Food & Drink / Compounds / Nickel oxide (NiO)

Nickel oxide (NiO) in food: ingestion safety

Severe risk

GHS Danger classification.

What is nickel oxide (nio)?

The IUPAC name is nickel(2+);oxygen(2-).

Also known as: nickel(2+);oxygen(2-), Nickel (II) oxide, RefChem:927711, DTXCID301477324.

IUPAC name
nickel(2+);oxygen(2-)
CAS number
1313-99-1
Molecular formula
NiO
Molecular weight
74.693 g/mol
SMILES
[O--].[Ni++]
PubChem CID
179931

Risk for people

Severe risk

GHS Danger classification.

Regulatory consensus

5 regulatory and scientific bodies have classified Nickel oxide (NiO). The classifications differ — that's the data.

AgencyYearClassificationNotes
EPA CTX / NTP RoC—Known Human Carcinogen
EPA CTX / Health Canada—Group I: CEPA (carcinogenic to humans)
EPA CTX / CalEPA—Known human carcinogen
EPA CTX / Genetox—Genotoxicity: negative (Ames: negative, 0 positive / 3 negative reports)
EPA CTX / Genetox—Genotoxicity: negative (Ames: negative, 0 positive / 3 negative reports)

Regulators apply different standards of evidence — animal-data weighting, exposure-pattern assumptions, epidemiological power thresholds — which is why two scientific bodies can review the same data and reach different conclusions. The disagreement is the data.

Where you encounter nickel oxide (nio)

  • Contaminated Water — Mining site runoff, Industrial discharge, Old infrastructure
  • Food Chain — Fish from contaminated waters, Crops in contaminated soil

Safer alternatives

Lower-risk approaches that achieve a similar outcome to Nickel oxide (NiO):

  • Enzyme or biocatalysts where applicable
    Trade-offs: Temperature/pH sensitivity. Higher cost for some applications.
    Relative cost: 2-5×

Frequently asked questions

Is nickel oxide (nio) safe for you?

GHS Danger classification.

What products contain nickel oxide (nio)?

Nickel oxide (NiO) appears in: Mining site runoff (Contaminated water); Industrial discharge (Contaminated water); Fish from contaminated waters (Food chain); Crops in contaminated soil (Food chain).

Why do regulators disagree about nickel oxide (nio)?

Nickel oxide (NiO) has been classified by 5 agencies including EPA CTX / NTP RoC, EPA CTX / Health Canada, EPA CTX / CalEPA, EPA CTX / Genetox, EPA CTX / Genetox, with differing conclusions. Regulators apply different standards of evidence (animal data weighting, exposure-pattern assumptions, epidemiological power thresholds), which is why two scientific bodies can review the same data and reach different conclusions. See the regulatory consensus table on this page for the full picture.

See Nickel oxide (NiO) in the food app

Look up products containing nickel oxide (nio), compare to alternatives, and explore the full data record.

Open in food View raw API data

Sources (3)
  1. PubChem Compound CID 179931 — database
  2. EPA CompTox Chemicals Dashboard — DTXSID7025710 — epa
  3. ATSDR Toxicological Profile — CAS 1313-99-1 — reference

Reference data, not professional advice. Aggregates publicly available regulatory and scientific data; not a substitute for veterinary, medical, legal, or regulatory advice. Why we built ALETHEIA →