Anti-seborrhoeic qualities of zinc pyrithione in a cream vehicle. II. Safety evaluation

Abstract

Animal and human tests are reported which establish the safety of a hair preparation containing 0.5% zinc pyrithione. The animal investigations using exaggerated exposures to the preparation show no indications of toxicity with respect to eye irritation, acute oral or dermal exposures, or subacute percutaneous application to intact or abraded skin. The subacute cutaneous tests were rigidly controlled to avoid ingestion of the test compound. The hairdressing, following extensive “repeated insult” patch-testing procedures in man, produced no adverse skin manifestations indicating a complete absence of primary irritancy and an extremely low order of sensitizing potential.