Skip to content

Iron Oxides

    Synonyms:

    (a) Iron oxide black: Bayferrox 306; black magnetic oxide; black oxide, precipitated; black rouge; CI 77499; E172; ethiops iron; ferric ferrous oxide; ferrosoferric oxide; Ferroxide 78P; Ferroxide 88P; iron oxide; iron (II, III) oxide; iron oxides (FeO); magnetite; Mapico Black EC; pigment black 11; Sicovit B80; Sicovit B85; triiron tetraoxide.

    (b) Iron oxide red: anhydrous ferric oxide; anhydrous iron (III) oxide; Bayferrox 105M; CI 77491; diiron trioxide; E172; Ferroxide 212P; Ferroxide 226P; hematite; pigment red 101; red ferric oxide; Sicovit R30.

    (c) Iron oxide yellow monohydrate: E172; hydrated ferric oxide; iron (III) oxide monohydrate, yellow; pigment yellow 42; yellow ferric oxide. Iron (III) oxide hydrated: Bayferrox 920Z; CI 77492; ferric hydroxide; ferric hydroxide oxide; ferric hydrate; ferric oxide hydrated; Ferroxide 510P; iron hydrate; iron hydroxide; iron hydroxide oxide; Mapico Yellow EC; Sicovit Y10; yellow ochre; yellow iron oxide.

    Description: Iron oxides occur as yellow, red, black, or brown powder. The color depends on the particle size and shape, and crystal structure.

    Chemical Name:  Iron oxides

    Colorant

    • Iron oxides are widely used in cosmetics, foods, and pharmaceutical applications as colorants and UV absorbers.

    • As inorganic colorants they are becoming of increasing importance as a result of the limitations affecting some synthetic organic dyestuffs.

    • However, iron oxides also have restrictions in some countries on the quantities that may be consumed, and technically their use is restricted because of their limited color range and their abrasiveness.

    Iron oxides have been reported to make hard gelatin capsules brittle at higher temperatures when the residual moisture is 11–12%. This factor affects the use of iron oxides for coloring hard gelatin capsules, and will limit the amount that can be incorporated into the gelatin material.

    Iron oxides are widely used in cosmetics, foods, and oral and topical pharmaceutical applications. They are generally regarded as nontoxic and nonirritant excipients. The use of iron oxide colorants is limited in some countries, such as the USA, to a maximum ingestion of 5 mg of elemental iron per day

    Observe normal precautions appropriate to the circumstances and quantity of the material handled

    —