, but not that. You know, so
that’s when I say -- I mean, you published in 2003, you reached conclusions, but it’s a strange grouping.
DR. MARKS: We’re still at the point -- initially, we said we did not want to reopen. We don’t want to consolidate
the ingredients from the previous reports -- the previous three reports. Two out of the three reports were published.
And then we didn’t like all the add-ons, but two of them are being used. Do we reopen to address the two add-ons
that are being used?
And then obviously, the comments you made, Ron Hill, about the lack of consistency of the grouping of the
ingredients raises some issue. Although that 2003, all them were safe. Even though maybe the grouping isn’t to
your liking.
Distributed for comment only -- do not cite or quote
So, where should we go team? Do you want to not reopen, or do you want to -- and which of the two of the new
add-ons are being used?
DR. HILL: Aluminum silicate. It’s the fifth one down in her table. And zinc zeolites, all the way at the --
DR. MARKS: Zinc zeolite. That’s one use. And then what was the other? The ammonium silver zinc aluminum
silicate, is that the one?
DR. MARKS: And how many ingredients is that? Or how many products?
DR. HILL: So, one way to fly on this, or at least for discussion to think about, is pull ingredients out of that 2009
group that never got published, that go with this one or that one. I don’t see any zeolites, but there are silicates that
would fit.
So, you pull the silicates that go with the ammonium silver zinc aluminum silicate and see what data you got. And
then we had that sassy publication in the interim. I think that was actually my second meeting here in 2009, if I’m
not mistaken.
And we have the whole transcript covered, which I captured, which I read. And I thought that was -- it reminded me
of things I heard -- it’s hard to say, nine years ago, but nine years ago.
DR. MARKS: So, what you’re suggesting is -- and that would be reopening, but not reopening the ’03 report,
reopening the ’09 report. Because it is a report even though it wasn’t published.
DR. MARKS: Well, that doesn’t matter. From a CIR point of view, it’s a report.
DR. MARKS: We could talk about that today and perhaps -- so we don’t want to reopen the 2003 report? We’re
pretty solid about that.
And then should we mention, tomorrow, to consider -- because it’ll be very interesting to see, obviously, what the
Belsito team, their approach. Our approach would be to reopen the 2009 report and add, where appropriate, the new
add-ons which is --
DR. HILL: It’s really the one that has 17 uses, I think, I heard.
Distributed for comment only -- do not cite or quote
DR. MARKS: Seventeen uses. The zeolite is chemically significant, different from the silicate ingredients in the
2009; you would include that, since that has one use?
DR. HILL: Yeah. I mean, if you’re going -- a re-review summary is going to be written for the 2003; so, if you
don’t want to reopen, I guess then that zinc zeolite stays in orphan. Is there any downsize to having it stay in orphan
other than just one we have in the dictionary that’s not been reviewed?
DR. MARKS: Right. And the other is if we suggest the 2009 report, 15 years, that’s 2000 -- let me see, 2024
right? We put it off for another eight years or so.
DR. MARKS: So, second, not reopen the 2003 report. We’re solid on that one, team? And then we could consider
reopening the -- our suggestion would be if there is -- it doesn’t sound like there’s any urgency to these new add-
ons. I mean, is the aluminum silver -- there are no alerts or concerns about these two that are in use.
MS. FIUME: Not that I’m aware of. But I can I just -- for a procedural question. I know there’s been a lot of
discussion this morning about whether they’re in use or not in use. As part of the reopen decision, which is a new
turn as I’m sure Dr. Bergfeld will point out tomorrow. But a lot of these silicates that are just a combination of
aluminum, or calcium, or magnesium, which were in the 2003 report, you don’t feel they can be no-brainers; and
added to that report and be reopened for add-ons as no-brainers?
DR. ANSELL: Ammonium, silver, zinc and zinc zeolite add to the ‘03.
MS. FIUME: But there is aluminum calcium magnesium potassium sodium zinc silicate. And you know, we’ve
done aluminum silicate. And, you know, we’ve done aluminum silicate, we’ve done calcium silicate, we’ve done
magnesium silicate. So, there is a calcium magnesium silicate as a proposed add-on.
If you don’t want the entire list of 16 -- regardless of in use or not in use -- are there some that can be brought in as
no-brainers, and brought into the 2003 report? And would you consider, at least, taking that step?
DR. HILL: For me, as soon as you have silver in there then that’s not necessarily, chemically a no-brainer without
some additional information. Because there’s nothing with silver in it, on it, or around it, in the original 2003.
DR. HILL: And that has redox properties that aren’t present in these other metals from the 2003 one.
MS. FIUME: There’s a sodium magnesium aluminum silicate, as ingredients that have not yet been reviewed.
MS. FIUME: So, could they be brought in reopened to add these no-brainers?
Distributed for comment only -- do not cite or quote
DR. MARKS: And then we can list the specific ones. But I see what you’re saying, that of the potential add-ons,
limit that 16 to ones which are chemically very similar to the 2003 report no-brainers, and reopen and add those.
Don’t consolidate.
Tom, you seem to be indicating that sounds okay. Ron Shank, do you have a problem with that? And we can list
which ones. We mentioned the calcium magnesium silicate, and there are several others -- or a couple others. What
is your sense, Ron Shank?
DR. SHANK: You’re taking the no-brainers from the new add-ons?
DR. MARKS: So, like calcium magnesium silicate would be one of the no-brainers. Not silver, based on Ron
Hill’s concern.
DR. SHANK: Or the silver. And Dr. Hill says count in -- that’s not a no-brainer. So, you’re reopening to add zinc
zeolite, which has one use.
DR. SLAGA: No, no. Add even the ones that are not being used --
DR. SLAGA: We eliminated -- re-reviewed based on it wasn’t a no-brainer. That was the final earlier today.
These are --
DR. HILL: There’s still quite a few that you could keep though.
DR. MARKS: So, let’s go from the top. Obviously not activated clay. How about the second one, the aluminum
calcium magnesium potassium sodium zinc silicate?
DR. HILL: So why not activated clay, because you’ve already got -- in the 2003 -- you’ve got attapulgite,
bentonite, Fullers Earth, hectorite and kaolin.
DR. HILL: The next one would be fine. The next one would be fine. The next one would be fine. The next one
would be fine. Then we’ve got two silvers, but I think the calcium magnesium silicate would be fine.
DR. HILL: I don’t know about germanium. That’s iffy. I’d have to think about that. I’m sorry I didn’t yet.
Remember, my take was put them all together and then split them back out. But, I’m in a different mode now. I
think germanium would be okay.
DR. MARKS: Okay. So, you don’t like the silvers. Now we’re down to the gold zeolite. Zeolite was safe in the
’03 report. Adding gold to it, does that change it? And then we’re into silver copper zeolite.
DR. HILL: So, I’d have to see what the definition of the gold one -- it really isn’t very clear if I remember right.
MS. BURNETT: Gold zeolite is a product obtained by the reaction of gold chloride with zeolite.
DR. HILL: I have to think about that one and the germanium. But anyway, skipping that for the moment and the
two silvers, then you still -- you have sodium magnesium, aluminum, here’s another silver. I think titanium’s okay.
Tromethamine is new. So I flagged that at least.
But then the last of them is probably fine, based on what’s in that grouping in 2003. I know it seems like I’m cherry
picking, but I’m just looking at chemistry that I know.
DR. MARKS: So, you would have two, four, six, eight, nine ingredients if I count --
DR. HILL: Six, seven, eight, nine, maybe ten if we do zinc silicate. Did you catch that one?
DR. MARKS: Oh, I didn’t include the gold since you were hesitating.
DR. HILL: No, I didn’t. but I did include the last four -- all of the last four.
DR. HILL: And I’m not sure about gold; I have to think about that.
DR. MARKS: And you’ve eliminated the zinc, the one that has 17 uses, the ammonium silver zinc aluminum
silicate. So, we’re adding on virtually everything with no use; although that hasn’t been a -- these are no-brainers.
DR. HILL: And now the interesting question is, would you group all the ones that had silver and possibly with the
gold in there, and then make another group and another report. But the only ingredient that’s in use -- and I don’t
know about data --
DR. HILL: -- would be the ammonium silver zinc aluminum silicate. What do we have in the way of data?
DR. MARKS: So, now we’re at reopen the 2000 report and add approximately -- I’ll say approximately --
somewhere around ten ingredients, which are no-brainers from that new add-on list. What’s your sense, Ron Hill?
You don’t have a problem with that?
DR. HILL: I don’t have a problem with that; or I don’t have a problem with do not reopen, since most of those are
not in use.
DR. MARKS: Ron Shank, which way do you lean? Still not reopen.
DR. MARKS: So, we have a split here. I mean the question is, is it really worth it for a bunch of ingredients that
have no uses. But that shouldn’t be --
DR. MARKS: But again, that’s the criteria. Do we use that criteria for reopening? Some things I don’t think we
have. It’s just as a no brainer.
MS. FIUME: I would like to state CIR has been trying to create, through the past couple of years, complete
families, even if ingredients had been reviewed in the past.
MS. FIUME: Regardless of the number of uses. Because then I was going to channel Bart, a little bit, and say
thank you for potentially adding the add-ons to the report. But then can we look at the 2005 and 2009 reports,
because again, there are similar ingredients. So that our family is complete, in one place, could you consider
bringing those into the report as well.
And they do have conclusion, but again, there is sodium potassium aluminum silicate in the 2009 report. So, it’s
sort of out there.
I guess one of our goals has been recently, as we prepare these bigger families, is that it makes sense to have a
family of ingredients in one place. And that’s, you know, what we’ve been striving to do. So, is it possible to make,
even albeit large, a family of ingredients out of these combined four categories, if it was going to be redundant.
Distributed for comment only -- do not cite or quote
DR. MARKS: And that’s -- Ron Shank, right from the beginning, you didn’t like the idea of combining all into one
report?
DR. SHANK: I didn’t see the need. Had that been done at the beginning, okay. But to go back and put them all
together, half of them have already been published. So, now what you’re saying is taking the 16 add-ons, and the
2009, and putting them all into a reopened 2003.
DR. MARKS: I was leaving 2009 standalone. And what I thought we were at was just taking the no-brainers and
adding it to the 2003, which was proposed.
MS. FIUME: Yes. If you were going to go ahead and reopen it, then could we look at the 2009, 2005, and say yes
there are actually a lot of ingredients that also belong in that family, so that they’re all in one place; if it were to be
reopened.
DR. ANSELL: Right. But I think you’re turning it kind of upside down. The reopening justification now is to
order the family. And I think that was our original question, is that worth the effort?
MS. FIUME: Well, I guess, step one would be, are there no brainers that are now listed that have not been
reviewed; and is that a reason to reopen to add. And if that is, we take that step. Then can we take the next step of
looking at ingredients that, yes, were reviewed, because we’ve done this many times, and bring them into the family
as well.
So, I’m looking at it as a step process; but if you go ahead and take the first step, is there any reason not to take the
second step and create a whole family.
DR. SLAGA: Maybe that’s a way to bring it up, the way it was stated. That the 2003 additions, no-brainers, and
then approve that, and then say there’s a possibility that the others could be brought in for a family relationship.
MS. BURNETT: I would like to point out that some of the potential add-ons that have the iron included, the iron
was reviewed in 2009. You wouldn’t have that data from the 2003 report, if that would aide anything.
DR. HILL: What you’re saying is we’re not sure if iron is a no-brainer read across. And I’m sort of asserting in
these kinds of materials, it pretty well should be.
Distributed for comment only -- do not cite or quote
DR. MARKS: Well, our team should at least -- there’s two different issues. We’re still at -- and we have a split
decision among the panel as to whether we not reopen versus open 2003 report and add the ten “no brainers”. I say
10, it might be 9 or 11.
DR. MARKS: Versus the idea of reopening and consolidate. I hear you, Monice. Right from the get-go we said
we didn’t like to consolidate. But we also hear the idea, well this is in the same family, it’d be nice to have it all on
one report.
Consolidate? Because we’re back to that again. And we shouldn’t -- I don’t think we should go into tomorrow
wavering that way, if we all feel don’t consolidate. And we maybe have a split concern that way. It’ll be interesting
to see -- the good thing for me is I’m seconding the motion.
DR. SLAGA: That’s right. If they say consolidate all of them, we’d say we agree.
MS. FIUME: And as a reminder, we’ve done it in the past where we have reopened, and then the next time you can
come back and then look at it again as an entire family, with more information and change it.
But I just wanted to lay out all the steps. And I understand if it’s not reopened, you know, that’s the panel’s
prerogative. But I just wanted to lay out the steps of how to look at the thought process.
DR. HILL: And what you just said last was what I was proposing, even if it wasn’t obvious by how I said it; is put
the information together and then decide. But it’s staff effort and I really appreciate that.
DR. HILL: Well, I mean, the problem is if they put you on something else --
DR. SLAGA: Alright Jim, you heard that. You could either punch them tomorrow or double punch them.
DR. MARKS: No. I think it would be since we’re split on it, as long as they’re not split, we’re going to probably
agree to whichever way they want to go.
DR. MARKS: I see the advantage -- and I have in here consider consolidating with the 2005/2009 report. But my
feeling is if their team -- from what you said Christina you’ve already started that, that consolidating them is not
going to be a huge issue from your point of view. Staffing point of view.
DR. SHANK: Am I the outlier? This is a housekeeping issue as far as I’m concerned.
DR. SHANK: So, if you want to put them together, the staff won’t throw rocks at us --
MS. BURNETT: I would have thrown those rocks a long time ago at somebody else, so it’s good.
Distributed for comment only -- do not cite or quote
MS. FIUME: She would have thrown the rocks at Bart and I.
DR. HILL: I think in putting them together and looking at subgroupings in terms of what can be read across as -- I
don’t know that there’s such as a thing as a real no brainer but anyway -- that fit that criteria to a reasonable degree.
And looking at sub -- I think some things will emerge that if we don’t put them together, okay the sleeping dog will
lie and there’s probably no disaster to that too.
DR. MARKS: I’m going to second what I think’s going to be the proposal to open the 2003 report. Put the add-
ons; ten of them are we think no brainers. I’ll ask you to talk about zinc tomorrow so just so, Ron Hill, you indicate
--
DR. MARKS: Oh, silver. I’m sorry. Sorry, got the wrong metal. Silver, Ron Hill.
DR. HILL: I didn’t bring my advance inorganic chemistry book with me to look at germanium and gold.
DR. MARKS: And then consolidate with the 2005 and 2009 reports and we’ll see where it goes. I want to get to
science now that we’re past the procedural issues. Irritation and sensitization should be fine. It formulates to be
nonirritating. That takes care of the silicates.
As I read it, there was some issues with respiratory in this. Is that true or not? And if it is, at least going forward, I
wanted to get a preview of the science of the respiratory issues and how that’s going to be address with these.
DR. SHANK: And where are you in all this 272 pages?
DR. MARKS: I put respiratory okay, use table 75. I guess there must have been a few things in here. I’m sorry,
Ron, I just highlighted respiratory and I didn’t put a page. I’m not sure where when I look through the report. Ron
Hill?
DR. HILL: I was looking at transcripts a lot and starting into this, since I wasn’t around at the beginning.
DR. MARKS: Sorry, Ron. Maybe just put as an alert and as we go -- when it gets all consolidated. It seems to me
it came out -- nothing stood out to you respiratory wise, Ron Hill?
MS. BURNETT: The summarized discussion from the original report mentioned --
DR. MARKS: Page 89. This was the 2003 report. And if you look at the end of -- it says, “Panel considered that
any spray containing these solids should be formulated to minimize their inhalation. With this admonition to the
cosmetic industry, the CIR panel conclude that these ingredients are safe.” So that must have been -- not in a
conclusion, but in the discussion.
Distributed for comment only -- do not cite or quote
And then when you look at page 149, right above -- yeah. The conclusion doesn’t mention any admonition to the
cosmetic industry, which is kind of interesting. I thought that’s pretty strong wording to not have in the conclusion.
And then, if you look right above the conclusion on page 149, not the note, but right before the note. The
concentration of ingredients is very low. That’s the respirable concentration. Even so, the panel considered that any
spray containing these solids should be formulated to minimize their inhalation.
That could have been a conclusion. We do formulate to be nonirritating. Can you formulate to minimize
inhalation? Or is that the way it’s delivered?
DR. MARKS: That’s where I’m sure I got the inhalation concern.
DR. HILL: Yeah. I was reading back in the transcripts, and the discussion of talc came up which continues to
remain an almost ridiculously contentious issue. But it’s out there, heavily, in the consumer world, in discussion.
Discussion, I use one word.
Because it mentions talc is a hydrated, magnesium silicate. And it gives the chemical composition. This is in the
149, right above the conclusion. Occurs in various forms and has unique crystalline structure. And talc is not
included in this report. The significance there goes to the no-brainer contention with these add-ons.
DR. MARKS: Okay. I just wanted to, Ron, bring that up, and Ron and Tom, about I suspect at some point we’re
going to -- I have to address that again with it being reopened.
DR. MARKS: Yeah, okay. I think that’s fine. Okay, well, we’ll see what happens tomorrow. I’m planning on
seconding it -- whether it’s the motion or not -- opening the 2003 report with ten no-brainer add-ons. Silver, Ron
Hill, has concerns. And depending on what, I’ll ask you, Ron Hill, to -- and then we’ll consolidate with the 2005
and 2009 reports. Does that sound okay now to everybody?
DR. MARKS: Good. Okay. And we’ve taken care of the respiratory. Okay. Thank you.
Christina and Monice, that was a -- I don’t know, every ingredient we’ve had there has been some good discussion
so far. Are we going to have one where it’s, yes, that’s fine. Let’s move on to the next one.
Distributed for comment only -- do not cite or quote
And these would be additional materials that could be incorporated, so bringing that total of 19 into this report. But
then there was also in 2009, assessment of silica and related cosmetics, and that safety assessment, it turns out, was
never published for some reason, and would be due in another six years.
We felt that we could reopen this report; and also in addition to what was reviewed in 2003, include the 16 possible
add-ons that haven’t been looked at. And include the ones from 2005, the three there, as well as the ones in 2009,
that were not published. So, essentially add all of the prior reports on the silicates together, add the new ones.
We need to take a look at this because usage has increased significantly for many of these. And we need a sense of
the concentration of use before we decided on the safety. So, we would like to reopen, combine all of them, and at
this point our real interest is what concentration they’re used at. We may not need additional data based on that.
DR. BELSITO: Reopen, add the 16, and combine the prior reports on silicates.
DR. MARKS: We second that motion. I just want to clarify. So, you don’t want to move forward with either a
tentative report or an insufficient data announcement with the reopening.
DR. MARKS: Okay then, if it’s a tentative report we have to have a conclusion, correct? And I haven’t heard a
conclusion.
DR. BELSITO: Well then, I would say that it’s insufficient for concentration of use of what we’re adding on.
DR. EISENMANN: But we were never asked to do a concentration of use survey, yet, on some of the ingredients;
so, it’s hard to make it to be a tentative report.
DR. HELDRETH: Yeah, we can put up the insufficiency, and we could give industry time to respond with that
information.
DR. BELSITO: I’m fine with whatever the procedures are. I think this will clear pretty quickly once Carol gets us
the data on concentration of use. But it’s hard to say “safe as used,” when we don’t know how the new ones are
used yet.
DR. HELDRETH: Alternatively, we can concede that this can just be considered a report strategy, at this point.
And if you agree with the strategy, then we will create a new report that comes back to you.
DR. MARKS: And then you wanted to include, of the add-ons, Ron Hill had a question with the silver. You
weren’t happy with including that as a no-brainer on the add-ons?
DR. HILL: I didn’t do it as a no-brainer, but if we’re reopening, which we weren’t clear we were doing in our
session, fully reopening.
DR. HILL: Okay. I didn’t know where we landed at the end. Okay, then I think we leave it in for now. But it’s
not necessarily a no-brainer, it’s not clear that we will, for sure, be able to read across, but leave it in for the
moment.
DR. BERGFELD: Any other comments? I’ll call to question then? All those in favor of reopening, please
indicate by raising your hand. Thank you. Unanimous.
Distributed for comment only -- do not cite or quote
The 2018 Cosmetic Ingredient Review Expert Panel members are: Chair, Wilma F. Bergfeld, M.D., F.A.C.P.;
Donald V. Belsito, M.D.; Ronald A. Hill, Ph.D.; Curtis D. Klaassen, Ph.D.; Daniel C. Liebler, Ph.D.; James G.
Marks, Jr., M.D.; Ronald C. Shank, Ph.D.; Thomas J. Slaga, Ph.D.; and Paul W. Snyder, D.V.M., Ph.D. The CIR
Executive Director is Bart Heldreth, Ph.D. This safety assessment was prepared by Christina L. Burnett, Senior
Scientific Analyst/Writer.
INTRODUCTION
The Cosmetic Ingredient Review (CIR) Expert Panel (Panel) previously reviewed the safety of Aluminum Silicate,
Calcium Silicate, Magnesium Aluminum Silicate, Magnesium Silicate, Magnesium Trisilicate, Sodium Magnesium
Silicate, Zirconium Silicate, Attapulgite, Bentonite, Fuller’s Earth, Hectorite, Kaolin, Lithium Magnesium Silicate,
Lithium Magnesium Sodium Silicate, Montmorillonite, Pyrophyllite, and Zeolite in a report that was published in 2003.2
The Panel concluded that these ingredients are safe as used in cosmetic products. In accordance with its procedures, the
Panel evaluates the conclusions of previously-issued reports every 15 years, and it has been at least 15 years since this
assessment has been issued. This report has been reopened to add additional ingredients, including several that were also
previously reviewed: Potassium Silicate, Sodium Metasilicate, and Sodium Silicate (published in 2005 with the
conclusion that these ingredients were safe for use in cosmetic products in the practices of use and concentration
described in the safety assessment when formulated to avoid irritation)3 and Silica, Alumina Magnesium Metasilicate
(now called Magnesium Aluminometasilicate), Aluminum Calcium Sodium Silicate, Aluminum Iron Silicates, Hydrated
Silica, and Sodium Potassium Aluminum Silicate (finalized in 2009 with the conclusion that these ingredients are safe as
cosmetic ingredients in the practices of use and concentrations as described in the safety assessment).4
This report assesses the safety of 40 ingredients (listed below; previously reviewed ingredients are in red) as used in
cosmetics. According to the web-based International Cosmetic Ingredient Dictionary and Handbook (wINCI;
Dictionary; see Table 1), the majority of these ingredients function as abrasives, absorbents, bulking agents, and/or
deodorant agents in cosmetic products.5
The Panel has also reviewed other related ingredients. The Panel determined that the ammonium hectorites (i.e.,
Disteardiomonium Hectorite, Dihydrogenated Tallow Benzylmonium Hectorite, Stearlkonium Hectorite, and Quaternium-18
Hectorite) are safe as used in cosmetic ingredients.6 Additionally, silylates and surface-modified siloxysilicates (i.e., Silica
Silylate, Silica Dimethyl Silylate, Trimethylsiloxysilicate, and Trifluoropropyldimethyl/Trimethylsiloxysilicate) are safe as
used in cosmetics when formulated and delivered in the final product not to be irritating or sensitizing to the respiratory
tract.7 The ingredients from these reports are not part of this amended safety assessment.
This safety assessment includes relevant published and unpublished data that are available for each endpoint that is
evaluated. Published data are identified by conducting an exhaustive search of the world’s literature. A listing of the search
engines and websites that are used and the sources that are typically explored, as well as the endpoints that CIR typically
evaluates, is provided on the CIR website (https://www.cir-safety.org/supplementaldoc/preliminary-search-engines-and-
websites; https://www.cir-safety.org/supplementaldoc/cir-report-format-outline). Unpublished data are provided by the
cosmetics industry, as well as by other interested parties.
Some chemical and toxicological data on the Silica and Silicate ingredients included in this safety assessment were
obtained from robust summaries of data submitted to the European Chemical Agency (ECHA) by companies as part of the
REACH chemical registration process.8-14 Additionally, some data were obtained from assessments by the Organisation for
Distributed for comment only -- do not cite or quote
Economic Co-Operation and Development Screening Information Data Sets (OECD SIDS)15-19 and the European Centre for
Ecotoxicology and Toxicology of Chemicals (ECETOC).20 These data summaries are available on the ECHA, OECD SIDS,
and ECETOC websites, respectively, and when deemed appropriate, information from the summaries has been included in
this report.
Excerpts from the summaries of the 2003 and 2005 reports are disseminated throughout the text of this re-review
document, as appropriate, and are identified by italicized text. (This information, except for chemical and physical
properties, is not included in the tables or the summary section.) The Silica report (2009) has been incorporated into this
safety assessment due to reorganization. The original reports that were published in 2003, 2005, and 2009, and reports on
related ingredients, are available on the CIR website (https://www.cir-safety.org/ingredients).
CHEMISTRY
Definition
These inorganic oxide ingredients, comprising in part, silicon dioxide, are solids derived from naturally occurring
minerals. Specifically, many of these ingredients are directly derived from various Silicate clay minerals. However, these
ingredients can be produced synthetically; and in the case of Silica and Hydrated Silica, these are more commonly prepared
as such for commercial purposes. The definitions and functions of the Silica and Silicate ingredients included in this safety
assessment are provided in Table 1.
Silica
Silica is a silicon-oxygen tetrahedral unit where a silicon atom is central within 4 oxygen atoms that are shared with
adjacent silicon atoms.21 Various physical forms of Silica are caused by differences in the spatial relationships of the
tetrahedral that determine physical characteristics. Amorphous Silica has an irregular tetrahedral pattern. Crystalline Silica is
polymorphic where each variety has a characteristic regular 3-dimensional arrangement of the tetrahedral. As would be
predicted from these descriptions, crystalline Silica has a well-defined x-ray diffraction pattern; whereas amorphous forms of
Silica do not.1 Only synthetic amorphous Silica forms are used in cosmetics and this safety assessment is limited to these
forms of Silica; crystalline Silica forms are not used in cosmetics.
The CAS No. 7631-86-9 is the general CAS No. which includes all forms of silicas including amorphous,
crystalline, synthetic, and natural forms.16 The amorphous forms of Silica may also be referred to as amorphous silicon oxide
hydrate, silicic anhydride, silicon dioxide, and silicon dioxide, fumed.5 Pyrogenic Silica is the current terminology for silicon
dioxide, fumed.4
Hydrated Silica
Hydrated Silica may also be referred to as hydrosilicic acid, precipitated Silica, Silica gel, Silica hydrate, silicic acid,
silicic acid hydrate, silicon dioxide hydrate, synthetic amorphous silicon dioxide, and colloidal Silica.5,22
Physical and chemical properties of the Silica and Silicate ingredients are provided in Table 2. These ingredients
generally are not soluble in water.
Method of Manufacturing
Silica and Hydrated Silica
Silica and Hydrated Silica used in cosmetics are synthetically produced. A manufacturing process for Silica
(pyrogenic form) is shown in Figure 1.1 Mean particle size, particle size distribution, and degree of aggregation and/or
agglomeration can be determined by adjusting processing parameters.27
Silica may be produced by a vapor-phase process.28 The pyrogenic form of Silica is produced in a relatively
anhydrous state. Hydrated Silica is produced by a wet process and contains a large amount of bound water.
Composition/Impurities
Silica
Silica is reported to be > 95% pure.16 Possible impurities include: Na 2 O (0.2% to 2.1% wt.), sulfates as SO 3 (0.2% to
3.0% wt.), Fe 2 O 3 (< 0.05% wt.), and trace oxides (<0.07% wt.). Heavy metal impurities include: antimony (< 5 ppm),
barium (< 50 ppm), chromium (< 10 ppm), arsenic (< 3 ppm), lead (< 10 ppm), mercury (< 1 ppm), cadmium (< 1ppm), and
selenium (< 1 ppm).
A manufacturer has stated that its Silica products are > 99.8% pure.29 The moisture content of untreated Silica is < 1
wt%. Treated Silica is susceptible to adsorbing chemical vapors.
USE
Cosmetic
The safety of the cosmetic ingredients included in this assessment is evaluated based on data received from the US
Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the cosmetics industry on the expected use of these ingredients in cosmetics. Use
frequencies of individual ingredients in cosmetics are collected from manufacturers and reported by cosmetic product
category in the FDA Voluntary Cosmetic Registration Program (VCRP) database. Use concentration data are submitted by
the cosmetics industry in response to surveys, conducted by the Personal Care Products Council (Council), of maximum
reported use concentrations by product category.
According to 2018 VCRP data, Silica has the most reported uses in cosmetic products, with a total of 8024; the
majority of the uses are in leave-on eye makeup preparations and makeup preparations (Table 3 and Table 4).30 Kaolin has
the second most reported uses in cosmetic products, with a total of 1794; the majority of the uses are also in leave-on eye
makeup preparations and makeup preparations. The reported numbers of uses for the remaining ingredients in this report are
much lower. The frequencies of use for both of these ingredients have greatly increased since the original safety assessments
were finalized: in 2009, Silica was reported to have 3276 uses and in 1998, Kaolin was reported to have 509 uses.2-4 The
results of the concentration of use survey conducted in 2018 by the Council indicate Silica has the highest reported maximum
concentration of use; it is used at up to 82% in face and neck products and 50% in mascaras.31,32 Kaolin is used at up to 53%
in “other” manicuring products and up to 35% in rinse-off “other” skin care preparations.31 According to the original safety
assessment, the maximum use concentration in 1999 for Kaolin was 100% in leave-on “other” skin care preparations.
Additonally, the maximum use concentration for Hectorite was 100% in rinse-off skin cleansing preparations (the maximum
leave-on concentration was 15% in makeup foundations).2 Silica was reported to be used at up to 44% in eye shadows in
2008.4 Cosmetic ingredients with no reported uses in the VCRP database are listed in Table 5.
Many of the Silicate ingredients described in this safety assessment may be used in products that can be incidentally
ingested or come into contact with mucous membranes; for example, use is reported in lipsticks and oral hygiene products.30
Hydrated Silica was reported to be in dentifrices at up to 17.1%.32 Additionally, these ingredients have been reported to be
used in products that may come into contact with the eyes, such as eye shadows, eye liners, and mascaras. Silica was
reported to be used at up to 50% in mascaras.32 Moreover, these ingredients are reported to be used in spray products and
powders that could possibly be inhaled, like hair sprays and face powders. Hydrated Silica was reported to be used at up to
0.9% in a hair spray and Silica was reported to be used at up to 66% in face powders.32 For ingredients where there is a lack
of inhalation data, the Panel has noted that in practice, 95% to 99% of the droplets/particles released from cosmetic sprays
have aerodynamic equivalent diameters > 10 µm, with propellant sprays yielding a greater fraction of droplets/particles
below 10 µm compared with pump spray.33-36 Therefore, most droplets/particles incidentally inhaled from cosmetic sprays
would be deposited in the nasopharyngeal and bronchial regions and would not be respirable (i.e., they would not enter the
lungs) to any appreciable amount.33,35 Silicates are also used in powders, and these products could possibly be inhaled.
Conservative estimates of inhalation exposures to respirable particles during the use of loose powder cosmetic products are
400-fold to 1000-fold less than protective regulatory and guidance limits for inert airborne respirable particles in the
workplace.37-39
In regulations on cosmetic products in the European Union, zirconium and its compounds (including Zirconium
Silicate) are listed under Annex II-substances prohibited in cosmetic products. 40 Aluminum Silicate, Bentonite, and Kaolin
are listed under Annex IV – colorants allowed in cosmetic products. The remaining Silicate-related ingredients listed in this
report are not restricted from use in any way under the rules governing cosmetic products in the European Union.
According to Australia’s National Industrial Chemicals Notification and Assessment Scheme (NICNAS), the
following ingredients are Tier I chemicals (not considered to pose an unreasonable risk to the health of workers and public
Distributed for comment only -- do not cite or quote
health on the basis of the Tier I Inventory Multi-tiered Assessment and Prioritization (IMAP)): Aluminum Silicate, Bentonite,
Calcium Silicate, Fuller’s Earth, Kaolin, Magnesium Silicate, Magnesium Trisilicate, Montmorillonite, Sodium Potassium
Aluminum Silicate, Zeolite, and Silica (as amorphous, fumed, crystalline-free; gel; gel-precipated, crystalline-free; and
vitreous).41 Attapulgite, Potassium Silicate, Sodium Silicate, and Sodium Metasilicate are Tier II chemicals (require risk
management measures to be instituted for safe use for human health or the environment). The remaining silicates have no
NICNAS determination.
Non-Cosmetic
Aluminum Silicate is approved as an indirect food additive in the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR).2
Bentonite is considered generally recognized as safe (GRAS) as a direct food additive and Kaolin is considered GRAS
as an indirect food additive. Pyrophyllite is listed as a naturally occurring color additive in the CFR. Calcium Silicate,
Magnesium Aluminum Silicate, Magnesium Trisilicate, Attapulgite, Hectorite, and Kaolin are all used in over-the-
counter drug products.
Potassium Silicate and Sodium Silicate were reported as being used in industrial cleaners and detergents.3
Sodium Metasilicate is a GRAS food ingredient.
Calcium Silicate
Calcium Silicate is used in endodontics in root canal sealer preparations and dental cements.54-56
Fuller’s Earth
Fuller’s Earth is reported to be used as military decontaminant for removal of hazardous materials from the skin.57
Hydrated Silica
Hydrated Silica (colloidal) is used in fiber, sizing, diazo paper manufacture, cellophane film, ceramics, grass fiber,
paints, batteries, foods, and polishing.58
Silica
Silica is used in pharmaceuticals as a thickener in pastes and ointments to inhibit the separation of components and
maintain flow properties in powder products.16 It is also a general excipient for pharmaceuticals.1,59 Silica can function as a
carrier for fragrances.16 Silica is used in animal feed as carriers and anticaking agents in vitamins and mineral premixes.
Silica is also used in paints, lacquers, plastics, paper, and in the production of “green tires”. Silica is used as an insecticide by
cuticular lipid layer dehydration. Silica is used as reinforcing fillers for many non-staining and colored rubber and silicone
products.16,24
Silica has many uses in foods and food preparations.1,16,60 These include use as an anticaking agent in dry powders, a
dispersion agent for dry powders in liquids, an anti-settling or suspending agent, a stabilizer in oil/water emulsions, a
thickening or thixotropic agent, a gelling agent, a flavor carrier, an extrusion aid, a clarification and separation aid, and a
support matrix for immobilization of enzymes. It is also used as a defoaming agent, conditioning agent, a chill-proofing agent
in malt beverages, and a filter aid in foods.
Zeolite
The use of Zeolite has been investigated for use in oral drug delivery of acidic medications, such as aspirin.62
Zinc Silicate
Zinc Silicate is reported to be used as phosphors (in television screens), in spray ingredients, and to remove traces of
copper from gasoline.61,63
Distributed for comment only -- do not cite or quote
TOXICOKINETICS
Absorption, Distribution, Metabolism, Excretion (ADME)
No statistically significant absorption of aluminum and elevated levels of silicon were recorded in assayed plasma
samples of dogs given Magnesium Trisilicate and Zeolite orally.2 The urinary excretion of Silica was 5.2% in males
given 20 g of Magnesium Trisilicate. Ten percent Bentonite in the diets of rats overcame T-2 toxicosis completely.
Various Zeolites were added to the diets of pigs. No adverse effects were noted by the supplementation.
A sample of Aluminum Silicate was toxic to pulmonary alveolar macrophages and lactate dehydrogenase activity
(LDH) and β-galactosidase (β-GAL release were increased.2 Aluminum Silicate had relatively no effect on the
hemolysis of rat red blood cells (RBCs). Synthetic Calcium Silicate samples and higher concentrations of Calcium
Silicate caused increased hemolysis of human RBCs; a greater fibrous character of Calcium Silicate samples caused
increased LDH and β-GAL release.
Sodium Silicate administered orally acts as a mild alkali and was readily absorbed from the alimentary canal
and excreted in the urine.3 Urinary excretion of Sodium Silicate given orally to rats at 40 and 1000 mg/kg was 18.9%
and 2.8%, respectively.
Oral
Silica
In an oral study of Silica in an aqueous suspension, female rats (strain and number not specified) received 1500
mg/kg/d for 30 days via gavage.16 Controls were not described. The rats were then killed and necropsied. The Silica content
in the livers, kidneys, and spleen was 1.5 µg (control value = 1.8 µg), 6.4 µg (7.2 µg), and 5.3 µg (7.8 µg), respectively.
In a similar study, 20 female Sprague-Dawley rats received Silica via gavage in an aqueous suspension (100 mg/rat;
~500 mg/kg) 20 times over one month.16 Controls were not described. No clinical signs of toxicity were observed. The
Silica content in the liver, spleen, and kidneys was 4.2 µg (control value = 1.8 µg), 5.5 µg (7.2 µg), and 14.2 µg (7.8 µg),
respectively.
Inhalation
Silica and Hydrated Silica
The retention and elimination of aerosolized Silica (initial dose and particle size not reported) was studies in female
inbred albino rats (strain and number not reported).16 The rats were exposed to the test material for 40 days. The amount was
then increased to 40 to 50 mg/m3 until day 120. Groups of rats were killed and necropsied periodically through the test
period.
The average 1-day retention value was 28 µg/lung at the lower unspecified concentration. During the first 10 days, a
steep linear increase was seen with ~28 µg/day as theoretically expected. Increments then became smaller. The author
suggested that elimination increased and that an equilibrium between retention and elimination was established. After 40
exposures, the average 1-day retention value was 59 µg/lung at the high concentration. After 120 exposures, the total deposit
(lung and mediastinal lymph nodes) was 435 µg/lung, equivalent to 7.4 % of the theoretically deposited material (5840
µg/lung, based on the measured 1-day retention); more than 92% of the deposited Silica in the alveoli was eliminated during
the exposure period. At that time, the mean retention of the lungs was 300 µg/lung (~ 69% of the total). The deposition rate
in the mediastinal lymph nodes was negligible during the first 40 days, but increased gradually. After 120 exposures, the
retention was substantial amounting to 135 µg (~ 31% of the total deposit). A test for the determination of free alveolar cells
showed a decrease immediately after a single exposure and 24 hours later an increase of 100% was observed.16
In another retention and elimination study, female Sprague-Dawley rats (number not reported) were exposed to
aerosolized Silica (0.050 to 0.055 mg/l; particle size not provided) for 5 h/d for 5 d/week for one year.16 Because the rats had
occurrences of bronchitis, putrid, lung inflammation, and pronounced cell reactions, the exposure incidences were reduced to
2 or 3 d/week. Rats in each group were killed and necropsied periodically during treatment and after treatment.
Distributed for comment only -- do not cite or quote
After 6 weeks of treatment, Silica was observed in the lungs (0.5 mg) and the mediastinal lymph node (0.02 mg); after
18 weeks these values were 1.2 mg and 0.11 mg; and after 12 months, the values were 1.37 mg and 0.13 mg, respectively.
Corresponding to the respiration volume, 1% of the inhaled Silica was retained in the lungs. After a recovery period of 5
months, there was 0.160 mg and 0.047 mg Silica observed in the lungs and mediastinal lymph node, respectively, with a
reduction of 88% in the lung and > 50% in the lymph nodes. The increase in lung deposition was rapid at the initial
exposure; levels of deposited Silica were low from 18 weeks to 12 months of exposure.16
In an elimination study, aerosolized Silica (0.05 mg/l; particle size not provided) was administered for 5 h per day for
3 days to female Sprague-Dawley rats (number not specified).16 The rats were observed for up to 3 months. Twenty h after
the last exposure, 0.25 mg Silica was found in the lungs. After 3 months, the Silica content was 0.018 mg. In the lymph
node, 0.018 mg Silica was found after 1 month and 0.008 mg Silica after 3 months.
Another elimination study of Hydrated Silica (55 mg/m3; particle size not provided), rats (details not provided) were
exposed to the test materials for 5 h.16 The mean retention value at 20 h was 0.138 mg/lung. The mean Silica-content of the
lungs for Hydrated Silica was 1.022 mg after 4 months recovery and 3.113 mg after 12 months recovery. The corresponding
values for the mediastinal lymphatic nodes were 0.033 mg and 0.069 mg, respectively. Five months after exposure, the
average value for the lungs was only 0.457 mg (87% elimination rate) and 0.052 mg for the mediastinal lymphatic nodes.
An elimination study was performed on rats (details not provided) exposed to aerosolized Silica (hydrophoblic; 50
mg/m3; particle size not provided) for 1or 3 days.20 The rats were killed and necropsied after 20 h, 1 month, or 3 months. At
1 month recovery, elimination of Silica was 78% (1 day exposure) and 75% (3 days exposure). After 3 months recovery,
elimination was 87% and 92%, respectively. There was little Silica in the mediastinal lymph nodes.
Rats (details not provided) were exposed to aerosolized Silica (hydrophobic; 200 mg/m3; particle size not provided) in
an elimination study for 5 h/d for 3 days.20 After a 3 month recovery period, 81% of the Silica was eliminated. Elimination
by the lymph nodes was marginal.
Subcutaneous
Silica
In a subcutaneous study in female Sprague-Dawley rats (number not provided), 6.89 mg Silica was measured in the
tissue 24 h after a single dose of 10 mg was injected.16 One month after injection, the amount of Silica had decreased to
0.646 mg, and after 2 months, the amount of Silica at the injection site was 0.298 mg.
In another study, Silica (10 mg in water) was subcutaneously injected in rats (no further details).20 The Silica was
quickly removed from the injection site with a mean recovery of 6.90 mg at 24 h, 0.65 mg after 1 month, and 0.30 mg after 2
months.
Approximately 95% to 97% of Silica (30, 40, or 50 mg in water) injected subcutaneously in rats was recovered 6
weeks after treatment (no further details).20
TOXICOLOGICAL STUDIES
Acute Toxicity Studies
The following are a list of acute oral LD 50 determinations: Calcium Silicate, 3400 mg/kg in rats; Magnesium
Aluminum Silicate, 50,000 mg/kg in mice; Zirconium Silicate, > 200 g/kg in mice; Hectorite, > 5 g/kg in rats; Kaolin,
149 g/kg in rats (death due to bowel obstruction); 15 natural Zeolites, 10 g/kg in rats.2 The acute dermal LD 50 was >
3.5 g/kg for rabbits exposed to Magnesium Aluminum Silicate.
The toxicity of Potassium Silicate, Sodium Metasilicate, and Sodium Silicate has been related to the molar
ratio of SiO 2 /Na 2 O and the concentration.3 The acute oral LD 50 of Sodium Metasilicate ranged from 847 mg/kg in
male rats to 1349.3 mg/kg in female rats, and from 770 mg/kg in female mice to 820 mg/kg in male mice. Gross lesions
of variable severity were found in the oral cavity, pharynx, esophagus, stomach, larynx, lungs, and kidneys of dogs
receiving 0.25 g/kg or more of a commercial detergent containing Sodium Metasilicate. Similar lesions were seen in
pigs given the same detergent and dose as in the previous study. Male Sprague-Dawley rats orally administered 464
mg/kg of a 20% solution containing either 2.0 or 2.4 ratio of Sodium Silicate to 1.0 ratio of sodium oxide showed no
signs of toxicity, whereas doses of 1000 and 2150 mg/kg produced gasping, dyspnea, and acute depression. Acute
intraperitoneal injections of a neutralized 2% solution of Sodium Metasilicate in white rats resulted in a decrease in
spleen weight and relative enlargement of the kidneys.
Acute dermal, oral, and inhalation data are summarized in Table 6. Hydrated Silica in water and Potassium Silicate
(30%) had dermal LD 50 s greater than 5 g/kg in rabbits and rats, respectively.10,16,20,68 In oral rat studies, the LD 50 s for
Aluminum Silicate (concentration not reported), Calcium Silicate (20%), Hydrated Silica (26% in water), Potassium Silicate
(concentration not reported), Silica (in stock diet 1:4 w/w), Sodium Magnesium Aluminum Silicate (concentration not
reported), and Sodium Silicate were > 2 g/kg, > 10g/kg, 40 g/kg, > 5 g/kg, > 10 g/kg, > 2 g/kg, and up to 8.65 g/kg,
respectively.9,10,12-16,20,28,69,70 An oral LD 50 for Sodium Silicate in mice was 6.60 g/kg.12 Orally administered Aluminum
Calcium Sodium Silicate had no adverse effects up to 800 mg/kg in mice.71,72 In inhalation studies, the LC 50 s for Hydrated
Silica (30% SiO 2 ), Potassium Silicate (30%), and Silica (concentration not reported) in rats were > 3300 mg/m3, > 2060
mg/m3, and > 191,300 mg/m3, respectively.10,16,20,28,73
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Inhalation
Hydrated Silica
In an inhalation study, 45 male Fischer 344 rats were exposed to aerosolized Hydrated Silica (30 mg/m3; particle
size not provided) for 6 h/d for 8 days.77,78 The recovery period was up to 112 days. During exposure, there was an early and
transient influx of cells into the lung tissue which returned to normal by day 12. At 5 days post-exposure, the number and
differential counts of alveolar lavage-derived cells were similar to controls. The brochalveolar lavage (BAL) protein, lipid
phosphorus, and saturated dipalmitoyl phosphatidyl-choline levels increased immediately after exposure and were normal by
day 5 post exposure. There were no differences between controls and treated lungs as to weight, DNA-, protein-, or
hydroxyproline-content. The authors concluded that inhaled Silica caused an early, transient alveolar inflammatory response,
without producing fibrosis. There was only a mild inflammatory response with no evidence of connective tissue response.
Male CD BR rats (number not provided) were exposed to aerosolized Hydrated Silica (10.1, 50.5, and 154 mg/m3;
diluted 4:1 with deionized, distilled water; particle size not provided) for 6 h/d, 5 d/week, for 4 weeks followed by a 10 and
94 day recovery period.79,80 The controls were unexposed. Lesions were only observed in lungs and associated draining
lymph nodes. There was a dose-dependent increase in mean lung weight and lung to body weight ratio after 4 weeks of
exposure in the mid and high dose groups. The mean lung to body weight ratio continued to increase in the high dose group
10 days into recovery, but was similar to controls after 3 months. There were dust laden alveolar macrophages, neutrophilic
infiltration, and Type II pneumocyte hyperplasia observed in the alveolar duct region of the lungs. Pulmonary lesions
progressively decreased in rats examined after the 10 day and 3 month recovery period.
At 3 months post-exposure, most dust-laden alveolar macrophages were cleared from the lungs, but small numbers
of minute silicotic nodule-like lesions were present in the alveolar ducts and perivascular regions where dust laden alveolar
macrophages had aggregated. There was minimal collagen deposition observed in the silicotic nodule-like lesions; the
lesions did not increase in size or number over time. The lung clearance half-life was ~50 days for the mid and high dose
groups. In the high dose group, there was an increase in mean neutrophil count and globulin concentration and a decrease in
mean lymphocyte count at the end of the treatment. The increase in mean neutrophil count and decrease in mean lymphocyte
count were still present after 3 months of recovery. The tracheal and mediastinal lymph nodes were enlarged with nodular
aggregates of dust-laden alveolar macrophages and hyperplastic reticulo-epithelial (RE) cells. The NOAEL was 10.1
mg/m3.79,80
In another inhalation study, groups of 25 male Crl:CD(SD)BR rats were exposed to aerosolized Hydrated Silica (0,
10, 50, or 150 mg/m3; particle size not provided) for 6 h/day, 5 days/week for 4 weeks.81 Some of the rats were killed at the
end of the exposure period, at 10 days, or 3 months. There were dose-dependent lesions observed in the mid and high dose
groups but not in the low dose group. Particles were mostly phagocytized by alveolar macrophages in the alveolar duct
region and a few free particles were observed in Type I pneumonocytes in the alveoli. Particle-laden alveolar macrophages
directly penetrated into the brochiolar interstitium from alveoli and accumulated in bronchus-associate lymphoid tissue,
peribronchial, or perivascular interstitium and accumulated in the tracheo-bronchial lymph nodes. Some particle-laden
alveolar macrophages in the bronchus-associated lymphoid tissue transmigrated directly into bronchial lumen through the
Distributed for comment only -- do not cite or quote
epithelium. The transmigrated particle-laden alveolar macrophages in the tracheo-bronchial lymph nodes were similar to
those in the alveoli. They were characterized by slender cytoplasmic processes, phagosomes, myelin figures, cholesterol
clefts, and lipid droplets. Migrated particle-laden alveoli macrophages were observed to be necrotic and have released
particles in the tracheobronchial lymph nodes.
At 3 months, the lungs of the low dose group were normal. The lungs of the mid dose group were normal in
appearance, but a small number of tiny nodular aggregates of dust-laden alveoli macrophages and epithelioid cells were
observed. One rat had a few silicotic nodules in perivascular regions adjacent to the bronchioles. The high dose group had
decreased numbers of particle-laden alveoli macrophages that were sharply circumscribed in the alveoli. Some aggregates of
particle-laden alveoli macrophages and epitheliod cells were closely apposed with alveolar walls and transformed into
nodular aggregates without any collagen fiber deposition. Three of 10 rats had silicotic nodules in the perivascular region of
the bronchioles.81
In a 13 week study, male and female Wistar rats were placed in a whole body inhalation chamber 6 h/d, 5 d/week
and exposed to Hydrated Silica at 35 mg/m3 (particle and agglomerate/aggregate size 1 to ~120 µm).82 The rats were
periodically killed and necropsied over the 52-week recovery period.
Slightly decreased body weight and increased lung and thymus weights were observed. Necropsy revealed swollen
and spotted lungs and enlarged mediastinal lymph nodes. Microscopic examination of the lungs revealed accumulation of
alveolar macrophages, intra-alveolar leukocytes, and increased septal cellularity. There was also accumulation of
macrophages in the lymph nodes. The collagen content in the lungs was slightly increased. During the recovery period, the
effects of Silica exposure were mostly gone within 26 weeks. Accumulation of Silica and macrophages in the mediastinal
lymph nodes were still present at the end of the recovery period.82
Silica
In a short-term inhalation study, 15 Fischer 344 rats were exposed to aerosolized Silica for 8 days (no further
details).78 Three of the rats were killed and necropsied at days 0, 5, 12, 60, and 120 after exposure. There was initial
inflammation, predominantly alveolar, which subsided before day 12.
In another short-term inhalation study, groups of 40 male and 40 female Wistar rats were exposed to Silica (17, 44,
or 164 mg/m3; particle size not provided) in a whole body exposure chamber for 6 h/d, 5 d/week for a total of 14 days.82 The
control was 6 male and 6 female unexposed rats. Respiratory distress was observed in all groups. One female in the high
dose group died. Body weights and feed consumption were decreased in the males in the mid and high dose groups.
Hematological measurements were unremarkable. There were increased lung weights in both sexes (47%, 65%, and 86% for
the low, mid, and high dose groups) compared to controls. The absolute and relative liver weights were decreased in males,
but not females. Dose-dependent changes were observed in the lungs (i.e., pale, spotted and/or spongy, occasionally irregular
surface, alveolar interstitial pneumonia, early granulomata). The mediastinal lymph nodes were enlarged.
The above study was repeated with Silica (46, 180, or 668 mg/m3) on groups of 30 male and 30 female Wistar
82
rats. Respiratory distress was observed in all groups. One male died in the high dose group. Body weights were decreased
in the male mid and high dose groups and in the high dose females. Feed consumption was decreased in both sexes in the
mid and high dose groups. There were increased lung weights in both sexes compared to controls (males 25%, 39%, and
68%; females 34%, 50%, and 86% in the low, mid, and high dose groups, respectively). There were decreased liver weights
in males of all dose groups and the high dose group females. The lungs were spotted, swollen, and had irregular surfaces in
the high dose groups as well as interstitial pneumonia and early granulomata. Silica was observed in the mediastinal lymph
nodes in the mid and high dose groups and 1 rat in the low dose group. An accumulation of alveolar macrophages and
particulate material was observed in the lungs of males in the mid and high dose group.
In another inhalation toxicity study, female Wistar rats (number not reported) were exposed to aerosolized Silica (8
and 40 mg/m3; particle size not provided) for 1 h/d, 5 d/week for up to 3 months.16 The rats were killed and necropsied at 7 d
and 3 weeks after treatment. No macroscopic changes were noted. Histopathologically, there was an occurrence of dust cells
in the lungs which decreased post-exposure. There was no fibrosis of the reticulo-cellular type and normal parenchyma of
the lungs. A decrease of Silica content in the lungs was observed 7 and 48 days after treatment termination. After 3 months,
there was almost no Silica in the lungs.
Distributed for comment only -- do not cite or quote
Groups of 10 male and 10 female Wistar rats were exposed to Silica (0, 0.51, 2.05, or 10.01 mg/m3; particle size not
provided) for 6 h/d, 5 d/week for 13 weeks.20 A group of rats from each dose group was allowed to recover for 13 weeks
before being killed and necropsied. Silica was observed in the lungs in a concentration dependent manner at the end of
exposure. Silica was observed in the tracheobronchial lymph nodes in the high dose group. After recovery, the amount of
Silica in the lungs was below detection limits in the low dose group and only a small amount was detected in the high dose
group.
In a 13-week inhalation study of Silica (1.3, 5.9, or 31 mg/m3; particle size not provided) using groups of 50 male
and 50 female Wistar rats, the animals were subjected to full body exposure for 6 h/d, 5 d/week. Ten rats of each sex were
killed and necropsied at weeks 13, 26, 39, and 52.82 There were no mortalities during treatment or recovery. Clinical signs
were increased respiration rates in a dose dependent manner and body weight gains were depressed. RBC count was
increased in males in the high-dose group. In the mid- and high-dose groups, white blood cells (WBC) were elevated in both
males and females; the concentration-response relationship was poor. Blood cell counts returned to normal by week 39.
Necropsy at 13 weeks revealed swollen and spotted lungs and enlarged mediastinal lymph nodes; the severity was dose
dependent. All groups had increased lung weights and collagen content, less so in the low-dose group. All these effects
reduced to control levels by the end of the study except for collagen content in males in the mid- and high-dose groups.
After treatment, Silica could be detected in the lungs of all the rats in relatively small amounts. In the high-dose
group, the average Silica amount in the lungs was 0.2 mg. Silica was detected in 1 male in this group in the regional lymph
node. At the end of the study, no Silica above control levels could be detected in any rat. Microscopic evaluation after
treatment revealed accumulation of alveolar macrophages and granular material, cellular debris, polymorphonuclear
leukocytes, increased septal cellularity, alveolar bronchialization, focal interstitial fibrosis, cholesterol clefts, and granuloma-
like lesions in the lung. The lesions in the lung did not have fibroblastic activity or hyalinization and regressed during
recovery. All types of pulmonary lesions were more marked in males than in females. Accumulation of macrophages was
observed in the mediastinal lymph node at 13 and 26 weeks. Treatment-related, microscopic changes in the nasal region
were occasionally found at week 13 such as focal necrosis and slight atrophy of the olfactory epithelium. Interstitial fibrosis
was not noted directly after the exposure period, but was observed for the first time after 13 weeks post-exposure, with
increasing incidence especially in the high-dose group, and a few in the mid-dose group. There was decreased severity and
frequency of the effects until the end of the study. The authors concluded that the no observed effect level (NOEL) was 1.3
mg/m3.82
In another 13 week study, 4 male Fischer 344 rats were exposed to aerosolized Silica (50.4 ± 19 mg/m3; mean
diameter 0.81 µm) for 6 h/d, 5d/week.83 The control group was not treated. The Silica burden was determined after 6.5 and
13 weeks of exposure and after 3 and 8 months of recovery. The Silica load increased quickly during the first 6.5 weeks of
exposure (0.76 mg/lung) but less so after 13 weeks (0.88 mg/lung). During recovery, the Silica burden disappeared rapidly
from lung tissue (15% after 12 weeks; 6% after 32 weeks). BAL showed mean cell numbers in the lavage increased 5- to 15-
fold compared to control. The cells comprised > 50% polymorphonuclear leukocytes (PMN) and some 2% lymphocytes
whereas the control lavages only contained < 1% of either cell type. Protein content and enzyme activities (LDH and
glucuronidase) were markedly higher than under control conditions. All BAL markers approached normal levels after 13
weeks recovery in most rats, however, a few had minimal increases.
There was invasion of neutrophils and macrophages into the alveoli after 6.5 weeks but this effect tended to decrease
during recovery. Fibrosis was observed in alveolar septa which subsided during recovery. After 13 weeks of exposure,
intensely stained TUNEL-positive cells were detected throughout the terminal bronchiolar epithelium and through the
parenchyma of the lungs. The authors concluded that aerosolized Silica produced transient pulmonary inflammatory
response and most biochemical markers return to control levels post exposure.83
Oral
Hydrated Silica
In a chronic study, groups of 40 male and 40 female Fischer 344 rats were fed Hydrated Silica (1.25, 2.5, or 5%
incorporated into feed) for 103 weeks.84 The mean cumulative intake of Silica was 143.46, 179.55, and 581.18 g/male rat
and 107.25, 205.02, and 435.33 g/female rat for the low, mid and high dose groups, respectively. Survival for all treatment
groups was similar to controls. There were no differences between treatment groups and controls with regards to body
weight, feed intake, behavior, or in hematological or chemistry parameters. Liver weights in the females in the mid and high
dose groups were lower at 12 to 24 months. There were no significant findings at the histopathological examinations.
The above experiment was repeated in groups of 40 male and 40 female B 6 C 3 F 1 mice for 93 weeks.84 The mean
cumulative intake of Silica was 38.45, 79.78, and 160 g/male mouse and 37.02, 72.46, and 157.59 g/female mouse for the
low, mid, and high dose groups, respectively. There were no differences in survival between treatment groups and controls.
Feed consumption was increased in the mid and high dose groups whereas there was reduced weight increase in the males
during weeks 15 through 50 (p < .01) and weeks 30 through 50 for the females (p < .05). There were no remarkable findings
with regards to hematology or organ weights.
Distributed for comment only -- do not cite or quote
In a 6 month dietary study, groups of 12 male and 12 female CD-1 rats received 0%, 3.2%, or 10% Hydrated Silica
(approximately 0, 2170 or 7950 mg/kg/d in males and 0, 2420 or 8980 mg/kg/d in females).16,20 No clinical signs of toxicity
or significant chnges to feed consumption, growth, hematology, clinical chemistry, or gross or microscopic pathology were
observed. The NOAEL was reported to be 8980 mg/kg/d Hydrated Silica.
Montmorillonite
No signs of systemic toxicity were observed in male and female Sprague-Dawley rats fed Montmorillonite clay
(calcium montmorillonite; 9.34% total AL) at up to 20,000 ppm for 28 weeks. No further details were provided.85
Silica
Silica (3.2% or 10%) was incorporated into the feed of rats (n = 24; 12 male, 12 female) for 6 months.70 There were
no mortalities. The only clinical sign was discolored stools. Growth and development was normal and feed consumption
similar to controls. Necropsy was unremarkable; organ weights, absolute and relative, were similar to controls. Histology
and hematology were unremarkable. There were no changes in clinical chemistry.
In another feeding study, rats (n = 24; 12 males, 12 females) were fed Silica for 6 months.70 The low dose males and
females consumed an average of 0.78 and 0.55 g Silica/week, respectively. The high dose males and females consumed and
average of 3.00 and 2.11 g Silica/week, respectively. There was no effect with regards to body weight gain, feed
consumption, blood chemistry, or urinalysis. There was an increase in the number of leukocytes in the female high dose
group and eosinophils in the male high dose group. There was a decrease in glucose concentration and AP activity in the
male rats in a dose dependent manner. There was decreased serum calcium concentration in the female rats in a dose
dependent manner. There were reduced absolute and reduced liver and prostate weights.
No clinical signs of toxicity and no macroscopic findings were reported in an oral gavage study where 20 male and 20
female Wistar rats received 500 mg/kg/d Silica 5 times/week for 6 months.28
Inhalation
Hydrated Silica
In a chronic inhalation study, groups of 35 Wistar rats were exposed to aerosolized Hydrated Silica (average 1.5 mg/ft3
[53 mg/m3]; most measurements ranged 0.7 to 2.4 mg/ft3 [25 to 85 mg/m3]; particle size not provided) for 8 h/d, 5 d/week for
12 months.86 Treatment related deaths were 26/35 (75%). After 6 months of exposure, aggregations of focal pigmentation
visible as reddish-tan foci of dust were observed. There was also moderate, well-established generalized emphysema and
lymph nodes that were greatly enlarged and firm. The majority of the rats died from pulmonary vascular obstruction and
emphysema from the 4th to the 9th month. The authors concluded that high exposure to amorphous Silica causes severe
progressive pulmonary inflammation associated with increased mortality of the animals, primarily through partial obstruction
of the pulmonary vasculature combined with pulmonary insufficiency due to emphysema.
New Zealand white rabbits (sex and number not reported) were exposed to aerosolized Hydrated Silica (0, 28, 134, or
360 mg/m3; particle size not provided) for 8 h/d, 5 d/week.87 The mid and high dose groups were exposed for 9 months, the
low dose and the control groups were exposed for 27 months. The rabbits in the mid and high dose became distressed during
exposure. Clinical signs were fewer, commenced later, and receded more quickly in the lower concentrations. There was
increased body weight gain which corrected when exposure was terminated. The author suggested that this was due to
edema. The body weights then decreased. The rabbits had dyspnea and shortness of breath accompanied by cyanosis.
Elevated right and left ventricular pressures were concentration and time related.
In the high dose group, emphysema was observed which decreased after termination of treatment. Pulmonary
emphysema, vascular stenosis, alveolar cell infiltration, sclerosis, and epithelization granulomatosis, macrophage catarrh
were observed. Lesions were observed in the liver, spleen and kidney. After 6 months of exposure, the cardiac pressure of
the low dose group increased steadily. At 24 months, the elevation was 64% over pre-exposure pressure. This effect was
partially reversed with termination of treatment (34% after 12 months). The author reported concomitant radiographic
changes, electrocardiographic deviations, modification of lung functions, hematolytic changes, anatomical cor pulmonale,
congestive cardiac failure, emphysema, and chemical pneumonitis. The LOAEL was 28 mg/m3.87
In a chronic study, rabbits (n = 50), rats (n = 84), and guinea pigs (n = 82) were exposed to aerosolized Hydrated
Silica (average of 126 mg/m3; particle size not provided) for 8 h/d, 5 d/week, for 12, 15, and 24 months, respectively,
followed by a recovery period of up to 12 months.88 Control groups were not treated. There were no treatment-related
differences in mortality between test and control groups. For the rats, most of the deaths were due to intercurrent infection.
Lung weights increased during exposure but returned to normal during recovery. Particle-phagocytosing macrophages
accumulated in alveoli, bronchioles, and lymphoid tissue in all species. Hilar lymph nodes were enlarged, mildly in rats and
more evidently in the guinea pigs and rabbits; this disappeared with the termination of treatment. Epithelial proliferation was
minimal. Mild deposition of reticulin fibers occurred in alveoli with no evidence of collagen formation. Bronchial and
tracheal epithelia remained intact. No epithelization or pleural changes were observed; no neoplasia occurred.
The emphysema was equally distributed between treated and control groups. It was dominated by the diffuse
hypertrophic vesicular distention but apparently did not result from destructive effects on the mucosa or terminal bronchioles
and disruption of the continuity of alveolar walls. The author stated that the emphysematous effect in the rats could possibly
Distributed for comment only -- do not cite or quote
be due to aging and recurrent epizootic pneumonitis. There was complete reversibility of Silica retention and inflammatory
responses in guinea pigs within 6 months of recovery. Silicotic processes were completely absent in all species.88
Silica
In a 6 month study, 25 Wistar rats (half males and half females) were exposed to Silica in inhalation chambers
(average 1.5 mg/ft3 [53 mg/m3]; most measurements ranged from 0.7 to 2.4 mg/ft3 [25 to 85 mg/m3]; particle size not
provided).86 The rats were exposed to aerated Silica for 8 h/d then had passive exposure (dust settling) for the remaining 16
h. The exposure was for 5 d/week for 6 months followed by 6 months of recovery. Rats were periodically killed and
necropsied. The control group (n = 42) was in normal air and killed and necropsied at 6 and 12 months.
In the test group, 11/25 (44%; further details not provided) died, mostly during the Silica exposure. The death rate
decreased during the recovery period. The majority of the rats died from pulmonary vascular obstruction and emphysema
beginning at the 4th month. Focal pigmentation was conspicuous after 3 months of exposure with profusely scattered small,
dark-pink discrete but irregular subpleural foci of reaction. Congestion of the lungs was dominant after 3 months. There was
lymph node enlargement after 3 months. There was an incipient tendency toward pulmonary emphysema after 4 months of
exposure with lung distension and superficial alveoli dilation. Atelectasis was noted in some rats after 4 to 5 months.
Histological examination revealed invasion of the lymphatic system of the lung by mononuclear macrophages
forming clusters of plasma cells and lymphocytes. There was infiltration of large vacuolated cells within the alveolar spaces;
the cytoplasm had a foamy appearance with macrophages fused to giant cells. There were large vacuolated cells within the
alveolar spaces, with the cytoplasm having foamy appearance, macrophages apparently fused to giant cells. There was
progressive nodule formation in the lung parenchyma and peri- and paravascular, in some cases parabronchiolar distribution
and accumulation, consisting of central macrophages and surrounding plasma cells, some nodules enveloped by an epithelial
layer of cells. Some necrosis was noted in the central zone of the nodules; there was progressive tendency toward fibrosis in
the nodules and evidence of progressive emphysematous processes around the nodules. Average Silica load in the lung
increased to 1.5 mg/lung after 3 months and remained at that level through exposure. At the end of recovery, the level
reduced to 0.3 mg/lung. The authors concluded that the lowest observed adverse effects level (LOAEL) was 53 mg/m3.86
Rats (strain and number not provided) were exposed to aerosolized Silica (hydrophilic; 50 to 55 mg/m3) for 12
months.20 Rats were killed and necropsied periodically and after 5 months recovery. At 3 days, there was 0.25 mg Silica in
the lung and 0.5 mg at 6 weeks. At 12 months, ~1% of the total administered respirable Silica was observed in the lungs.
Initial accumulation was rapid and dropped off between week 18 and 12 months (0.5 mg at 6 weeks; 1.2 mg at 18 weeks;
1.37 mg at 12 months). At 6 weeks, the mediastinal lymph nodes contained ~ 0.02 mg Silica and 0.13 at 12 months. After 5
months of recovery, the Silica in the lungs decreased to 0.16 mg/lung (88% reduction) and 0.047 mg/lymph node (> 50%
reduction).
Distributed for comment only -- do not cite or quote
Rats (strain and number not provided) were exposed to aerosolized Silica (hydrophobic; 50 mg/m3; particle size not
provided) for 5 h/d, 2 d/week for 8 and 12 months.20 The lungs retained 1.448 mg Silica (1.3% of exposure) and 1.759 mg
(1.1%), respectively. The lymph nodes retained 0.05 and 0.113 mg, respectively. After 12 month exposure and 1 month
recovery, the lungs contained 1.1 mg Silica (37.5% elimination) and the lymph nodes contained 0.16 mg. After 3 months
recovery, the lungs contained 0.43 mg and the lymph nodes 0.12 mg. After 5 months recovery, the lungs contained 0.41 mg
(76.7% elimination) and the lymph nodes 0.13 mg.
Rats (strain and number not provided) were exposed to aerosolized Silica (hydrophobic; 100 mg/m3; particle size not
provided) for up to 1 year.20 Silica content of the lungs and the lymph nodes was 4.33 and 0.132 mg at 3 months, 6.71 and
0.214 mg at 5 months, and 11.46 and 0.378 mg, respectively. After 6 months of recovery, 55.5% of the Silica was eliminated
from the lungs. Lymph node elimination could not be observed.
Male rats (strain and number not provided) were exposed to aerosolized Silica (hydrophobic; 0, 10, 50, or 150 mg/m3;
particle size not provided) for 6 h/d, 5 d/week for 12 months.20 The low dose had no effect. The mid- and high-dose groups
had white foci on the lung surfaces and collections of foamy macrophages within the alveoli. The peribronchial lymph nodes
were enlarged.
Male and female albino guinea pigs were exposed to aerosolized Silica (average concentration 53 mg/m3; ranging 25
to 85 mg/m3; 85% between 1 to 10 µm) in 3 experiments.90 The whole body exposure was for 8 h/d with the remaining 16 h
as passive exposure (dust settling). In experiment 1, the guinea pigs (n = 40) were exposed to the Silica up to 24 months,
with a few killed and necropsied every 2 months. In experiment 2, the guinea pigs were exposed for 12 (n = 15) or 24 (n =
18) months with variable recovery periods up to 12 months. In experiment 3, the guinea pigs (n = 17) were exposed for 12
months, followed by a 1 month recovery period, then re-exposure for 8 to 24 h. A control group of 80 guinea pigs were
sampled and necropsied from 1 to 36 months.
Two guinea pigs died from non-experimental causes. Overall, the chronic reaction of the lung tissue was established
by 4 months of exposure. There was focal pigmentation after 1 month. Lymph nodes were enlarged by 1 month and did not
increase over time, including hepatic lymph nodes. There was a tendency for lung emphysema after 4 to 8 months of
exposure. Atelectasis was observed histologically. The dominant response was bronchial and peribronchiolar intra-alveolar
accumulations of giant cells. At 8 to 12 months there was incipient atrophy of infiltrated alveoli which apparently led to
compensatory expansion of adjacent alveoli. There was a combined effect of atelectasis and consolidation around bronchioli,
but at the expense of bronchioli distortion. Incipient fibrosis around bronchioli and shrunken alveoli was noted at this stage.
There was a marked tendency toward cuboidal epithelization of atelectactic alveoli by the end of the second year of exposure.
In the lymphoid tissue, medullary hyperplasia with the formation of slight amounts of reticulum was prominent during the
second year of exposure. No inflammation, sinus catarrh, or fibrosis were noted in the lymph nodes. In the recovery phase
after 12 months of exposure, there was progressive recovery beginning almost immediately. There were no macroscopically
visible anomalies after 1 year of recovery. Residual sequelae of the tissue reactions were emphysema, mural fibrosis, and
bronchiolar and bronchial ectasia stenosis. The authors concluded that chronic exposure to amorphous Silica was non-lethal
to guinea pigs, but caused significant inflammatory reactions and pulmonary lesions, however, without apparent disability of
the animals.90
New Zealand white rabbits (n = 10) were exposed to aerosolized Silica (53 mg/m3; ranging from 25 to 85 mg/m3; 1 to
10 µm) for 8 h/d for 12 months.91 There was a 6 and 12 month recovery period. There was progressive functional
incapacitation and increased hematocrits observed in the majority of the rabbits, possibly due to the combined effect of
pulmonary vascular obstruction and emphysema. Blood pressure changes (both increases and decreases) were observed in
the majority of the animals which partially recovered with discontinuation of treatment. Essential pulmonary changes
included peribronchiolar cellular catarrh, mural cellular infiltration along with deposition of reticulum and some collagen, the
formation of peri-vascular cellular nodules, ductal stenosis, and emphysema. During recovery, the cellular reactions and
emphysema regressed but minor focal alveolar mural collagen persisted.
Monkeys (Macacus mulatta; n = 5) were exposed to aerosolized Silica (15 mg/m3; particle size not provided) for up to
12 months.92 A monkey was killed and necropsied at 3 and 6 months. The remaining monkeys were killed and necropsied
after 12 months of exposure. There were 15 untreated control monkeys. Body weight gains decreased and activity decreased
during the initial exposures. At 3 months, emphysema was detectable. There was considerable cellular infiltration of the
alveoli and alveolar septa was associated with distention of alveoli or accumulation of exudate and macrophages. After 12
months, the lesions were marked pulmonary emphysema, alveolar wall sclerosis, vascular occlusions, and cor pulmonale.
Cor pulmonale was attributed to the emphysema and alveolar wall destruction. Tracheobrochial lymph nodes were slightly
enlarged but not fibrotic. The Silica content remained low and decreased over time.
Male cynomolgus monkeys (Macaca fascicularis; number not provided) were exposed to aerosolized Silica
(hydrophobic; 0, 10, 50, or 100 mg/m3; particle size not provided) for 6 h/d, 5 d/week for 12 months.20 Recovery was 2 or 24
months. The low dose had no effect. The mid- and high-dose groups had interstitial fibrosis, which did not resolve or
progress during recovery. Peribronchial lymph nodes were enlarged.
Female rats receiving 20% Kaolin diet exhibited maternal anemia but no significant reduction in birth weight of the
pups was recorded. Zeolite produced no adverse effects on the dam, embryo, or fetus in either rats or rabbits at any
dose level (74 or 1600 mg/kg). Zeolite had no effect on female rat reproductive performance.
Rats given Sodium Silicate (600 and 1200 ppm of added Silica) in the drinking water in reproductive studies
produced a reduced number of offspring; 67% of controls at 600 ppm and to 80% of controls at 1200 ppm.3 Three
adult rats injected intratesticularly and subcutaneously with 0.8 mM/kg of Sodium Silicate showed no morphological
changes in the testes and no effect on the residual spermatozoa in the ductus deferens.
Silica
No adverse reproductive effects were reported in a dietary study of Silica (500 mg/d) in rats.70 Male and female rats
(n=40) were fed the test material for 6 months. After 4.5 months, 5 females were mated. Litter size, birth weights,
morphology, and development of offspring were similar to controls.
In another study, pregnant female mice were fed up to 1340 mg/kg Silica for 10 days (specific gestation days not
provided).70 There were no effects on nidation or on maternal or fetal survival. Fetal abnormalities were similar to controls.
The same results were reported for rats (up to 1350 mg/kg for 10 days), hamsters (up to 1600 mg/kg for 5 days) and rabbits
(up to 1600 mg/kg for 13 days).
In a subchronic dietary study that also investigated reproductive effects, Silica (500 mg/kg/d) was administered to
female Wistar rats (number not reported) for 6 months.28 The female rats were mated with male rats at weeks 8 and 17. The
male rats were also consuming 500 mg/kg/day. The rats were weighed periodically, blood sampled monthly (except during
pregnancy), and observed daily. The progeny from both matings were examined for abnormalities. At 6 months, the rats
were killed and necropsied except for 5 rats which had a 3 week treatment-free period prior to being killed and necropsied.
Reproductive performance was similar between groups. Pathological examination revealed no differences between
the groups. At the first mating, 6 control and 9 treatment dams became pregnant; 7 from each group became pregnant at the
second mating. There were no treatment-related effects in litter size, birth weight, physical parameters, or behavior.
Development of progeny during lactation was without adverse effects; weight gains were normal. No treatment related
effects were found during gross pathology. The authors conclude that the oral NOEL was > 500 mg/kg for developmental
and reproductive toxicity.28
GENOTOXICITY STUDIES
No increase in mutation frequencies were seen in the Salmonella TA-1530 or G-46 assay and no significant
increase in recombinant activity in the Saccharomyces D3 assay treated with Calcium Silicate.2 A subacute dose of 150
mg/kg of Calcium Silicate produced 3% breaks in bone marrow cells arrested in c-metaphase. In a metaphase spread
of bone marrow cells, Calcium Silicate produced no significant increase in the number of aberrations compared to
controls and in a dominant lethal assay did not induce any dominant lethal mutations. In the S. typhimurium LT2 spot
test (TA98, TA100, TA1535, TA1537, and TA1538) with or without metabolic activation, Magnesium Aluminum Silicate
and Hectorite were found to be nonmutagenic. In primary hepatocyte cultures, the addition of Attapulgite at 10 µg/cm2
caused significant increases in UDS in rat pleural mesothelial cells. Zeolite particles (< 10 µm) produced statistically
significant increase in the percentage of aberrant metaphases, mostly chromatid breaks.
Sodium Metasilicate was nonmutagenic in a DNA damage and repair assay without metabolic activiation
using B. subtilis.3 Sodium Silicate was nonmutagenic in studies using E. coli strains B/Sd-4/1,3,4,5 and B/Sd-4/3,4.
Genotoxicity data are summarized in Table 8. Aluminum Silicate, Hydrated Silica, Silica, Sodium Metasilicate,
Sodium Silicate, and Zinc Silicate were not genotoxic in Ames tests, HPRT gene mutation assays, or chromosome aberration
tests.8,11-13,16,20,28,93-96 Potential genotoxicity was observed in Montmorillonite in an Ames test and a cytokinesis block
micronucleus cytome assay.97,98 Genotoxicity studies of Hydrated Silica at up to 5000 mg/kg in mice and rats were
negative.20
Mutagenic Inhibition
Aluminum Calcium Sodium Silicate
In a study of mutagenic inhibition, aflatoxin (2.5 mg/kg) was incorporated into rat feed with Aluminum Calcium
Sodium Silicate (hydrated; 0.5%).50 The feed was given to groups of 10 Sprague-Dawley rats for 15 days, after which the
animals were killed and bone marrow samples were collected for chromosomal analysis. In the marrow of the rats given
aflatoxin alone, structural and numerical aberrations of chromosomes, mainly chromatid breaks and chromatid gaps, were
observed. In the rats that received Aluminum Calcium Sodium Silicate, these effects were decreased for every category of
aberration except polyploidy.
CARCINOGENICITY STUDIES
The International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) has ruled Attapulgite fibers > 5µm as group 2B,
possibly carcinogenic to humans, and fibers < 5µm as group 3, not classified as to their carcinogenicity to humans.99
Distributed for comment only -- do not cite or quote
The natural Zeolites (clinoptilolite, phillipsite, mordenite, and nonfibrous Japanese zeolite) and synthetic Zeolites
cannot be classified as to their carcinogenicity to humans (group 3) according to IARC.
Silica
IARC concluded that amorphous Silica is not classifiable as to its carcinogenicity to humans based on inadequate
evidence in humans and inadequate evidence of increased tumors in animals.99
Oral
Hydrated Silica
In a carcinogenicity study, groups of 10 male and 10 female B 6 C 3 F 1 mice received Hydrated Silica in their feed.84
In the female mice, the frequency of adenocarcinoma in the lungs was 1/16 (6.25%) for the control group and 1/19 (5.3%),
0/20 (0%), and 1/20 (5%) for the low, mid and high dose groups. In the males, the frequency of adenocarcinoma in the lungs
was 1/16 (6.25%) for the control and 2/17 (11.8%), 3/14 (21.4%), and 3/16 (18.8%) for the low, mid, and high dose groups.
There was low correlation of hyperplastic nodules/hepatocellular carcinoma/hemangioma/fibrosarcoma in the treatment
groups compared to the controls. The authors concluded that the non-neoplastic lesions were of no toxicological
significance.
Silica
In a 2-year dietary study, Wistar rats (n = 40; 20 males and 20 females) received 100 mg/kg Silica (pyrogenic) in
their feed.28 The rats were weighed before and after treatment. At the end of the treatment period, the rats were killed and
necropsied. There were no clinical signs of toxicity observed during the treatment period. The rates of tumors observed in
the treated rats were comparable to historical controls. The authors concluded that there were no carcinogenic effects from
the daily ingestion of Silica in this study.
Inhalation
Hydrated Silica
The potential carcinogenic effects of aerosolized Hydrated Silica (< 5 µg particle size) was studied in tumor-
susceptible mice (n = 75) starting at 3 months of age.100 The mice received 0.5 g/d Hydrated Silica once/h, 6 h/d for 5 d/week
for a year. The mice were allowed to live out their natural life span up to 917 days for the start of the experiment. The
incidence of primary lung tumors was 7.9% in the control group and 21.3% in the treated group in mice that lived 10 months
or longer. There was no obvious fibrosis in the lung tissue; however, there were fibrotic nodules in the trachea-bronchial
lymph nodes in > 50% of the mice. The authors suggested that most of the Silica dust was removed by cilia action through
the trachea and also through the lymphatic system. Half of the treated mice had overgrowth of the mediastinal connective
tissue covering the trachea-bronchial nodes which occurred in only 10% of the controls. In the treated group, 29.5% had an
increase in incidence of overgrowth or hyperplasia of the trachea-bronchial lymph nodes compared to 14.3% of the controls.
Intratracheal
Silica
The carcinogenic potential of Silica (3 mg in 0.9% PBS; 0.01 to 0.03µm) was studied in 40 female SPF Wistar
rats.101 The rats received the test material intratracheally 5 times weekly and were observed until death or the 30th month
when they were killed and necropsied. A second group of 40 had Silica at the same dose instilled 10 times weekly. Controls
(n = 48) were untreated. The survival rates were 37/ 40 for group 1, 35/40 for group 2, and 46/48 for the control. The period
of time after the first treatment in which 50% of the rats died was 113 and 112 weeks in the first and second groups and 113
weeks in the control group. The percentage of rats with macroscopic lung tumor(s) was 13.5% in the first group, 2.9% in the
second group, and 6.5% in the control group. The percentage of rats with macroscopic lung tumor(s) which are probably not
a metastasis of other tumors located elsewhere was 8.1% in the first group, none in the second group, and none in the control
group. The percentage of rats with benign tumors in the second group was 5.7% and there were none in the control group;
this was not analyzed in the first experiment. Neither group had malignant tumors. The percentage of rats with tumors that
were metastases of other tumors was 14.3% in the treatment groups 13.0% in the control group.
In vitro and animal dermal irritation and animal sensitization data are summarized in Table 9. Aluminum Silicate
and Zinc Silicate were predicted to be not irritating in EpiDermTM skin assays.8,13 In rabbit studies, the irritation potential of
Potassium Silicate (up to 36%) and Sodium Metasilicate (up to 97%) were dependent on concentration.10,11,15 Very slight to
no irritation was observed dermal irritation studies in rabbits with Hydrated Silica (at up to 50% solution in olive oil) and
Silica (up to 12%solution in methyl ethyl cellulose).16,20 Aluminum Silicate (up to 25%) and Zinc Silicate (up to 50%) were
not sensitizing in LLNA studies.8,13 Potassium Silicate (30%) and Hydrated Silica (20%) was not sensitizing in guinea pig
sensitization tests.10,103 Hydrated Silica (up to 45%) and Silica (21.74% in formulation) were not sensitizing in human repeat
insult patch tests (HRIPT).16,70,104,105
In vitro and animal ocular irritation data are summarized in Table 10. Aluminum Silicate (tested pure) was predicted
to be not irritating using the hen's egg test chorioallantoic membrane (HET-CAM) method.13 Sodium Metasilicate
(concentration not reported) was predicted to be corrosive in an in vitro method using rabbit eyes, and Zinc Silicate (20%)
was predicted to be irritating in a bovine corneal opacity and permeability (BCOP) test.8,11 Potassium Silicate was not
irritating to slightly irritating when tested at up to 35% in rabbit eyes.10,15 Hydrated Silica (concentration not provided) and
Silica were not irritating to slight irritating in rabbit eyes.20,28,69,70
CLINICAL STUDIES
Silica and Hydrated Silica
The effects of orally administered Silica and Hydrated Silica (as 1250 mg of Silica in apple juice) to 2 groups of 6
volunteers (5 males and female in each group).16 The solutions were consumed in 2 doses, morning and midday on the same
day. The total urine was collected daily and analyzed. During the 4 days post-treatment, changes of renal Silica secretion
were not observed. Daily Silica increments in urine after ingestion ranged between 7 and 23 mg. For Silica, the individual
baseline values of the pre-test phase were very variable and individually different; mean excretion rates ranged from 25 to 87
mg/day. In the post-treatment phase, individual mean excretion rates ranged from 32 to 61 mg/day. For Hydrated Silica, the
individual baseline values of the pre-test phase were very variable and individually different; mean excretion rates ranged
from 16 to 71 mg/day. In the post-treatment phase, individual mean excretion rates ranged from 20 to 81 mg/day. Overall,
increases in excretion were not unequivocally detectable. The authors noted that the small apparent increases were in marked
contrast to the high dose of 2500 mg Silica applied.
Distributed for comment only -- do not cite or quote
Case Reports
Colloidal Sodium Metasilicate was fatal to one man and neutralized Sodium Silicate produced vomiting, diarrhea,
and gastrointestinal bleeding in another man in separate case reports of oral ingestion.3
Sodium Metasilicate
Acute kidney injury was reported in a 52-year-old man who had ingested approximately 150 ml of a plate developer
solution containing Sodium Metasilicate.106 The patient also developed severe upper airway obstruction due to laryngeal
edema, severe inflammation of the upper gastrointestinal tract with narrowing of the esophagus and pyloric region. The
patient succumbed to his injuries a few months after ingestion.
Reactive airway dysfunction syndrome was reported in 43-year-old man who had inhaled dishwasher detergent
powder containing Sodium Metasilicate.107 The patient was employed as an apprentice cook and accidentally inhaled the
detergent while preparing to use an institutional dishwasher.
Occupational Exposure
Occupational exposure to mineral dusts has been studied extensively. Fibrosis and pneumoconiosis has been
documented in workers involved in the mining and processing of Aluminum Silicate, Calcium Silicate, Zirconium
Silicate, Fuller’s Earth, Kaolin, Montmorillonite, Pyrophyllite, and Zeolite.
Bentonite
In a toxicological and epidemiological review of Bentonite, the authors concluded Bentonite is probably not more
toxic than any other particulate. However, because some forms may contain variable amounts of respirable crystalline Silica,
prudent management and adherence to occupational exposure limits is appropriate.108
Hydrated Silica
In an occupational study, 78 workers (aged 21 to 67 years; average 34.23 years) were examined who had been
exposed to precipitated Silica from 1941 to 1959.109 Dust concentrations ranged from 0.35 to 204 mg/m3. There was no
evidence of silicosis or other pulmonary disease.
Workers (n = 165) exposed to Hydrated Silica with a mean of 8.6 years (44 workers had been exposed a mean of 18
years [10-35 years]) were examined for adverse effects.110 Dust levels varied from <1 to 10 mg/m3 with some higher
intermittent levels. Examination included spirograms, respiratory questionnaires, and chest radiographs. Cough and dyspnea
correlated with level/time of smoking and not Silica exposure. There were no correlations between yearly change of
pulmonary function and dose or time of exposure. The workers with the mean exposure time of 18 years had pulmonary
function similar to the rest of the group. There was radiographic evidence of minimal pneumoconiosis that was biased due to
prior exposure to limestone. None of the 143 workers with exposure only to Silica showed radiographic evidence of
pneumoconiosis.
Another study examined workers (n = 41) exposed to Hydrated Silica and compared them to a control group.111 The
examination included blood gas analysis and chest radiographs. There was a reduction in forced expiratory flow in the
exposed group. There was no correlation between the exposure index and pulmonary function. The authors concluded that
smoking and exposure to Silica synergize to induce small airway disease.
In another unpublished occupational study of workers in Hydrated Silica factories (1952 to 1981), there was no
silicosis in workers employed for 1 to >20 years (mean 13.2 years).16 There were negative results in hematology, urine
analysis, lung functions, and chest x-rays.
In an unpublished study of workers (n = 78) in a factory that manufactured Hydrated Silica pigment between 1941 and
1959, dust concentrations ranged from 0.35 to 205 mg/m3.16 No evidence of silicosis or other pulmonary disease was
observed. The incidence of illness and injuries were similar to other workers in this plant.
In an unpublished study, 150 workers in a Hydrated Silica factory were examined by pulmonary function test and
x-ray.20 The workers were exposed for ≥ 6 h/d for at least 5 continuous or discontinuous years. The mean duration was 12.2
years. The control group had been exposed for a maximum of 3 continuous or discontinuous months. The mean ages for the
experimental and control groups were 43.1 and 44.3 years, respectively. There were no differences in the distributions and
types of dysfunctional measurements observed between exposed and non-exposed groups. There were no differences in the
mean percentage of predicted pulmonary function values between exposed and non-exposed groups. None of the x-rays
showed signs of pneumoconiosis or fibrosis.
Differences between factories were absent. The percentage of subjects with obstruction or restriction in breathing were
similar between plants. Bronchial hyperresponsiveness was within expected levels. Chest radiographs showed no increased
risk of pneumoconiosis in exposed subjects compared to controls. Relevant pleural thickening was not observed. The
authors concluded that occupational exposure to Silica was not a health risk.
Silica
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) permissible exposure limit (PEL) to amorphous
Silica is 80 mg/m3 or 20 millions of particles per cubic foot air averaged over an 8-h work shift.112 The National Institute
for Occupational Safety and Health recommended exposure limit (REL) for respirable Silica is 6 mg/m3.
Workers (n = 215) with exposure to Silica between 1947 and 1959 were studied using chest x-rays.113 Exposure
ranged from 15 to 100 mg/m3, 2 to 6 mg/m3, and 3 to 7 mg/m3, depending on workstation. Hairline actuation of the
interlobar fissures, suggesting slight interlobar pleuritis, was the only remarkable sign. There were no signs of silicosis.
In an unpublished study, 29 workers in a silicone products manufacturing plant were surveyed.20 Silica
exposure ranged from 0.15 to 10 mg/m3 with a mean of 1.7 mg/m3. Ten of 15 workers in the room temperature
vulcanizing rubber area complained of upper respiratory tract irritation. In the heat curable rubber compounding area,
the potential exposure to Silica was greater, some of the workers complained about eye irritation, nausea, headaches, or
rashes, none reported upper or lower respiratory problems.
Workers (n = 200) with intensive and regular contact with Silica from 1972 to 2000 were evaluated.16 There
was no evidence of skin allergy caused by the Silica. There were signs of irritation attributed to the desicative and
defatting properties of Silica which resulted in skin dryness which could be controlled by regular use of skin-protection
ointment.
An occupational study of workers (n = 143) exposed to Silica from 1959 to 1985 was performed.16 Exposure
ranged from 1 to 34 years. There were complaints of some disorder or exhibition of abnormalities in lung function or
histology in 54/143 (36%) of the workers. Dry cough, expectoration or dyspnea was reported in 34/54 of these workers.
A total of 42/54 (78%) of these workers had some possible confounding factor (i.e., smoking). Radiological examination
did not show any signs of fibrotic disease. Spirometric examination showed obstructive and/or restrictive ventilation
disturbances in 24 workers. Most of the adverse findings were associated with confounding factors such as smoking.
In an unpublished occupational exposure study, x-rays were take of 99 workers who had manufactured Silica
for various amounts of time.16 The x-rays revealed no evidence of any occupational disease, including silicosis.
Zeolite
In a safety assessment of synthetic Zeolites used in detergents, the author concluded that these ingredients are safe
for consumers under the conditions of recommended use.114 The author further stated that due to irritant effects of
undiluted Zeolite material on mucous membranes and the respiratory tract, the exposure of workers should be controlled.
SUMMARY
This report assesses the safety of 40 Silica and Silicate ingredients as used in cosmetics. The majority of these
ingredients function as abrasives, absorbents, bulking agents, and/or deodorant agents in cosmetic products. The Panel
previously reviewed the safety of Aluminum Silicate, Calcium Silicate, Magnesium Aluminum Silicate, Magnesium
Silicate, Magnesium Trisilicate, Sodium Magnesium Silicate, Zirconium Silicate, Attapulgite, Bentonite, Fuller’s Earth,
Hectorite, Kaolin, Lithium Magnesium Silicate, Lithium Magnesium Sodium Silicate, Montmorillonite, Pyrophyllite,
and Zeolite in a report that was published in 2003. The Panel concluded that these ingredients were safe as used in
cosmetic products. In accordance with its procedures, the Panel evaluates the conclusions of previously-issued reports
every 15 years, and it has been at least 15 years since this assessment has been issued. This report has been reopened to
add additional ingredients, including several that were also previously reviewed: Potassium Silicate, Sodium
Metasilicate, and Sodium Silicate (published in 2005 with the conclusion that these ingredients were safe for use in
cosmetic products in the practices of use and concentration described in the safety assessment when formulated to avoid
irritation)4 and Silica, Alumina Magnesium Metasilicate (now called Magnesium Aluminometasilicate), Aluminum
Calcium Sodium Silicate, Aluminum Iron Silicates, Hydrated Silica, and Sodium Potassium Aluminum Silicate
(finalized in 2009 with the conclusion that these ingredients are safe as cosmetic ingredients in the practices of use and
concentrations as described in the safety assessment).
According to 2018 VCRP data, Silica has the most reported uses in cosmetic products, with a total of 8024; the
majority of the uses are in leave-on makeup preparations and eye makeup preparations. Kaolin has the second most
reported uses in cosmetic products, with a total of 1794; the majority of the uses are also in leave-on makeup
preparations and eye makeup preparations. The reported numbers of uses for the remaining ingredients in this report are
much lower. The uses for both of these ingredients have greatly increased since the original safety assessments were
finalized: in 2009, Silica was reported to have 3276 uses and in 1998, Kaolin was reported to have 509 uses. The results
of the concentration of use survey conducted in 2018 by the Council indicate Kaolin has the highest reported maximum
concentration of use; it is used at up to 53% in “other” manicuring products and up to 35% in rinse-off “other” skin care
preparations. Zeolite is used at up to 37.8% in in paste masks and mud packs and up to 35.7% in hair tonics, dressings
Distributed for comment only -- do not cite or quote
and other hair grooming aids. According to the original safety assessments, the maximum use concentration for Kaolin
was 100% in leave-on “other” skin care preparations and the maximum use concentration for Hectorite was 100% in
rinse-off skin cleansing preparations (the maximum leave-on concentration was 15% in makeup foundations). Silica was
reported to be used at up to 44% in eye shadows.
Hydrated Silica in water and Potassium Silicate (30%) had dermal LD 50 s greater than 5 g/kg in rabbits and rats,
respectively. In oral rat studies, the LD 50 s for Aluminum Silicate (concentration not reported), Calcium Silicate (20%),
Hydrated Silica (26% in water), Potassium Silicate (concentration not reported), Silica (in stock diet 1:4 w/w), Sodium
Magnesium Aluminum Silicate (concentration not reported), and Sodium Silicate were > 2 g/kg, > 10g/kg, 40 g/kg, > 5
g/kg, > 10 g/kg, > 2 g/kg, and up to 8.65 g/kg, respectively. An oral LD 50 for Sodium Silicate in mice was 6.60 g/kg.
Orally administered Aluminum Calcium Sodium Silicate had no adverse effects up to 800 mg/kg in mice. In inhalation
studies, the LC50s for Hydrated Silica (30% SiO 2 ), Potassium Silicate (30%), and Silica (concentration not reported) in
rats were > 3300 mg/m3, > 2060 mg/m3, and > 191,300 mg/m3, respectively.
No adverse effects were reported in a 3 week dermal study of Silica (up to 10 g/kg/d) in rabbits. In short-term oral
studies, the NOAEL for Hydrated Silica was > 24.2 g/kg/d in a 14 day dietary study in rats. Mild gastrointestinal effects
were the only adverse effects reported in a 2 week study of Montmorillonite in human subjects that received up to 3.0
g/day of the test material. The NOEL was 500 mg/kg/d in a 5 to 8 week dietary study in rats that were fed up to 16,000
mg/kg/d Silica. In subchronic oral studies, the NOEL was 4000 mg/kg/d in a 13 week dietary study in rats fed Hydrated
Silica at up to 4000 mg/kg/d. No adverse effects were reported in rats that received 40 mg/kg/d Montmorillonite for 90
days (no further details provided). No clinical signs of toxicity or gross or microscopic changes were reported in a 13
week dietary study in rats that received up to 3500 mg/kg/d Silica.
Aluminum Silicate, Hydrated Silica, Silica, Sodium Metasilicate, Sodium Silicate, and Zinc Silicate were not
genotoxic in Ames tests, HPRT gene mutation assays, or chromosome aberration tests. Potential genotoxicity was
observed in Montmorillonite in an Ames test and a cytokinesis block micronucleus cytome assay. Genotoxicity studies
of Hydrated Silica at up to 5000 mg/kg in mice and rats were negative.
Carcinogenic effects were not reported in oral studies of Hydrated Silica in mice or Silica in rats. An inhalation
study of Hydrated Silica in mice and an intractracheal study of Silica in rats also were negative for carcinogenicity.
Aluminum Silicate and Zinc Silicate were predicted to be not irritating in EpiDermTM skin assays. In rabbit studies,
the irritation potential of Potassium Silicate (up to 36%) and Sodium Metasilicate (up to 97%) were dependent on
concentration. Very slight to no irritation was observed dermal irritation studies in rabbits with Hydrated Silica (at up to
50% solution in olive oil) and Silica (up to 12%solution in methyl ethyl cellulose). Aluminum Silicate (up to 25%) and
Zinc Silicate (up to 50%) were not sensitizing in LLNA studies. Potassium Silicate (30%) and Hydrated Silica (20%)
was not sensitizing in guinea pig sensitization tests. Hydrated Silica (up to 45%) and Silica (21.74% in formulation) were
not sensitizing in HRIPT.
Aluminum Silicate (tested pure) was predicted to be not irritating using the HET-CAM method. Sodium
Metasilicate (concentration not reported) was predicted to be corrosive in an in vitro method using rabbit eyes, and Zinc
Silicate (20%) was predicted to be irritating in a BCOP test. Potassium Silicate was not irritating to slightly irritating
when tested at up to 35% in rabbits eyes. Hydrated Silica (concentration not provided) and Silica were not irritating to
slight irritating in rabbit eyes.
A 2-week clinical oral study of Montmorillonite resulted in only mild gastrointestinal complaints in 50 subjects.
Case reports of severe injury were reported from ingestion and inhalation of Sodium Metasilicate. Occupational
exposures to Bentonite and Zeolite should be limited. Workers in environments with aerosolized Silica had few signs of
silicosis or pulmonary disease up to 100 mg/m3. Smoking and exposure to Silica synergize to induce small airway
disease. Exposure to Hydrated Silica also had no evidence of silicosis or pulmonary disease. There were signs of dermal
irritation due to the desiccative and defatting properties of Silica.
of the ingredient is very low. Even so, the Panel considered that any spray containing these solids should be
formulated to minimize their inhalation.
FIGURES
H2/O2
1800 °C
Primary Particles
Molten spheres of silicon dioxide
Diameter: 7-21 nm
Surface area: 400-130 m2/g
Collision/Irreversible fusion
Amorphous state due to rapid cooling
Secondary Particle
Branched 3-dimensional aggregates
Agglomerates
Calcination
Removal of residual HCl to < 200 ppm
Bagging
TABLES
Table 1. Definitions and functions of the ingredients in this safety assessment.5
Ingredient & CAS No. Definition & Structure Function(s)
Activated Clay Activated Clay is the inorganic compound obtained by heating natural Absorbents; Bulking
aluminum silicate with sulfuric acid. Agents
Aluminum Calcium Sodium Aluminum Calcium Sodium Silicate is a complex silicate refined from Bulking Agents
Silicate naturally occurring minerals.
1344-01-0
Aluminum Iron Calcium Aluminum Iron Calcium Magnesium Germanium Silicates is a ceramic Anticaries Agents;
Magnesium Germanium Silicates powder consisting mainly of silicon dioxide, aluminum oxide, ferric Antifungal Agents;
oxide, calcium oxide, magnesium oxide and germanium oxide. Antimicrobial Agents;
Antioxidants
Aluminum Iron Calcium Aluminum Iron Calcium Magnesium Zirconium Silicates is a ceramic Bulking Agents
Magnesium Zirconium Silicates powder consisting mainly of silicon dioxide, aluminum oxide, ferric
oxide, calcium oxide, magnesium oxide and zirconium oxide.
Aluminum Iron Silicates Aluminum Iron Silicates is a ceramic powder consisting mainly of Abrasives; Bulking
silicon dioxide, aluminum oxide, and ferric oxide. Agents
Aluminum Silicate Aluminum Silicate is a complex inorganic salt that has a composition Abrasives;
1327-36-2 consisting generally of 1 mole of alumina and 1 to 3 moles of silica. Absorbents;
Anticaking Agents;
Bulking Agents:
Opacifying Agents;
Slip Modifiers
Ammonium Silver Zeolite Ammonium Silver Zeolite is the ammonium salt of the product obtained Absorbents; Deodorant
by the reaction of silver nitrate and Zeolite. Agents; Preservatives
Ammonium Silver Zinc Ammonium Silver Zinc Aluminum Silicate is a complex silicate formed Absorbents; Deodorant
Aluminum Silicate from the reaction of zinc nitrate, Ammonium Nitrate , and Silver Agents; Preservatives
Nitrate with Zeolite.
Attapulgite Attapulgite is a variety of Fuller's Earth found typically near Attapulgas, Abrasives;
12174-11-7 Georgia. It is characterized by having a chain structure rather than the Absorbents; Bulking
1337-76-4 usual sheet structure of other clay minerals. Agents; Opacifying
Agents; Viscosity
Increasing Agents -
Aqueous
Bentonite Bentonite is a native hydrated colloidal aluminum silicate clay. Absorbents; Bulking
1302-78-9 Agents; Dispersing
Agents -
Nonsurfactant;
Emulsion Stabilizers;
Opacifying Agents;
Viscosity Increasing
Agents - Aqueous
Calcium Magnesium Silicate Calcium Magnesium Silicate is a synthetic silicate clay consisting Absorbents; Deodorant
12765-06-9 chiefly of calcium and magnesium silicates Agents
Calcium Silicate Calcium Silicate is a hydrous or anhydrous silicate with varying Absorbents; Bulking
1344-95-2 proportions of calcium oxide and silica. Agents; Opacifying
Agents
Fuller’s Earth Fuller's Earth is a non-plastic variety of kaolin containing an aluminum Abrasives;
8031-18-3 magnesium silicate. Absorbents;
Anticaking Agents;
Bulking Agents;
Opacifying Agents
Gold Zeolite Gold Zeolite is the product obtained by the reaction of gold chloride Absorbents; Cosmetic
with Zeolite. Astringents; Skin
Protectants; Skin-
Conditioning Agents -
Miscellaneous
Hectorite Hectorite is one of the montmorillonite minerals that are the principal Absorbents; Bulking
12173-47-6 constituents of bentonite clay. Agents; Dispersing
68084-71-9 Agents -
Nonsurfactant;
Opacifying Agents;
Viscosity Increasing
Agents - Aqueous
Distributed for comment only -- do not cite or quote
Table 3. Current (2018) and historical frequency and concentration according to duration and type of exposure for previously reviewed silicates2-4,30
Aluminum Calcium Sodium Silicate Aluminum Silicate
# of Uses Max Conc of Use (%) # of Uses Max Conc of Use (%)
2018 2009 2018 2008 2018 1998 2018 1999
Totals* 250 7 0.0001-26.3 0.4-6 68 10 2.8-4.6 0.5-37
Attapulgite Bentonite
# of Uses Max Conc of Use (%) # of Uses Max Conc of Use (%)
2018 1998 2018 1999 2018 1998 2018 1999
Totals* 4 10 NR 8 339 94 0.00002-29.7 0.5-80
Table 3. Current (2018) and historical frequency and concentration according to duration and type of exposure for previously reviewed silicates2-4,30
Calcium Silicate Fuller’s Earth
# of Uses Max Conc of Use (%) # of Uses Max Conc of Use (%)
2018 1998 2018 1999 2018 1998 2018 1999
Totals* 101 132 0.00013-20 0.3-10 15 3 NR NR
Table 3. Current (2018) and historical frequency and concentration according to duration and type of exposure for previously reviewed silicates2-4,30
Kaolin Lithium Magnesium Silicate
# of Uses Max Conc of Use (%) # of Uses Max Conc of Use (%)
2018** 1998 2018 1999 2018 1998 2018 1999
Totals* 1794 509 0.0001-53 0.01-100 2 NR 0.3-5 NR
Table 3. Current (2018) and historical frequency and concentration according to duration and type of exposure for previously reviewed silicates2-4,30
Magnesium Aluminum Silicate Magnesium Silicate
# of Uses Max Conc of Use (%) # of Uses Max Conc of Use (%)
2018 1998 2018 1999 2018 1998 2018 1999
Totals* 917 632 0.0004-11 0.1-5 70 NR 0.001-21.6 NR
Table 3. Current (2018) and historical frequency and concentration according to duration and type of exposure for previously reviewed silicates2-4,30
Potassium Silicate Silica***
# of Uses Max Conc of Use (%) # of Uses Max Conc of Use (%)
2018 2001 2018 1999/2000 2018 2009 2018 2008
Totals* 1 2 NR NR 8024 3276 0.000005-82 0.0000003-44
Table 3. Current (2018) and historical frequency and concentration according to duration and type of exposure for previously reviewed silicates2-4,30
Sodium Potassium Aluminum Silicate Sodium Silicate
# of Uses Max Conc of Use (%) # of Uses Max Conc of Use (%)
2018 2009 2018 2008 2018 2001 2018 1999/2000
Totals* 12 1 0.36-1.1 0.001-4 91 22 0.017-35 0.06-55
Table 4. 2018 frequency and concentration of use according to duration and type of exposure for potential Silicate add-on
ingredients30
# of Uses Max Conc of Use (%) # of Uses Max Conc of Use (%)
Ammonium Silver Zinc Aluminum Silicate Zinc Zeolite
Totals† 17 0.001 1 NR
Duration of Use
Leave-On 16 NR NR NR
Rinse Off 1 0.001 1 NR
Diluted for (Bath) Use NR NR NR NR
Exposure Type
Eye Area 13 NR NR NR
Incidental Ingestion NR NR NR NR
Incidental Inhalation-Spray NR NR NR NR
Incidental Inhalation-Powder 1 NR NR NR
Dermal Contact 17 0.001 NR NR
Deodorant (underarm) NR NR NR NR
Hair - Non-Coloring NR NR 1 NR
Hair-Coloring NR NR NR NR
Nail NR NR NR NR
Mucous Membrane NR NR NR NR
Baby Products NR NR NR NR
NR = Not reported. S = Survey in progress.
† Because each ingredient may be used in cosmetics with multiple exposure types, the sum of all exposure types may not equal the
sum of total uses.
surface area (SA) = 190 female Wistar rats; 4 h gain in females 2 days post-
whole body exposure; no exposure which resolved by
further details day 14; no abnormalities
observed at necropsy
Hydrated Silica; no further details 2200 mg/m3; 10 male One rat died 2 h after > 2200 mg/m3 16,20
4 h nose-only exposure;
no further details
Hydrated Silica (30% SiO 2 ); as mist; no 520 or 560 mg/m3; 2 No deaths; no further details > 560 mg/m3 20
(56%) and > 7.7 µm (44%); SA = 200 female Wistar rats; 4 h exposure or observation
m2/g whole body exposure; period; body weights
rats were observed for 14 decreased during the first 2
days post-exposure and days after exposure before
periodically weighed; no returned to normal; necropsies
further details were unremarkable
Silica (hydrophobic); particle size = 0.36 0 or 4900 mg/m3; groups Details not provided < 4900 mg/m3; all 20
1.275 µm; SA = 130 m2/g mg/m3; groups of 5 male group within 2.5 h of
and 5 female Wistar rats; exposure; necropsy of this
4 h whole body group discovered eye opacity,
exposure; no further lung enlargement with red
details areas, and white material in
the nasal turbinates; in the
mid-dose group, 7/10 animals
died during exposure;
necropsy of mid-dose group
discovered opaque eyes, dark
enlarged lungs with red areas,
white material in nasal
turbinates, and red areas in the
intestines; all rats in low-dose
group survived; at necropsy,
low- dose group had dark
lungs with white and red areas
Silica (hydrophobic); particle size = 0.95- 90 or 840 mg/m3; groups Results similar as those listed 90-840 mg/m3 20
2.15 µm; SA = 300 m2/g of 5 male and 5 female above; no further details
Wistar rats; 4 h whole
body exposure; no
further details
Silica (hydrophobic); particle size < 0.2 350, 770, 2530, or 5300 All rats in 2530 and 5300 1650 mg/m3 20
µm; SA = 130 m2/g mg/m3; groups of 5 male mg/m3 dose groups died;
and 5 females Sprague- severe red discoloration of the
Dawley rats; 4 h whole lungs was noted in the rats
body exposure; no that died during the study; no
further details further details
Silica (hydrophobic); particle size = 7.2- 900 or 2200 mg/m3; 4/10 rats in high dose group > 2200 mg/m3 20
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LITHIUM MAGNESIUM
07E - Lipstick SILICATE 2
LITHIUM MAGNESIUM
03F - Mascara SODIUM SILICATE 3
LITHIUM MAGNESIUM
03G - Other Eye Makeup Preparations SODIUM SILICATE 2
05G - Tonics, Dressings, and Other Hair Grooming LITHIUM MAGNESIUM
Aids SODIUM SILICATE 3
LITHIUM MAGNESIUM
05I - Other Hair Preparations SODIUM SILICATE 9
LITHIUM MAGNESIUM
07C - Foundations SODIUM SILICATE 3
LITHIUM MAGNESIUM
07D - Leg and Body Paints SODIUM SILICATE 1
LITHIUM MAGNESIUM
07I - Other Makeup Preparations SODIUM SILICATE 1
LITHIUM MAGNESIUM
08E - Nail Polish and Enamel SODIUM SILICATE 10
LITHIUM MAGNESIUM
12A - Cleansing SODIUM SILICATE 1
LITHIUM MAGNESIUM
12B - Depilatories SODIUM SILICATE 17
LITHIUM MAGNESIUM
12C - Face and Neck (exc shave) SODIUM SILICATE 2
LITHIUM MAGNESIUM
12F - Moisturizing SODIUM SILICATE 1
LITHIUM MAGNESIUM
12H - Paste Masks (mud packs) SODIUM SILICATE 3
MAGNESIUM ALUMINUM
01B - Baby Lotions, Oils, Powders, and Creams SILICATE 8
MAGNESIUM ALUMINUM
03A - Eyebrow Pencil SILICATE 20
MAGNESIUM ALUMINUM
03B - Eyeliner SILICATE 49
MAGNESIUM ALUMINUM
03C - Eye Shadow SILICATE 83
MAGNESIUM ALUMINUM
03D - Eye Lotion SILICATE 12
MAGNESIUM ALUMINUM
03F - Mascara SILICATE 28
MAGNESIUM ALUMINUM
03G - Other Eye Makeup Preparations SILICATE 15
04C - Powders (dusting and talcum, excluding MAGNESIUM ALUMINUM
aftershave talc) SILICATE 3
MAGNESIUM ALUMINUM
05A - Hair Conditioner SILICATE 2
MAGNESIUM ALUMINUM
05B - Hair Spray (aerosol fixatives) SILICATE 1
05F - Shampoos (non-coloring) MAGNESIUM ALUMINUM 3
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SILICATE
05G - Tonics, Dressings, and Other Hair Grooming MAGNESIUM ALUMINUM
Aids SILICATE 8
MAGNESIUM ALUMINUM
05I - Other Hair Preparations SILICATE 1
MAGNESIUM ALUMINUM
06B - Hair Tints SILICATE 1
MAGNESIUM ALUMINUM
06H - Other Hair Coloring Preparation SILICATE 5
MAGNESIUM ALUMINUM
07A - Blushers (all types) SILICATE 34
MAGNESIUM ALUMINUM
07B - Face Powders SILICATE 27
MAGNESIUM ALUMINUM
07C - Foundations SILICATE 64
MAGNESIUM ALUMINUM
07D - Leg and Body Paints SILICATE 3
MAGNESIUM ALUMINUM
07E - Lipstick SILICATE 3
MAGNESIUM ALUMINUM
07F - Makeup Bases SILICATE 11
MAGNESIUM ALUMINUM
07G - Rouges SILICATE 1
MAGNESIUM ALUMINUM
07H - Makeup Fixatives SILICATE 1
MAGNESIUM ALUMINUM
07I - Other Makeup Preparations SILICATE 23
MAGNESIUM ALUMINUM
08E - Nail Polish and Enamel SILICATE 1
MAGNESIUM ALUMINUM
09A - Dentifrices SILICATE 2
MAGNESIUM ALUMINUM
10A - Bath Soaps and Detergents SILICATE 3
MAGNESIUM ALUMINUM
10B - Deodorants (underarm) SILICATE 8
MAGNESIUM ALUMINUM
10E - Other Personal Cleanliness Products SILICATE 26
MAGNESIUM ALUMINUM
11A - Aftershave Lotion SILICATE 6
MAGNESIUM ALUMINUM
11E - Shaving Cream SILICATE 1
MAGNESIUM ALUMINUM
11G - Other Shaving Preparation Products SILICATE 1
MAGNESIUM ALUMINUM
12A - Cleansing SILICATE 73
MAGNESIUM ALUMINUM
12C - Face and Neck (exc shave) SILICATE 67
MAGNESIUM ALUMINUM
12D - Body and Hand (exc shave) SILICATE 80
MAGNESIUM ALUMINUM
12E - Foot Powders and Sprays SILICATE 1
MAGNESIUM ALUMINUM
12F - Moisturizing SILICATE 100
12G - Night MAGNESIUM ALUMINUM 16
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SILICATE
MAGNESIUM ALUMINUM
12H - Paste Masks (mud packs) SILICATE 66
MAGNESIUM ALUMINUM
12I - Skin Fresheners SILICATE 2
MAGNESIUM ALUMINUM
12J - Other Skin Care Preps SILICATE 40
MAGNESIUM ALUMINUM
13A - Suntan Gels, Creams, and Liquids SILICATE 3
MAGNESIUM ALUMINUM
13B - Indoor Tanning Preparations SILICATE 15
SODIUM MAGNESIUM
02C - Bath Capsules SILICATE 1
SODIUM MAGNESIUM
03A - Eyebrow Pencil SILICATE 1
SODIUM MAGNESIUM
03B - Eyeliner SILICATE 2
SODIUM MAGNESIUM
03C - Eye Shadow SILICATE 7
SODIUM MAGNESIUM
03F - Mascara SILICATE 1
SODIUM MAGNESIUM
03G - Other Eye Makeup Preparations SILICATE 2
SODIUM MAGNESIUM
05A - Hair Conditioner SILICATE 1
05G - Tonics, Dressings, and Other Hair Grooming SODIUM MAGNESIUM
Aids SILICATE 1
SODIUM MAGNESIUM
07A - Blushers (all types) SILICATE 5
SODIUM MAGNESIUM
07B - Face Powders SILICATE 7
SODIUM MAGNESIUM
07C - Foundations SILICATE 1
SODIUM MAGNESIUM
07D - Leg and Body Paints SILICATE 1
SODIUM MAGNESIUM
07E - Lipstick SILICATE 7
SODIUM MAGNESIUM
07G - Rouges SILICATE 2
SODIUM MAGNESIUM
07H - Makeup Fixatives SILICATE 1
SODIUM MAGNESIUM
07I - Other Makeup Preparations SILICATE 4
SODIUM MAGNESIUM
09A - Dentifrices SILICATE 1
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SODIUM MAGNESIUM
09C - Other Oral Hygiene Products SILICATE 1
SODIUM MAGNESIUM
10A - Bath Soaps and Detergents SILICATE 1
SODIUM MAGNESIUM
10E - Other Personal Cleanliness Products SILICATE 2
SODIUM MAGNESIUM
12A - Cleansing SILICATE 5
SODIUM MAGNESIUM
12B - Depilatories SILICATE 8
SODIUM MAGNESIUM
12C - Face and Neck (exc shave) SILICATE 5
SODIUM MAGNESIUM
12F - Moisturizing SILICATE 36
SODIUM MAGNESIUM
12H - Paste Masks (mud packs) SILICATE 35
SODIUM MAGNESIUM
12J - Other Skin Care Preps SILICATE 1
ALUMINA MAGNESIUM
07G - Rouges METASILICATE 1
ALUMINA MAGNESIUM
12C - Face and Neck (exc shave) METASILICATE 1
ALUMINA MAGNESIUM
12H - Paste Masks (mud packs) METASILICATE 1
SODIUM POTASSIUM
07C - Foundations ALUMINUM SILICATE 1
SODIUM POTASSIUM
07G - Rouges ALUMINUM SILICATE 3
SODIUM POTASSIUM
07I - Other Makeup Preparations ALUMINUM SILICATE 1
SODIUM POTASSIUM
10E - Other Personal Cleanliness Products ALUMINUM SILICATE 1
SODIUM POTASSIUM
12F - Moisturizing ALUMINUM SILICATE 5
SODIUM POTASSIUM
12H - Paste Masks (mud packs) ALUMINUM SILICATE 1
Memorandum
Memorandum
preparations)
Hydrated Silica Nail polish and enamel 0.75-3%
Hydrated Silica Other manicuring preparations 5.5%
Hydrated Silica Dentifrices 10-33.8%
Hydrated Silica Mouth washes and breath fresheners 23.7%
Hydrated Silica Bath soaps and detergents 0.0051-2.5%
Hydrated Silica Deodorants
Not spray 0.066%
Hydrated Silica Aftershave lotions 0.0008%
Hydrated Silica Shaving cream 0.001%
Hydrated Silica Skin cleansing (cold creams, cleansing 0.006-16%
lotions, liquids and pads)
Hydrated Silica Face and neck products
Not sprays 0.0012-0.006%
Hydrated Silica Body and hand products
Not spray 0.54-10%
Hydrated Silica Moisturizing products
Not spray 1.4-5%
Hydrated Silica Other skin care preparations 0.11%
Hydrated Silica Suntan products
Not spray 0.0002-3%
Silica Baby shampoos 3%
Silica Other baby products
Rinse-off 0.0006%
Silica Bath oils tablets and salts 0.1-1%
Silica Other bath preparations 0.1-4%
Silica Eyebrow pencils 7.6-10%
Silica Eyeliners 2-20%
Silica Eye shadows 1.5-29.3%
Silica Eye lotions 0.077-1.1%
Silica Eye makeup removers 0.00068-0.003%
Silica Mascaras 0.0066-50%
Silica Other eye makeup preparations 0.075-10%
Silica Powders (dusting and talcum) 0.016-0.8%
Silica Other fragrance preparations 0.015%
Silica Hair conditioners 0.000005-0.1%
Silica Hair sprays
Aerosol 0.15-2%
Pump spray 0.012-1.5%
Silica Shampoos (noncoloring) 0.000095-2.6%
Silica Tonics, dressings and other hair grooming 0.0042-4%
aids
Silica Other hair preparations (noncoloring) 1-1.2%
Silica Hair dyes and colors 0.0005-4.2%
Silica Hair tints 6%
Silica Hair shampoos (coloring) 0.00082%
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