Calamine Calamine Calamine, also known as calamine lotion, is a medication used to treat mild itchiness. This includes from sunburn, insect bites, poison oak, or other mild skin conditions. It may also help dry out skin irritation. It is applied on the skin as a cream or lotion. Side effects may include skin irritation. It is considered to be safe in pregnancy. Calamine is a combination of zinc oxide and 0.5% ferric oxide (FeO). The lotion is produced with additional ingredients such as phenol and calcium hydroxide. Calamine lotion has been used as far back as 1500 BC. It is on
Schlangenberg Nature Reserve the interest in the ore which was mostly used for weapons and vessels. The greatest interest in calamine had been in the 18th century when brass manufactures settled in Stolberg (Rhineland). For the production of the alloy they needed large amounts of calamine which was melted together with copper. Before 1800 digging small reaching only surface based ore was the only technique available to the miners. In the 19th century mining changed and more than 20 adits enabled the workers to reach calamine up to 105 m below the surface. During this time the Schlangenberg-area was perforated like a Swiss