What Is Mica Powder? Ethical and Sustainability Concerns

If you have ever been attracted to a product promising a shimmering or glowing effect on your skin, there's a good chance it contained mica powder.

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Even if you're not an avid makeup user, you’ve likely encountered mica powder in items like shampoo or shaving cream, and it's also present in foundation, toasters, and car paints.

In recent times, mica has faced scrutiny due to concerns over child labor being involved in its mining. While some beauty brands strive to source it ethically, avoiding mica entirely is a complex challenge.

Common Beauty Products Using Mica

Mica is commonly used to thicken and add a shimmer effect to a variety of beauty products, including:

• Bronzer and highlighter
• Lipstick and lip gloss
• Eye shadow and mascara
• Concealer, foundation, makeup primer, and facial serum
• Blush and facial powder
• Nail polish
• Daily use SPF
• Men’s shaving cream and baby shampoo
• Toothpaste and deodorant
• BB cream and CC cream
• Body wash and oil

Understanding Mica Powder

Mica refers to a collection of minerals originating from sheet silicate, spanning 37 types and occurring in granite, slate, phyllite, and shale.

Mica powder is known for being lightweight, flexible, and heat-resistant, attributes that make it highly valued in the electronics industry. Yet, its pearlescent sheen is what renders it indispensable in the cosmetic sector.

Primarily used as a colorant, mica also acts as a mild abrasive, thickening, and smoothing agent. Its reflective nature is the reason highlighters and eyeshadows have such a sparkle.

Cosmetic chemists mix mica with other elements to create diverse effects, with smaller particles often added to powders for a smoother, illuminated finish.

On makeup labels, mica may appear as:

• C
• Micagroup Minerals
• Pigment White 20
• Sericite
• Sericite GMS-ZC
• Sericite GMS-C
• Sericite MK-A
• Sericite MK-B
• Golden Mica
• Muscovite Mica

Comparing Synthetic and Natural Mica

Natural mica is mined from rocks, whereas synthetic mica, also known as synthetic fluorphlogopite, is laboratory-manufactured from magnesium aluminum silicate sheets.

This synthetic process involves melting magnesium, metal, and aluminum and then cooling the mixture to form crystals which are subsequently ground into powder.

According to brands like Lush, synthetic mica is purer and can produce brighter colors due to its particle size, unlike its less refined natural counterpart.

On ingredient lists, synthetic mica may be identified as:

• Fluorphlogopite
• Fluorphlogopite (MG3K[ALF2O(SIO3)3])
• Synthetic Fluorphlogopite
• Synthetic Fluorphlogopite

The Environmental Working Group's Skin Deep Database suggests neither form of mica is environmentally toxic or harmful to human health. However, exposure to natural mica dust has been linked to respiratory issues among workers, according to the Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine.

A significant advantage of synthetic mica is that it eliminates the need for mining. Reports by the Thompson Reuters Foundation uncovered multiple child fatalities linked to illegal mica mining in India. The disturbing use of child labor has driven more companies towards synthetic alternatives.

The Process of Mica Powder Production

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According to Zion Market Research, the mica industry is projected to attain a global market value of $727 million. The industry is divided into flake mica mining and sheet mica mining.

Flake mica predominantly serves the electronics, rubber, and construction sectors. Once mined from placer deposits and pegmatites, it is ground and utilized as a pigment extender in paint, filler, and reinforcing agents. The U.S. is home to numerous mines, especially in North Carolina.

Sheet mica is the preferred choice for the cosmetics field, typically harvested via open-pit surface mining in regions such as China, Brazil, and Madagascar. India's mica, particularly from states like Bihar and Jharkhand, is a significant export, with $71.3 million worth dispatched globally.

An investigation by the Thompson Reuters Foundation revealed that 70% of India's mica mines are illegal, often employing children as young as six due to their ability to navigate narrow tunnels.

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Mining, especially illegal operations, is labor-intensive and hazardous, with workers often facing injuries or fatalities in unreported incidents. In impoverished mining communities, mica gathering often represents the primary source of income.

India's Forest Conservation Act, which complicates acquiring legal mining leases in protected forests, fuels the prevalence of illegal mining. Similar exploitative practices have been reported in countries like Pakistan, Sudan, China, and Brazil, per a report from Terre des Hommes.

Recently, Madagascar's mica mining operations gained attention, with reports indicating that 10,000 children are involved in the mining process.

Evaluating the Sustainability of Mica Powder

Natural mica is non-renewable, complicating its sustainability profile. While recycling electronics containing mica is possible, the same doesn't hold true for personal care items.

Although specific studies on mica's environmental impact are limited, general mining practices have been known to disrupt ecosystems, contributing to issues like deforestation, water contamination, dust emissions, and noise pollution.

Environmentally and sustainably, synthetic mica could be a better option, particularly as it doesn't involve child labor. Nevertheless, industries beyond cosmetics have not yet widely adopted synthetic mica.

Despite being more sustainable, synthetic mica is pricier than natural mica and is primarily produced in China and Japan, necessitating global export and thus contributing to its carbon footprint.

Can You Source Mica Powder Ethically?

Given the prevalent child labor practices, natural mica is not the most ethical ingredient. However, eliminating mining might result in economic hardship for families reliant on this industry.

In response to child labor revelations, many beauty brands—like Chanel, Burt's Bees, Coty, and Sephora—have joined the Responsible Mica Initiative (RMI). This organization aims to create ethical and traceable mica supply chains, eliminate child labor, and ensure compliant working conditions. Others have transitioned to synthetic mica alternatives.

mica powder is mainly used in coatings and has many uses.

1. Barrier effect

The flaky filler forms a substantially parallel orientation in the paint film, and the penetration of water and other corrosive substances into the paint film is strongly blocked. In the case of using high-quality mica powder (the diameter ratio of the wafer is at least 50 times, the best 70 times or more), the penetration time of water and other corrosive substances through the paint film is generally extended by 3 times. Because mica powder powder filler is much cheaper than special material, it has very high technical and economic value.

The use of high-quality mica powder is an important means to improve the quality and performance of anticorrosive coatings and exterior wall coatings. During the coating process, mica powder wafers lie down under the action of surface tension before the paint film is cured, and automatically form a structure that is parallel to each other and also parallel to the surface of the paint film. This layer-by-layer arrangement has an orientation that is perpendicular to the direction in which the corrosive substance penetrates the paint film, and the barrier effect is the most sufficient.

2.Improve the physical and mechanical properties of paint film

The use of mica powder powder can improve a series of physical and mechanical properties of the paint film. The key is the morphological characteristics of the filler, that is, the diameter-thickness ratio of the flaky filler and the aspect ratio of the fibrous filler. The particle-filled filler acts like sand and gravel in concrete and plays a reinforcing role in reinforcing steel.

3.Improve the anti-wear performance of paint film

The hardness of rhenium resin itself is limited, and the strength of many fillers is not high (such as talc). In contrast, mica powder is one of the components of granite, and its hardness and mechanical strength are very large. Therefore, by adding mica powder powder as a filler, the abrasion resistance can be significantly improved. mica powder powder is mostly used in automotive coatings, road coatings, mechanical anticorrosive coatings and wall coatings.

4.Insulation performance

mica powder has extremely high resistance and is itself the most excellent insulating material. Forms a compound with silicone resin or silicone boron resin, and converts it into a ceramic material with good mechanical strength and insulation properties when exposed to high temperatures. Therefore, wires and cables made of this type of insulating material, even after being burned in a fire , Still maintain the original insulation. This is very important for mines, tunnels, special buildings, special facilities, etc.

5, flame retardant

mica powder powder is a very valuable flame retardant filler. If organic halogen flame retardants are added, flame retardant and fire retardant coatings can be prepared.

6, anti-ultraviolet, infrared performance

mica powder has excellent UV and infrared shielding properties. Therefore, the addition of wet mica powder powder in outdoor coatings can greatly improve the UV resistance of the paint film and delay the