Ingredient intelligence
Zinc oxide
Mineral · Zinc Oxide · ZnO
Zinc oxide is an inorganic UV filter. Its protective is physical and chemical attenuation of UV photons rather than a biological .
Any underlined term can be tapped for an everyday-English translation.
Molecular identity
- Formula
- ZnO
- Molecular weight
- 81.38 g/mol
- PubChem CID
- 14806
- ChEBI
- CHEBI:36560
Biological targets
UV photons (physical attenuation)
high confidenceinhibits · complex
Not a protein target.
How could this ingredient interact with biology?
Biological network
Ingredient → molecule → target → gene/protein → pathway → process → studied outcome. Relationship strength is drawn from the curated confidence tier; nothing is added to make the chain look complete.
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2 lower-confidence relationships are hidden at this filter level. Use “Show more biology” to include them.
Text alternative for this network
- Zinc oxide is molecule Zinc oxide — high confidence
- Zinc oxide inhibits UV photons (physical attenuation) — high confidence
- DNA damage response (UV-induced) associated with UV photoprotection — medium confidence
- DNA damage response (UV-induced) associated with Oxidative stress response — medium confidence
- UV photoprotection studied in UV filters are the best-supported intervention for photoaging prevention — high confidence
- Oxidative stress response studied in UV filters are the best-supported intervention for photoaging prevention — medium confidence
Biological pathways
DNA damage response (UV-induced)
medium confidenceReducing UV dose reduces downstream photolesion signalling.
Reactome R-HSA-73893
Evidence engine
Strong
Multiple independent human studies point in the same direction.
Skinceptor Evidence Index
72
experimental · of 100
This index is a research-navigation aid describing how much evidence exists and how it was produced. It is not a medical safety score, an efficacy guarantee, or a clinical recommendation.
Study composition
- Randomised controlled trial2
- Total studies
- 2
- Human studies
- 2
- Largest sample
- 903
- Range
- 2013–2013
Index breakdown
- Study design quality90% × 28%
Mean design weight across curated studies (meta-analysis 1.0, RCT 0.9, other human 0.7, review 0.45, animal 0.35, in-vitro 0.25).
- Human evidence share67% × 22%
Proportion of curated evidence measured in people rather than cells or animals.
- Evidence volume50% × 14%
Log-scaled count of curated studies, so volume alone cannot dominate the score.
- Largest sample size99% × 12%
Log-scaled largest reported sample size across curated human studies.
- Replication67% × 12%
Independent human studies, capped at three; one study is never treated as replicated.
- Recency35% × 7%
Linear decay over a twenty-year window from the most recent curated publication.
- Source traceability50% × 5%
Share of curated studies with a verified PMID or DOI in this dataset.
Insufficient comparable evidence for quantitative synthesis.
Research timeline
How the evidence accumulated
2013
Daily sunscreen use and skin ageing: a randomised trial
Randomised controlled trialn = 903 · Annals of Internal Medicine
2013
Regular sunscreen use and prevention of cutaneous ageing: a randomised trial
Randomised controlled trialn = 903 · Annals of Internal Medicine
Ingredient fingerprint
9 nodes · 10 relationships · seed "zinc-oxide"
The fingerprint is a deterministic visual signature: ridge amplitude comes from the number of entities in each tier, node placement from identifier hashes, and opacity from confidence. Two ingredients can never produce the same figure unless their networks are identical.
Open in Biology as Art →Research
2 curated studies
Daily sunscreen use and skin ageing: a randomised trial
Reported no detectable increase in skin ageing over 4.5 years in the daily sunscreen group compared with discretionary use.
Limitations — Sunscreen formulation was not zinc-oxide-specific; outcome assessed by microtopography of the hand.
Regular sunscreen use and prevention of cutaneous ageing: a randomised trial
Reported no detectable increase in skin ageing in the daily-sunscreen group over 4.5 years, unlike the discretionary-use group.
Limitations — Broad-spectrum sunscreen rather than zinc oxide specifically; identifier not verified during curation.
Community evidence
Submitted by readers
Reader submissions appear here only after review. They are not part of the curated dataset and do not affect the Skinceptor Evidence Index.
No approved community submissions yet.
Sources
- PubChem 14806Verified 2026-09-14
- Reactome R-HSA-73893Verified 2026-09-14
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