Chrome Oxide Green: Properties, Uses in Plastics and Regulatory Status

Chrome oxide green (chromium(III) oxide, C.I. Pigment Green 17, CAS 1308-38-9) is an inorganic pigment that gives plastics an opaque olive green with high heat, light and chemical stability. The pigment falls outside the heavy-metal limits that name chromium in plastics, since those limits name the hexavalent state and this oxide carries the trivalent one.

Chrome oxide green is registered under REACH in the 10,000 to 100,000 tonne per year band, absent from the Candidate List of Substances of Very High Concern, and cleared for US food-contact polymers at a maximum of 5 % by weight of the polymer under 21 CFR 178.3297. Chrome oxide green is one of the colorant pages in our directory of plastic additives, each with the same identity, dosage and regulatory fields.

This page sets out the identity of Pigment Green 17, the ligand-field mechanism behind its colour and opacity, the physical constants, the masterbatch loading, the 3 recorded applications, the performance record and its gaps, the shrinkage and metamerism effects, the dated regulatory matrix, the safety profile, the 4 greens compared and the recorded producers.

The identity, naming and headline regulatory fields of chrome oxide green are listed below.

What Is Chrome Oxide Green (Pigment Green 17)?#

Chrome oxide green is chromium(III) oxide, Cr2O3: a single-metal inorganic oxide pigment in which chromium sits in the trivalent oxidation state. The oxide carries a molecular weight of 151.99 g/mol, the EC number 215-160-9 and an appearance of light to dark green, fine hexagonal crystals. Which substance does the trade name cover? Exactly one: chromium(III) oxide, written chromia in chemical literature and named eskolaite as a mineral.

Trivalent chromium is a property of the crystal rather than of a grade, which is why the regulatory position of the pigment rests on it. A pigment stays insoluble in the polymer melt while a dye dissolves in it, so chrome oxide green sits in the insoluble half of the colorants for plastics family, beside titanium dioxide, carbon black and the iron oxides rather than beside the solvent dyes used in transparent styrenics.

What does Pigment Green 17 (C.I. 77288) mean?#

Pigment Green 17 is the Colour Index Generic Name of chrome oxide green, and C.I. 77288 is its Constitution Number, the identifier assigned by chemical structure rather than by hue. The Colour Index carries over 27,000 products under about 13,000 C.I. Generic Names, is maintained by SDC Enterprises and the American Association of Textile Chemists and Colorists (AATCC), and was first printed in 1924.

Both identifiers come from the system explained under Colour Index (C.I.) pigment names and numbers, and both appear in US food-contact law, which names the colorant as chromium oxide green (C.I. Pigment Green 17, C.I. 77288) rather than by CAS number.

Which chromium oxide is green?#

Chromium(III) oxide, Cr2O3, is the green chromium oxide: the colour comes from ligand-field absorption by the trivalent chromium ion. The ligand field of the oxide lattice splits the d-orbital energies of Cr(III) so that the crystal absorbs in the red and the blue-violet parts of the visible spectrum and returns the green band between them. No other chromium oxide is recorded in our source library as a plastics pigment.

Is chrome oxide green a hexavalent chromium compound?#

No: chrome oxide green is chromium(III) oxide, and the EU rules that limit chromium in plastics, RoHS Annex II and PPWR Article 5(4), both name hexavalent chromium, Cr(VI). The distinction is not cosmetic: lead chromate pigments carry chromium as chromate, which is the hexavalent form, and with it a harmonised carcinogenicity classification that chromium(III) oxide does not have.

Chromium(III) oxide holds no harmonised classification under the CLP Regulation, while the lead chromate pigments carry the harmonised hazard statements H350 and H360Df. The limits follow the same logic: RoHS caps Cr(VI) at 0.1 % by weight in homogeneous material under Delegated Directive (EU) 2015/863, and the PPWR caps the sum of lead, cadmium, mercury and Cr(VI) at 100 mg/kg in packaging from 12 August 2026 under Regulation (EU) 2025/40. Neither instrument sets a limit for trivalent chromium.

Our source library holds no hexavalent chromium trace-content specification for any PG17 grade, so a purity statement about Cr(VI) content belongs in the supplier's certificate of analysis.

Is chrome oxide green the same as chromium oxide green?#

Yes: chrome oxide green, chromium oxide green and chromia are three names for the same substance, CAS 1308-38-9, and the Colour Index name PG17 identifies it unambiguously. The name that does not belong in that set is "chrome green", which colour literature applies to other greens and which this page treats separately below.

How Does Chrome Oxide Green Colour a Polymer?#

Chrome oxide green colours a polymer by absorbing part of the visible spectrum through ligand-field transitions of the trivalent chromium ion, and it hides the substrate by scattering the rest. Absorption sets the hue and scattering sets the hiding power, so one particle does both jobs, which is the trait that separates the inorganic pigments for plastics from the organic ones.

Why is a chrome oxide green compound opaque when a phthalocyanine green compound of a similar shade is transparent? Scattering answers it. Hiding power rises with the refractive-index difference between pigment and polymer and with particle size, and an oxide crystal differs far more from a polyolefin than an organic molecular pigment does. In the polypropylene study in the International Journal of Molecular Sciences, 2023, the masterbatch built on mostly inorganic pigments, such as chromium and copper oxides, produced opaque green mouldings, while the phthalocyanine masterbatch produced transparent ones. Opacity is the defining trait of the inorganic pigments for plastics.

Tinting strength and dispersion behaviour are particle properties. Our source library holds no refractive index, particle size, oil absorption or tinting-strength value for any PG17 grade, so those constants stay with the producer's data sheet.

What Are the Physical and Chemical Properties of Chrome Oxide Green?#

Chrome oxide green is a light to dark green crystalline powder of fine hexagonal crystals, with a melting point of 2435 °C (4415 °F) and a density of 5.22 g/cm3 at 25 °C (77 °F). The constants recorded for chromium(III) oxide are listed below with the source that reports each one.

A melting point of 2435 °C (4415 °F) sits far above the melt temperature of every commercial thermoplastic, so the pigment passes through compounding and moulding as an unchanged crystal. That indifference is not a heat-stability rating: heat stability is measured in a named polymer at a named concentration and cannot be derived from a melting point. A density of 5.22 g/cm3 is high against any thermoplastic, so a weight-based addition occupies less volume than the same weight of an organic green.

Which Polymers Use Chrome Oxide Green, and at What Loading?#

Chrome oxide green reaches the polymer almost always as a masterbatch rather than as neat powder, at masterbatch levels of 1 to 5 wt% in the polypropylene study range and at up to 5 % by weight of the polymer where US food-contact rules apply. The let-down ratio, not the pigment percentage, is what a colour recipe normally states. The recorded levels, their basis and the evidence behind each are listed below.

How does a masterbatch percentage convert to pigment content in the part? By multiplication. Masterbatch practice puts the additive content at 40 to 65 wt% of the concentrate, with 15 to 80 wt% in extreme cases, and colour masterbatch is let down at 2 to 4 % in the pressure-pipe reference, a ratio of 49:1 to 24:1. Pigment content in the part is the masterbatch pigment loading times the masterbatch fraction, which the let-down ratio calculator works out for a given recipe. The 1 to 5 wt% figure from the polypropylene study is therefore a masterbatch level and never a pigment level.

Chrome oxide green in polypropylene and polyethylene#

Polypropylene is the polymer where chrome oxide green shows its clearest side effect: in an injection-moulding study of PP coloured with green masterbatches at 1 to 5 wt% (International Journal of Molecular Sciences, 2023), the opaque chromium- and copper-oxide masterbatch raised relative shrinkage in the flow direction by 49.5 to 58.3 % against neat PP. The transparent phthalocyanine masterbatch raised the same measure by 13.6 to 22.3 %, and shrinkage rose nearly linearly with masterbatch concentration in both cases.

Polyethylene and polypropylene share the mechanism behind those numbers: both are semi-crystalline, and a dispersed solid particle can act as a nucleating agent that changes crystallisation rate and crystal size. The additives for polypropylene that surround a pigment, the nucleating agent, the antioxidant and the acid scavenger, touch the same behaviour.

Pigment choice therefore belongs to that formulation package on additives for polypropylene, and a colour change on a dimensioned part is a tooling question as well as a colour question. No polyethylene-specific loading or shrinkage figure for PG17 is recorded, so the polyethylene case rests on the shared mechanism.

Chrome oxide green in green masterbatch#

Chrome oxide green reaches compounders mainly as a color masterbatch, in which the pigment sits at 40 to 65 wt% on a carrier resin and is let down into the base polymer at 1 to 5 %. Extreme formulations run from 15 to 80 wt% additive content, and the carrier decides compatibility: wax serves as the universal carrier, EVA and LDPE carry into polyolefins and nylon, and polystyrene carries into ABS, SAN and sometimes polycarbonate.

Carrier resin, pigment loading and dispersion are covered on color masterbatch, and each of the three moves the result independently of the other two. A concentrate at 50 wt% pigment let down at 2 % puts 1 % pigment into the part, and the same concentrate at 4 % puts 2 % in, so the US food-contact ceiling of 5 % by weight of the polymer sits above both cases.

Chrome oxide green in food-contact polymers#

For US food contact, chromium oxide green is one of the colorants listed by name in 21 CFR 178.3297, at a maximum of 5 % by weight of the polymer, with olefin polymers required to comply with 21 CFR 177.1520 and repeat-use rubber articles limited to 10 %. The listing names the pigment in Colour Index terms, as chromium oxide green (C.I. Pigment Green 17, C.I. 77288), which is why both identifiers belong on a food-contact specification.

The full list of named colorants and their conditions of use sits on 21 CFR 178.3297: colorants for polymers, where each entry carries its own ceiling: copper chromite black spinel at 5 % of the polymer, chrome antimony titanium buff rutile at 1 %. In the EU no equivalent number exists, because colorants sit outside the Union list and compliance runs through the finished-article metal limits.

What Is Chrome Oxide Green Used For? Applications in Plastics#

Chrome oxide green is used in 3 recorded plastics application areas: green masterbatch, crates and outdoor articles. The 3 areas our source library records are listed below with what each one asks of the pigment.

• Green masterbatch: the concentrate in which the pigment is sold and metered, at 40 to 65 wt% pigment on a carrier resin.
• Crates: thick-walled injection-moulded articles in which opacity and durability outrank brilliance.
• Outdoor articles: parts in sustained sunlight, where an inorganic oxide holds its colour better than an organic green.

No camouflage, military, roofing or turf application for PG17 appears in our sources, so none is claimed here.

Crates, closures and injection-moulded articles#

Crates are the classic chrome oxide green article: a thick-walled, injection-moulded polypropylene part where opacity and outdoor durability matter more than brilliance. Closures and other injection-moulded articles share that requirement, and they share the dimensional risk that comes with it.

Shrinkage, warpage and mould-release behaviour are treated together under additives for injection molding, because a pigment that nucleates a semi-crystalline polymer changes dimensions as well as colour. Pigments can nucleate HDPE, PP and PA and produce anisotropic shrinkage, which appears as warpage on a crate base or a flat panel, so a grade qualified as non-warping is selected where flatness is dimensioned.

Outdoor and construction articles#

Outdoor articles are the second recorded use, because an inorganic oxide pigment does not fade or chalk the way an organic green does under sustained sunlight. Class behaviour rather than a rating supports that statement, and outdoor service is also where the complex inorganic colour pigments compete with a single-metal oxide: our source library holds no Blue Wool rating, no xenon exposure hours and no ΔE value after weathering for PG17.

Heat build-up is the second outdoor variable, and it follows the colour rather than the pigment chemistry. White pigmented plastics reach a maximum outdoor surface temperature typically 10 to 15 °C (18 to 27 °F) lower than black ones, and IR-reflective inorganic pigments are marketed for PVC siding and profiles against the warping and twisting that heat build-up causes. The heat- and weather-resistant alternatives are grouped as complex inorganic color pigments (CICP); chrome oxide green is not recorded as IR-reflective, so that route is an adjacent technology rather than a property of PG17.

How Does Chrome Oxide Green Perform? Heat, Light and Chemical Stability#

Chrome oxide green is classed as a high heat, light and chemical stability pigment, but heat stability is a test result rather than a substance constant: it is measured per polymer and per concentration, as the highest processing temperature at which colour change stays within about ΔE*ab 3 after a 5-minute dwell. A single "heat stable to X °C" figure therefore means little until the polymer and the loading are attached to it.

What our source library holds for each performance indicator, and the method that produces a real number for it, is set out below.

Cells marked qualitative carry no number because none is recorded in our source library with a primary source. See our methodology for how open items are handled.

Lightfastness is rated on the 8-step Blue Wool Scale, where 1 is poor and 8 excellent, and weather resistance on the 5-step Grey Scale. How heat stability, lightfastness and weather resistance are defined and rated is set out on pigment fastness in plastics. Neither step is recorded for PG17 in our sources.

Processing behaviour has its own methods. The filter pressure value and the microdispersion scale are described under dispersion testing of pigments and masterbatch, with EN 13900 defining the filter pressure value, EN 12877 covering heat stability of colorants in plastics, ISO 105-B02 lightfastness, ISO 4892 xenon, fluorescent UV and carbon-arc exposure, and ISO 11664-4 with ASTM E313 the colorimetry. Heat-resistance temperatures and ASTM lightfastness ratings quoted in artists' paint and cosmetic sources are not transferable to a polymer compound and are not repeated here.

How Does Chrome Oxide Green Interact with Other Additives and Pigments?#

Chrome oxide green interacts with a formulation in two ways that matter on the shop floor: it changes how a semi-crystalline part shrinks, and it changes how the colour matches under a different light source. Neither effect is a chemical incompatibility with a stabiliser, a lubricant or a processing aid, and both follow from placing a dense, opaque crystal into a polymer that crystallises.

Shrinkage and warpage in semi-crystalline polymers#

Shrinkage is the interaction to design around: pigments nucleate semi-crystalline polymers, and in the polypropylene study the opaque chromium- and copper-oxide green masterbatch raised flow-direction shrinkage far more than the transparent phthalocyanine one, by 49.5 to 58.3 % against 13.6 to 22.3 %. Both figures are relative increases against neat polypropylene across a masterbatch range of 1 to 5 wt%, and both rose nearly linearly with concentration, so the effect scales with the colour depth ordered.

Anisotropy turns shrinkage into warpage: a nucleated part shrinks differently along the flow direction and across it, so it pulls out of flat instead of contracting evenly. Nucleation-induced and heat-build-up warpage are separated on pigment-induced warpage, and the separation matters because only one of the two is corrected by changing pigment.

Metamerism when replacing heavy-metal pigments#

Metamerism is the trap in every heavy-metal pigment substitution: two greens can match under shop lighting and diverge under daylight, because their reflectance curves differ even when their CIELAB coordinates agree under one illuminant. Its cause is the shape of the reflectance curve rather than the tristimulus values the curve produces under a single light source.

Colour is measured in CIE Yxy (1931) or in CIELAB L*a*b* (1976) coordinates, and one coordinate set under one illuminant does not qualify a substitution. Illuminant metamerism and ΔE tolerances are explained under color measurement and matching of plastics. Ampacet's technical guidance states the practical case: metamerism has to be managed when a colour masterbatch is switched from a heavy-metal-containing formula to a non-heavy-metal one, which is the switch that brought inorganic greens such as chrome oxide green into recipes once built on lead chromate.

What Is the Regulatory Status of Chrome Oxide Green?#

Chrome oxide green is registered under REACH at 10,000 to 100,000 tonnes a year, is not a Substance of Very High Concern, is not restricted under REACH Annex XVII, and is authorised for US food-contact polymers at up to 5 % by weight of the polymer (status 24 September 2026). The position under each instrument is set out below with the date or reference that fixes it.

Two cells stay open on purpose. The US TSCA and California Proposition 65 positions of chromium(III) oxide are not held in our source library with a primary source, and an absent record is not a negative finding, so both read "status being verified". Registration bands, evaluation and restriction are explained on REACH and plastic additives.

Is chrome oxide green REACH registered, and is it an SVHC?#

Yes, chrome oxide green is registered under REACH in the 10,000 to 100,000 tonnes per year band, and no, it is not a Substance of Very High Concern: it is absent from the Candidate List, from Annex XIV and from Annex XVII. The registration under EC 215-160-9, ECHA entry 100.013.783, covers manufacture in and import into the EU across all uses, not the plastics share.

The contrast with the chromate pigments is the instructive one. Lead chromate, lead sulfochromate yellow and lead chromate molybdate sulfate red were added to the SVHC Candidate List on 13 January 2010 as carcinogenic and reproductive toxicants under Article 57, then moved to Annex XIV as entries 10 to 12 with a sunset date of 21 May 2015. Chromium(III) oxide has never been added to either list.

Is chrome oxide green allowed in food-contact plastics?#

In the United States, yes and with a number: 21 CFR 178.3297 permits chromium oxide green at up to 5 % by weight of the polymer, and up to 10 % in repeat-use rubber articles. Olefin polymers carrying the pigment comply with 21 CFR 177.1520 in addition to that ceiling.

In the EU the answer is structural rather than numeric: colorants are not on the Union list of Regulation (EU) No 10/2011 at all, so compliance runs through national rules, Council of Europe Resolution AP(89)1 and the Annex II metal limits for the finished article. Why colorants sit outside the Union list is explained on EU 10/2011: only 7 colorant-type substances hold FCM entries, namely carbon black 411, titanium dioxide 610, 805, 873 and 1077, zinc sulphide 403, iron oxide 409, mica 597, OB-1 422 and BBOT 500.

The de facto EU purity reference for colorants is Resolution AP(89)1, which national rules cite where the Union list is silent. An absent FCM number is therefore not a prohibition: a pigment without one is assessed against the finished-article metal limits and the national or Council of Europe purity criteria instead.

Does the EU chromium migration limit apply to chrome-pigmented plastics?#

Yes: Annex II of Regulation (EU) No 10/2011 requires chromium in a plastic food-contact article to be not detectable, at a total-chromium limit of detection of 0.01 mg/kg, and it applies to coloured articles as much as to uncoloured ones. The Annex allows 3.6 mg/kg where documentary evidence excludes hexavalent chromium, which is the route that matters for a chromium(III) pigment.

Annex II is a finished-article rule, which distinguishes it from the specific migration limits that attach to individual authorised substances. The Annex II metal values sit beside those substance values in our table of specific migration limits (SML), and the test is run on the article, not on the pigment.

Is chrome oxide green allowed under RoHS, the PPWR and toy rules?#

All three frameworks restrict chromium in its hexavalent form, not in the trivalent form that chrome oxide green contains: RoHS caps Cr(VI) at 0.1 % w/w in homogeneous material, and the PPWR caps the sum of lead, cadmium, mercury and Cr(VI) at 100 mg/kg in packaging from 12 August 2026. The RoHS value comes from Annex II as amended by Delegated Directive (EU) 2015/863, which sets 0.1 % for lead, mercury, Cr(VI), PBB, PBDE and each listed phthalate, and 0.01 % for cadmium.

The homogeneous-material limits, including the 0.1 % for Cr(VI), are listed on RoHS and plastic additives. A homogeneous material is one that cannot be mechanically separated into different materials, so a coloured moulding is tested as a single material rather than as an assembled part.

The PPWR limit is a sum rather than a set of per-metal ceilings: lead, cadmium, mercury and hexavalent chromium are added together against 100 mg/kg of the packaging, and a trivalent chromium pigment contributes nothing to it.

Article 5(4) and its 12 August 2026 application date are covered on the EU Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (PPWR) page, under Regulation (EU) 2025/40. For toys, EN 71-3 covers the migration of elements including Cr(VI) from coloured toy plastics, and the Toy Safety Regulation prohibits substances carrying a harmonised CMR classification, which chrome oxide green does not carry. Compliance is still established per article and per test, not per pigment.

Is Chrome Oxide Green Toxic? Health, Safety and Environmental Profile#

Chrome oxide green has no harmonised hazard classification under the EU CLP Regulation, and the classifications that companies have notified to ECHA for it vary rather than converge. Regulation (EC) No 1272/2008 assigns harmonised classifications through Annex VI, and no Annex VI entry exists for CAS 1308-38-9.

The health and environmental position of chrome oxide green rests on the 3 recorded points listed below.

• Classification: no harmonised classification under CLP Regulation (EC) No 1272/2008, with notified classifications differing between notifiers.
• Oxidation state: chromium is present as chromium(III), not as the hexavalent chromate ion that carries the restrictions and the harmonised carcinogenicity classifications in this pigment class.
• Open items: the California Proposition 65 and US TSCA positions of chromium(III) oxide are being verified before either is stated.

California's Proposition 65 lists hexavalent chromium compounds, for cancer since 27 February 1987 and for reproductive toxicity since 19 December 2008. The listing status of chromium(III) oxide itself is being verified against the current OEHHA list before we state it.

The chromate pigments appear on our list of toxic plastic additives, and a chromium(III) pigment does not belong in the same group: the harmonised H350, H360Df, H373, H400 and H410 that place lead chromate there attach to the chromate ion and to lead. Chromium(III) oxide is also absent from the Stockholm Convention and from Regulation (EU) 2019/1021 on persistent organic pollutants.

No LD50, no NOAEL, no IARC group and no occupational exposure limit for chromium(III) oxide is recorded in our source library, so none is printed here.

What Are the Alternatives to Chrome Oxide Green?#

The 2 alternatives our source library records for chrome oxide green are phthalocyanine green (PG7), the transparent organic green, and cobalt titanate green (PG50), the mixed-metal-oxide green; the choice between them is a choice between opacity, transparency and cost. Pigment Green 36, a brominated phthalocyanine with a yellower shade, is carried in the comparison below because it occupies the same green shade space.

Empty cells mean the value is not in our source library with a primary source, not that the value is zero.

The transparent alternatives sit among the organic pigments for plastics, which is why they cannot replace an oxide where hiding power is the specification. Cobalt titanate green carries no record card in our source library beyond its name, so it is named here and given no CAS number, properties or regulatory status.

Chrome oxide green vs phthalocyanine green (PG7)#

Chrome oxide green is the right choice when the part must hide what is behind it and survive outdoors; phthalocyanine green is the right choice when the compound must stay transparent, when tinting strength per kilogram matters, or when the moulding cannot tolerate the extra shrinkage. PG7 is chlorinated copper phthalocyanine, CAS 1328-53-6 and EC 215-524-7, with a molecular weight of 1092.7 g/mol for C32HCl15CuN8, registered under REACH at 1,000 to 10,000 tonnes a year and absent from the Candidate List.

Three measured differences decide the substitution. Opacity: the 2023 polypropylene study produced opaque mouldings from the inorganic chromium- and copper-oxide masterbatch and transparent mouldings from the phthalocyanine masterbatch. Shrinkage: the same study measured relative flow-direction increases of 49.5 to 58.3 % against 13.6 to 22.3 %. Food contact: 21 CFR 178.3297 lists chromium oxide green with a 5 % ceiling and lists Pigment Green 7 (phthalocyanine green) without a numeric limit, while the EU Annex II copper migration limit of 5 mg/kg applies to the finished article for the copper-bearing pigment.

Chrome oxide green vs the cobalt and chromite greens#

The cobalt-bearing greens, cobalt titanate green (PG50) and cobalt chromite blue-green spinel (PB36), are the CICP route to a green that tolerates higher processing temperatures than any organic pigment. A complex inorganic colour pigment is a calcined mixed-metal oxide built on a rutile, spinel or hematite lattice, and PB36 carries CAS 68187-11-1 and EC 269-072-0, with a typical concentration of 5 wt% across the polymers listed in the ECHA plastic additives initiative mapping.

Food contact is where the cobalt route costs something. Pigment Blue 36 (cobalt chromite blue-green spinel) is the spinel-lattice blue-green of the same CICP group, and cobalt carries an EU 10/2011 Annex II specific migration limit of 0.05 mg/kg in the finished article, 100 times tighter than the 5 mg/kg allowed for copper. No heat-stability figure is claimed here for PG50, for PB36 or for chrome oxide green, because none is recorded with a polymer and a concentration attached to it.

Chrome oxide green as a lead chromate and cadmium replacement#

Chrome oxide green belongs to the generation of pigments that replaced the restricted heavy-metal colours: lead chromate, lead sulfochromate yellow and lead chromate molybdate sulfate red went onto the REACH Candidate List on 13 January 2010 and onto the Authorisation List with a sunset date of 21 May 2015. Those three carry the CAS numbers 7758-97-6, 1344-37-2 and 12656-85-8, Annex XIV entries 10 to 12, a latest application date of 21 November 2013 and the harmonised classifications H350, H360Df, H373, H400 and H410. Cadmium pigments went the same way.

Cadmium sulphide entered the Candidate List on 16 December 2013, and the cadmium pigments are capped at 0.01 % cadmium by weight in the listed plastics under REACH Annex XVII entry 23. Lead in PVC is capped at 0.1 % w/w by Annex XVII entry 63 under Regulation (EU) 2023/923, and the PPWR sum of 100 mg/kg closes the packaging route from 12 August 2026.

The substitution was never shade for shade. Lead chromates run yellow to red while PG17 is green, so the wave replaced one class of durable, opaque heavy-metal pigments with another, and every colour was rebuilt recipe by recipe.

Who Manufactures Chrome Oxide Green? Grades and Suppliers#

Chrome oxide green is produced by Lanxess and by Vibrantz, formerly Ferro, which supplies the FerroTint Chrome Oxide Green F15A, F16B and F17B grades. The trade name Chrome Oxide Green GN is recorded in our source library without an owner attached to it. The producers and grades our sources support are listed below.

Producers and grades are listed only where our source library holds a source. The list is not a market-share ranking.

More producers, their locations and their certifications are in the directory of pigment manufacturers and suppliers. Two producers is a short entry by policy: a company appears here only where our source library holds a source for it.

Buyers should ask the supplier for the TDS, the SDS and a statement of chromium(VI) content before qualifying a grade, since neither a Colour Index name nor a CAS number fixes particle size, dispersion or trace content. Prices are quoted per tonne and vary with grade and origin; we publish no figure until a dated, sourced price is in our source library.

How Does Chrome Oxide Green Fit into the Wider Colorant Family?#

Chrome oxide green is the single-metal green of the inorganic pigment class, the group that also holds titanium dioxide, carbon black, the iron oxides and the ultramarines. Colorants divide into pigments, which stay insoluble in the melt, dyes such as the solvent dyes used in transparent styrenics, and optical brighteners, and the pigments divide again into inorganic and organic.

The volume leader of that inorganic class is titanium dioxide (TiO2, Pigment White 6), and the ECHA plastic additives initiative lists 127 substances in its pigment function tab, which is the size of the field a single green pigment sits in.

Inorganic pigments and complex inorganic colour pigments (CICP)#

A complex inorganic colour pigment differs from chrome oxide green in one structural respect: it is a calcined mixed-metal oxide built on a rutile, spinel or hematite lattice, while chrome oxide green is a single-metal oxide. The group covers PY53 nickel antimony titanium rutile, PBr24 chrome antimony titanium rutile, PB28 cobalt aluminate spinel, PG50 cobalt titanate green and PBk28 copper chromite black spinel.

Chromium enters that group as a lattice constituent rather than as its own oxide. Pigment Brown 24 (chrome antimony titanium buff) shows the rutile-lattice route: CAS 68186-90-3, an FDA ceiling of 1 % of the polymer under conditions of use B to H, an EU Annex II antimony migration limit of 0.04 mg/kg and the same "not detectable" requirement for chromium. PBk28, CAS 68186-91-4, carries a 5 % FDA ceiling under conditions of use A to H.

Non-plastics uses of chromium oxide green#

Most published information about chromium oxide green concerns markets this reference does not cover: artists' paint, cosmetics, ceramic glaze and vitreous enamel. Those markets set their own test conditions and approvals, and the property figures they publish, heat-resistance temperatures, lightfastness ratings and skin-safety statements, are not transferable to a polymer compound, so they are not repeated here. This page covers the pigment as a plastics additive: its loading in a masterbatch, its behaviour in an injection-moulded part and its status under the plastics, packaging and food-contact instruments.

Is chromium oxide green safe for skin?#

This page does not answer cosmetic questions: skin contact and cosmetic approval are governed by cosmetic regulations, not by the plastics rules covered here. For plastics, the relevant statements are the absence of a harmonised CLP classification and the compliance route through 21 CFR 178.3297 and the EU 10/2011 Annex II metal limits.

What is the difference between chrome oxide green and chrome green?#

The names are not interchangeable: "chrome oxide green" is the single substance chromium(III) oxide, PG17, while "chrome green" is used in colour literature for other, historically lead-containing greens. Our source library holds no composition record for "chrome green", so none is given, and an ambiguous colour name belongs in a glossary rather than in a specification. Names of that kind are collected in the plastic additives glossary, and a purchase specification that says only "chrome green" identifies no substance until a C.I. name or a CAS number is added to it.

Where can I buy chrome oxide green for plastics?#

Chrome oxide green for plastics is bought either as neat pigment from a pigment producer or, more usually, as a green masterbatch from a masterbatch producer. Most buyers order a green masterbatch rather than neat pigment, because metering a 5.22 g/cm3 powder into a hopper is a dust and dispersion problem that a pelletised concentrate removes. The request-for-quote block above carries one specification to the verified suppliers in our directory.